Rates dipped this morning and you know three people in your database who locked above 7 last year. The window to reach them is hours, not days, because the rate-tracking apps already pinged them and some national call center is dialing right now.
Here is exactly what to say. Four scripts you can copy, paste, drop in your client’s name, and send: a text, two email versions, and a voicemail. Plus when to send each and why it lands.
When to send
Send the moment the drop is real and meaningful, not on a half-basis-point wiggle. A practical bar: at least a quarter point below where the client locked, holding for more than a day. Lead with text and voicemail because those get seen first. Follow with email for the clients who want the math in writing.
Speed is the entire advantage. Leads contacted within five minutes convert about 21 times better than ones contacted after 30 minutes (MIT/HBR Lead Response Management study), and the same urgency applies to your own past clients when a rate event hits. The first familiar voice wins. Make sure it is yours.
Script 1: The text (highest open rate, send first)
Short, human, named. No links, no disclosures crammed in, no shouting “RATES DROPPED.”
Hi [First name], it’s [Your name], your loan officer from [year or property, e.g. the Maple St. closing]. Rates moved down enough that it’s worth me running your numbers to see if a refinance saves you anything. Takes me five minutes, no obligation. Want me to check?
Why it works: it is personal, it references your shared history so they remember you instantly, and it asks one easy yes/no question instead of dumping information. The five-minute, no-obligation framing removes the “this is a sales pitch” wall.
Script 2: The email, short version (for the busy ones)
Subject lines that get opened: `quick rate check for you` or `worth 5 minutes, [First name]?`
Hi [First name],
Quick note. Rates have come down since we closed your loan, and the move is big enough that it’s worth me actually running your numbers rather than guessing.
If a refinance makes sense for you, I’ll show you the real monthly difference and what it costs to do it. If it doesn’t, I’ll tell you that too and we move on. No pressure either way.
Want me to run it? Just reply yes and I’ll pull it together.
[Your name]
[Phone]
Why it works: it promises the honest version (“if it doesn’t, I’ll tell you that too”), which is the opposite of what a call center does, and that honesty is exactly why a past client picks you over a stranger.
Script 3: The email, detailed version (for the analytical client)
Use this for clients you know want numbers before they reply. Subject: `your refinance numbers, [First name]`
Hi [First name],
Rates have dropped since you locked, so here is the back-of-napkin version for your loan.
When we closed, you were at roughly [old rate] on about [loan amount]. At today’s range, a refinance could move your payment by roughly [$X] a month. The cost to refinance typically runs [your usual closing-cost range], which means it would pay for itself in about [X] months. After that, the savings are yours.
Those are estimates until I pull your exact file, but the gap looks real. Want me to run the precise numbers? Reply yes and I’ll send them today.
[Your name]
[Phone]
Why it works: it respects that some people will not reply to a vague “rates dropped.” Giving them the rough math up front earns the response. Fill the brackets from the client’s actual file before sending. Never send made-up figures.
Script 4: The voicemail (when text gets no reply)
Thirty seconds. Warm, specific, no rate numbers left on a recording.
Hey [First name], it’s [Your name], your loan officer from [shared reference]. Not a sales call. Rates moved down enough that I wanted to personally check whether a refinance would actually save you money, so I’m running a few of my past clients’ numbers and yours came up. If it’s worth it I’ll tell you, if it’s not I’ll tell you that too. Give me a ring back at [phone] whenever you get a sec. Talk soon.
Why it works: naming your shared history in the first five seconds keeps them listening past “it’s your loan officer.” Saying “not a sales call” out loud disarms the instinct to delete it.
The move that beats everyone else to the call
The scripts only matter if you reach people before the national lenders do. Two things make that possible. First, your contacts, your past-client tags, and these templates need to live in one place so you can fire a rate-drop campaign to the right segment in minutes, not spend an afternoon copy-pasting. Second, a real-time alert when a past borrower’s credit gets pulled by another lender tells you exactly who is shopping right now, so you call that person first instead of blasting your whole list and hoping.
BNTouch Mortgage CRM keeps your past-client segments and message templates in one independent, all-in-one system and includes that real-time Credit Check Alert, so when rates move you can reach the right clients fast and catch the ones already shopping before they sign somewhere else.
Want to see a rate-drop campaign and the shopping alert set up against your own database? Book a BNTouch demo and we will wire it up on the call.
