What is the proper way to handle commercial loan clients? Is it still enough to keep track of things in your old contact system? Banking customers expect more from their financial institution than a mere checking account or reasonable interest rate. Today, it’s all about providing a great customer experience, which translates to personalization and tailored financial advice at every touch point.

When a commercial loan customer needs help, are you confident your banking technology will stand up to the challenge?

Why CRM is Not Optional

Any excellent business relationship aims to understand a customer’s needs to offer support and insight. The stakes are even higher when it comes to financial matters because a banking relationship is built on trust and the assumption that a lender will do all in their power to provide the best outcome and experience possible. There’s no room for error.

Commercial loan clients need their financial provider to immediately recognize signs of opportunity or distress and tailor custom solutions based on a deep knowledge of the customer—and that’s where CRM comes in. The right CRM can:

  • Increase leads. Finding new customers no longer needs to mimic finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. With a CRM tool, your organization can better anticipate financial trends and recognize where customers are and what they require. A lender can better plan and tailor its marketing strategy to find qualified leads.
  • Increase conversions. From the onset, the more your institution knows about each customer, the better you can service their individual needs. Leads are converted when customers feel you’ve recognized their problems and can offer the right solutions. An accessible and comprehensive CRM solution means all banking employees have detailed customer profiles available to provide additional services and opportunities.
  • Improve communication. The more clients do business with a financial institution, the more clients come to expect in terms of recognition and support. The right CRM system gives unique data at the fingertips of anyone in the organization, so customers no longer feel like a small fish in a big pond trying to get answers. Employees know everything from the first inquiry to the last interaction so they can pick up the conversation where it left off.
  • Increase marketing. Digital marketing rules a company’s reputation today, and knowing how and where your brand is being talked about is one of CRM’s many benefits. CRMs not only monitor the online world for discussion about your institution, but they also deliver the results so you can react and respond promptly.
  • Improve the hand-off. Nothing irks a client more than reaching a service representative that knows nothing about a situation and can’t help. Consequently, the interaction typically results in the customer getting tossed about from person to person, increasing the client’s frustration. CRMs allow data tracking across all departments, which not only gives all employees the best information possible to solve any issue, but it also provides insight to offer additional relevant products and services, resulting in a loyal customer.

What Lenders Should Look for in a CRM

What is the proper way to handle commercial loan clients? Is your current customer relationship management (CRM) system effective at keeping track of your clients, or is it outdated and causing you to lose customers? Commercial lenders need the right CRM to make accurate credit decisions, reduce credit risk, and offer borrowers the ultimate customer experience. Commercial lenders should demand a CRM that meets the specific challenges of originating and servicing commercial loans—capabilities not all loan origination software and CRM systems can achieve.

To truly streamline the loan servicing process and personalize the borrower experience, lenders should look for a CRM solution with the functionality to ease loan management from beginning to end.

Customizable. You might not be able to find one program that solves all your commercial loan needs right out of the box; however, you should make sure the CRM can be tailored to meet your financial institution’s specific needs. Customized solutions that grow with your bank or credit union and client base require a responsive software solution with supportive service staff. Customizing the platform’s look to portray your institution’s brand and messaging also improves customer experience. Borrowers will recognize your lending institution’s look and feel, which lessens their confusion and makes them feel safe.

Quick and accurate. When customers want a lending decision, they want it immediately, without dealing with tons of cumbersome document management. The online application processes must be easy to navigate and upload the required information. User-friendly applications encourage customers to continue with loan applications instead of leaving them unfinished. A robust CRM program quickly records personal information such as financial statements, credit scoring, and job history. It can also help predict a borrower’s financial behavior based on past lending experiences. With precise customer data, a lender can individualize solutions based on past customer difficulties.

Holistic view of data. The most significant feature of a banking CRM solution is to support the human interactions with a client. CRM software should be used to enhance the borrower-lender relationship and personalize the experience that each borrower has with the institution. A robust CRM solution lets the lender see the whole customer picture before customizing a lending package. The CRM should boost a lender’s understanding of the borrower’s total needs.
To automate workflow and track clients’ actual financial performance, let’s look at three CRM programs for commercial lending.

Salesforce

Commercial lenders familiar with cloud-based Salesforce will appreciate the many program integrations and easy functionality they’ve come to know with the Salesforce brand. Built on the Salesforce platform, Salesforce Financial Services is a commercial loan software solution that includes business loan management, insurance, wealth management, and commercial banking tools.

Salesforce support helps you tailor business loan servicing and banking modules to your needs, allowing your institution to keep on top of the financial landscape and trends. The CRM and loan portfolio feature streamlines digital account opening, onboarding, and loan origination. Plus, the loan servicing solution allows the functionality to automate recurring transactions and monitor loan performance to identify renewals so your institution can approve more commercial loans.

You may encounter an initial learning curve adapting to the software or desire more customization options.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance

Another popular CRM for the commercial lending industry is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance’s DynamicsAdvantage for Loan Management. DynamicsAdvantage addresses the critical elements of loan management with the support of a strong ERP platform. With DynamicsAdvantage, you have the tools and functionality needed to approve, disburse, collect, and monitor the availability of funds.

Taking advantage of Microsoft Dynamics 365’s CRM capabilities, you can also:

  • Run multichannel channels to foster leads and personalize customer experience based on the user’s engagement
  • Make better lead decisions using score models
  • Automate many processes to save time and offer better service

Creating upsell and cross-sell opportunities is easier with all the customer data at the sales team’s fingertips.

Adobe Experience Platform

The Adobe Experience Platform uses acquired Adobe and non-Adobe data and transforms the information into real-time customer profiles. The data continuously updates and offers AI-driven insights to boost customer experiences.
Financial service operations use Adobe to target customers based on their specific behaviors, drive engagement, and strengthen existing relationships with improved anticipation of customer needs.

Because it’s an open platform, you also have access to build onto the system and customize the platform to your organization’s needs. Those already familiar with Adobe programs and templates may be more comfortable integrating the features into the lending process.

Why CRM is Not Enough for Lenders

While true CRM systems (like the products mentioned above) can be adapted for commercial lending, specialty platforms with dedicated CRM components for the lending industry can replace or supplement CRM for lending purposes. The Biz2X lending software platform is a comprehensive management system and SaaS tool with CRM capabilities that streamlines how money lenders manage commercial loan origination, including risk analysis, loan applications, and collection on loan defaults. Known for its flexibility and customizability, Biz2X has several versions available so financial institutions can find the appropriate solution that’s best for them and their clients.

Biz2X automates bank statements analysis with a user-friendly dashboard, contains data collection and machine learning AI, offers personalized feedback, and monitors post loan activity. As a result, the system reduces credit fraud and alerts loan officers with early warning indicators of risky loan management.

Because Biz2X is mobile-friendly, users can access the platform from anywhere on any device. As far as security, Biz2X has SOC-2 certification and never shares information with third parties. SOC-2 certification is an auditing process relevant for any institution storing customer data in the cloud. SOC-2 compliance mandates strict policies and procedures to secure valuable customer data such as bank account data and credit reports.

Finally, Biz2X’s Bank Statement Analyzer feature lowers credit risk by integrating the institution’s credit policies from the application stage, speeding up loan decisions. Speedier loan application also saves the institution money by automating many steps of the loan process formerly done manually.

Online Lending Platforms

Online lending software can reduce costs and loan process times, lower default rates, increase efficiencies in risk management, and support growth in opportunities. In addition, digital lending provides greater convenience for customers and allows financial institutions to monitor lending activities for signs of distress or opportunities.

CRM solutions give your financial organization the tools required to better customer service and personalize the customer’s experience. With access to detailed customer profiles at employees’ fingertips, every previous interaction and solution offered is right there to ensure knowledgeable and informed responses.

To learn more about Biz2X, visit the Resource Center for exclusive information about loan platforms. Or get started with a digital lending platform built specifically for independent banks. Speak to a lending expert to get started.