Chatbots are an excellent source of lead generation, especially in a lead-oriented industry such as the mortgage industry. A chatbot on a mortgage company’s website can be the difference between acquiring a high-intent customer prospect or losing out on potential revenue. Many mortgage companies that do not utilize even the simplest of chatbots on their website are losing out. The number of consumers in today's mortgage market that utilize computer technology as their means of communication is significant. Not having a chatbot on a mortgage website means that those consumers may very well choose not to do business with the company. Online forms and contact us pages are rudimentary compared to the awesome power that chatbots possess.
To put it simply, chatbots drive mortgages.
What are some ways then that chatbots can be made the most of in the mortgage industry? To answer that, let's examine the chatbot experience on a mortgage website through the eyes of a consumer.
Botsplash, an omnichannel customer engagement platform utilized by a variety of mortgage companies in the U.S., provides a chatbot to allow customers to engage with said companies when starting the journey of buying a home. When an individual visits one of these mortgage websites, he or she will see a floating square icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.
The person clicks on either part of the icon, and the chatbot widget opens.
Upon opening the widget, the individual is offered choices by the chatbot. This allows the consumer to start their home-buying journey on their own terms. Moreover, the Botsplash chatbot empowers its clients to offer consumers a hybrid experience of automated and live agent chat.
If the person does not wish to speak to an agent or loan officer right away, then the chatbot offers the choice to “Browse For Rates” where the consumer can undertake an automated journey to get a quote, for example.
Clicking on “Browse For Rates” prompts the chatbot to pose an automated question to the customer. This question can be customized according to the wishes of the mortgage company, but an opening question such as “Are you looking to purchase or refinance a home?” is commonplace for a mortgage-centric chatbot experience.
The question comes with two clickable answer choices – “Purchase” and “Refinance” – and when one of them is selected, the individual is asked another question and given accompanying answer choices that lead the person down a smooth automated chat journey.
The chatbot will continue posing an automated question, some featuring choices, others requiring the individual to type in an answer. This journey will ultimately provide the consumer with a mortgage quote from the company whose website the customer is on. This is made possible with Botsplash’s integration with contemporary pricing engines such as Mortech and Optimal Blue.
With an interest rate for a 30-year fixed loan provided to the consumer, he or she can now choose to “Chat with an agent” if desired. The Botsplash chatbot will connect the person with a loan officer from the mortgage website they are visiting, and they can initiate a live conversation to facilitate the home-buying process.
Moreover, all the information the consumer provides in the automated chat is given to the loan officer upon accepting the individual’s request to chat with an agent. In this way, the chatbot not only makes the home-buying process easy for the consumer, but for the loan officer as well. The loan officer has the necessary information to accommodate the customer’s wishes for a mortgage much more effectively.
Additionally, Botsplash offers its chatbot to be utilized on individual loan officers’ and agents’ personal landing pages. This way, individuals can directly engage with a loan officer of their choosing if they would like a more direct one-on-one mortgage experience.
As seen below, the Botsplash chatbot has been made green to differentiate itself from the main landing page’s chat widget and also offers options for the consumer that may not necessarily be the same as those of the company's primary chat widget.
For individual chat widgets for loan officers, Botsplash offers the ability to ask consumers directly if they would like to “Schedule a Call,” “Connect on LinkedIn,” or “Connect Via Text.” These options allow for a relationship between loan officer and individual to be established early. If an individual chooses to “Connect Via Text,” then simply by providing their name and cell phone number, the loan officer is able to text the person through the Botsplash platform. All the while, the individual is comfortably engaging with the loan officer through their smartphone.
These are some of the ways a chatbot can be used in the mortgage industry. An advanced chatbot like Botsplash's provides consumers with a hybrid experience of automated and live agent chat and can in turn benefit the mortgage companies utilizing the omnichannel customer engagement platform with seeing increased lock rates and improved customer engagement.
Pricing engines, rate tables, even mortgage calculators - Botsplash can integrate with tools like these to bolster the capabilities of the chatbot and provide consumers with expert levels of customer service and a great user experience.
Not having a chatbot on a mortgage company’s website is detrimental for generating leads and closing deals. If your mortgage company does not employ one, consider Botsplash as your chatbot provider.
If you would like to know more about our chatbot and other platform features, reach out to us at bizdev@botsplash.com.
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