Lawson & Associates Customizes Salesforce for Mortgage Industry Niche; Anticipates 165 Percent Boost in Loan Volume

“The self-service portal we customized in Salesforce Customer Portal has become a phenomenal marketing tool for us. Because it’s such an addictive resource for realtors, it drives business to our door. We’ve integrated such a broad spectrum of companywide functions into Salesforce that it has become the cornerstone of our business.”


Challenge
  • Lawson & Associates, a full-service mortgage brokerage company, required a sophisticated CRM solution to manage business growth
  • An existing ACT! database failed to support the company’s expansion goals in terms of connectivity from multiple locations, reporting, and information sharing
  • Given its unique industry niche, customizability ranked high on the list of criteria
  • Compliance laws required that the company adopt stringent security measures
  • Mortgage planners requested a system with remote access

Solution
  • Impressed by the on-demand model, Lawson implemented Salesforce Professional Edition in 45 days to 27 users; a subsequent upgrade to Enterprise Edition for 33 total users followed
  • Lawson customized Salesforce Customer Portal to create a secure, self-service portal where realtors and tax attorneys gain 24/7 access to useful information such as loan status and other tools
  • The company created an internal database of 400 searchable lender products
  • Dashboards help the company track each mortgage planner’s sales activities
  • Customizable tabs and objects tailor Salesforce to Lawson’s business practices (e.g. Opportunities, Cases, and Solutions were renamed Loans, Partner Portal, and Lender Database)
  • Workflow-driven updates provide seamless communications and data transfer between support staff and the sales team
  • Plans to integrate an app that pre-qualifies leads will further weave Salesforce into the fabric of the company


Results
  • Since deploying Salesforce, the company is on track to increase loan volume by 165 percent in one year
  • By unifying information, communications, and processes across a broad spectrum of its business, Salesforce has reinforced the company dictum: “Integrity, Service, and Technology”
  • The partner portal boosts loyalty among realtors, positioning the company a notch above the competition
  • The flexibility inherent in the on-demand solution enables each user to leverage Salesforce as he or she needs
  • Web-based access allows the sales team to work on the road, at home, or on vacation
  • Bulletproof Salesforce security ensures compliance with an identify theft law, eliminating the need to update multiple systems with security software
  • Cost savings are attributed to eliminated server and maintenance costs
 
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