CentriWebA CRM for mortgage brokers has to track a loan from first enquiry to settlement, show what is outstanding on each file, and bring clients back for a review at the right time. A general sales CRM covers the first part and misses the other two unless you set it up for them. This guide lists the stages, fields and reminders a broker should expect.
One caution first. Brokers operate under licensing and record-keeping obligations that come from the regulator and from your aggregator or licensee. This article covers workflow only. Check what your obligations require, and what your aggregator’s own systems already hold, before you decide what the CRM needs to store.
What a broker’s CRM actually has to do
A broker’s work has a different shape from most service businesses. The sale is not a quote that gets accepted. It is a file that moves through documents, a lender’s assessment, conditions, approval and settlement, often over weeks, with the client and several other parties chasing you for updates.
Three jobs matter most:
- Convert enquiries into fact-finds before they go cold.
- Track each file so nothing is waiting on you without you knowing.
- Keep past clients in view, so reviews and referrals actually happen.
Many brokers already use software supplied through their aggregator or licensee for lodging and managing applications. A CRM does not have to replace that. It often sits alongside it, as the place where enquiries, follow-up and review reminders live. Ask your aggregator what it provides before you pay for duplicate functions.
The pipeline: from enquiry to settlement
Use stages that mark something that has happened. A workable set:
- New enquiry. A form, call or referral has come in.
- Contacted. You have spoken and set a time for a proper conversation.
- Fact-find booked. The meeting or call is in the diary.
- Fact-find done. You have the client’s situation and a rough strategy.
- Documents requested. You have asked for payslips, statements, ID and so on.
- Documents complete. You have enough to go to a lender.
- Lodged. The application has been submitted.
- Conditionally approved. The lender wants more, or has set conditions.
- Unconditionally approved. Approved, awaiting settlement.
- Settled. Loan drawn down.
- Lost or not proceeding. With a reason.
That is more stages than a typical service business pipeline, because a loan has more checkpoints. If it feels heavy, merge the document stages into one, but keep Lodged, both approvals and Settled, since those are the points where you owe the client an update. For the logic behind choosing stages, see sales pipeline stages.
Lodgement tracking: the fields that matter
Once a file is past fact-find, the contact record is not enough. You need file-level fields, so you can answer “where is my loan up to?” in ten seconds.
- Client(s) and any guarantors. Applicants are often more than one person.
- Purpose: purchase, refinance, construction, investment, top-up.
- Loan amount and security address.
- Lender and product. What you submitted to.
- Lodgement date.
- Status with the lender, in your own plain wording.
- Outstanding items, a short list: what is waiting on the client and what on the lender.
- Approval date and expiry.
- Expected settlement date.
- Referrer. The agent, accountant or past client who sent them.
Keep the “outstanding” field current and specific. It is what stops a file stalling for a week because everyone thought somebody else was waiting.
Tasks should hang off these dates. For example: a reminder the day after lodgement to check progress, a reminder before an approval expires, and a message to the client a few days before settlement. Set them as tasks rather than keeping them in your head.
Review dates: the part that brings in repeat work
Settlement is not the end of the relationship. A broker’s pipeline of future work includes clients who will refinance, upgrade, add a property or refer a friend. A CRM that remembers them does this far better than a memory does.
At settlement, record dates that give you a reason to call:
- A review date. Often tied to the end of a fixed-rate period, a loan anniversary, or a point you agreed with the client. Set the date from the actual loan terms.
- A check-in date, such as a few months after settlement.
- Anything the client mentioned: a plan to renovate, to buy an investment, to change jobs.
When the date arrives, the CRM creates a task for you to call, and it should give you the loan details at a glance. You are checking whether their loan still suits them. Our guide to AI for mortgage brokers covers where assistants can help with reminders and admin around this.
A first-week set-up for a broker
- Day 1: list the stages above and cut any your files do not need. Decide which system holds the application and which holds the relationship.
- Day 2: build the contact fields and the file-level fields. Add pick lists for purpose, lender and lost reason.
- Day 3: import current clients and open files only. Leave settled history until the open files are in order.
- Day 4: connect the website enquiry form and write the acknowledgement message.
- Day 5: set the review dates on your best fifty past clients, so the first review tasks appear in the system and you can see the follow-up working.
That last step is the quickest way to see whether the CRM is worth keeping. If a review call turns into a refinance conversation in the first month, the set-up has paid for the time.
Referrers: treat them as a pipeline
For many brokers, a few real estate agents, accountants and financial planners send a large share of the work. Track them as contacts with a role of “referrer”, and link each loan to the one who sent it.
Then you can see which relationships produce files, and when you last spoke. A simple monthly task, “contact top five referrers”, is a small habit with an obvious return. Remember to tell a referrer how their client’s loan went (without sharing anything the client has not agreed to), because it keeps them sending work.
Keeping the client informed
Clients ring a broker mostly to ask where things are up to. If the CRM holds the status in plain words, you or an assistant can answer in one message without opening the lender’s portal. Agree with each client at the fact-find how they want updates, by text, email or call, and record it on the contact. Then a status change at Lodged, Conditionally approved or Settled can prompt the right message at the right time, and fewer calls come in asking for news.
Documents and client chasing
The slowest part of a file is usually the client finding documents. A CRM helps in two ways.
- A checklist per file, so everyone knows what is still missing.
- A reminder message, sent automatically on a set schedule until the item arrives, written in your voice.
Be careful with where documents are stored. They contain sensitive personal and financial information, so check where your CRM keeps files, who can open them, and what your licensee requires. Do not email documents around if you do not have to.
Automation that fits a broker
Good uses are narrow and dull, which is a good sign:
- Instant acknowledgement when an enquiry arrives, with a booking link for the fact-find.
- A document request sent when a file moves to “Documents requested”.
- A status text to the client when a file hits Lodged or Approved.
- A review task when settlement is recorded.
Anything that gives advice stays with you. Our guide on mortgage broker automation goes through more examples, and web forms into a CRM covers the enquiry end.
Choosing a CRM for mortgage brokers
When you compare options, test with one real file rather than the demo data. Check that you can:
- Add a file-level record with custom fields, separate from the contact.
- Rename and add pipeline stages.
- Set date-based tasks from a field, such as a review date.
- See outstanding items on one screen.
- Use it properly on your phone.
- Export all your data in a usable file.
Our small business CRM comparison covers how the main products work and charge. Brokers sometimes find that a standard CRM needs a fair amount of custom setup for files, or that a purpose-built tool lacks follow-up features. That is the trade-off in custom CRM vs off the shelf.
CentriWeb does CRM set-up for professional services firms, including file tracking and review reminders, working with whatever your aggregator already provides.