It’s cheap, yet valuable. It’s critical to retention, yet easily accessible.
I’m talking about your servicing portfolio data – one of the most important pieces of the recapture puzzle lenders and servicers are scrambling to solve. And in our current environment, where refinance volumes and customer retention rates are both dwindling*, the pressure to turn this potential bonanza into actual gold is mounting.
Recent data from Black Knight’s Mortgage Monitor report indicates that only 18% of refinance borrowers stay with their current servicer – a bleak figure, but one that isn’t surprising considering the current state of the market. For the last year, lenders have been dealing with unmatched volumes and even padding their margins to keep volume in check. With the recent backup in rates, lenders are starting to lay the groundwork for future success in a world with less-than-record volumes.
To start, many lenders and servicers don’t effectively keep their brand in front of their current customers. When the time comes to refinance, these borrowers may not even think of your company, especially as your competitors inundate them with refinance advertising. Though these offers tend to be impersonal, promising things like “rates as low as X,” they mark instances of your competitors actively working to poach your customers.
However, lenders and servicers have an important advantage when it comes to recapturing existing customers – something even the most aggressive competitors can’t replicate. Realize it or not, a wealth of valuable data is woven within your servicing portfolio, just waiting to be translated into actionable leads. This data is the gateway to unlocking critical insights like refinance and HELOC eligibility, so you can proactively engage your customers with real loan opportunities based on the borrower’s unique data before your competitors muddle their attention with offers based on generic rates.
Consider the following scenario, in which a lender’s customer data is leveraged in tandem with an advanced lead analytics platform, such as Black Knight’s CaptureSM platform, to engage a customer in a timely, meaningful way.
With Capture’s automated, lender-specific lead-flagging functionality, the lender identifies a loan within their servicing portfolio that could benefit from refinancing based on current home equity. With the help of Capture, the lender generates near-real-time loan pricing relevant to the borrower’s specific attributes, home price appreciation in that borrower’s area, the current market, and the lender’s specific, up-to-date margin structures including loan officer comp plans. This compelling information may be paired with other in-house systems, such as marketing automation tools to maximize delivery and impact.
When the lender contacts the borrower, they’re already equipped with detailed, accurate information about the refinancing opportunity – information powered by their own proprietary data. This is a stark contrast to the vague, often too-good-to-be-true offers being pushed out en masse by the competition.
This example illustrates how data can pair with powerful technology and robust analytics to help you identify and prioritize leads while building brand awareness in a purposeful way. In the current state of the industry, where we’re seeing fewer refinance opportunities, its instrumental to differentiate your company from your competitors by way of informed offers that outshine vague, dime-a-dozen ones.
There may be no clear-cut formula for recapture success, but leveraging your servicing portfolio data is a cost-effective, logical place to start. Taking a more proactive approach to recapture with the Capture platform is a good way to provide value to your borrowers by engaging them individually, at the right time, instead of mass marketing generic, rate-based offers.
You’ve worked hard to earn your customers’ business; don’t miss the opportunity to preserve it by unleashing the power of your own data.
Interested in learning how Black Knight’s Capture platform can make your data even more powerful? Contact us for more information at AskBlackKnight@bkfs.com.
*SOURCE: Black Knight’s McDash loan-level data