We continue our journey of getting to know millennials better so you can effectively increase your business with that demographic. Today we’d like to talk about the core of every mortgage transaction – communication. We have two questions that we need to answer:
1. First: there are a lot of channels that you can use to communicate with millennials: email, phone, SMS, etc. But are they equally effective?
2. Second: millennials are accustomed to a certain way of communication. How can you leverage this as a mortgage professional?
Let’s find out.
Communication Channels for Millennials
Email
Let’s start with the basics. Every mortgage professional out there uses email for notifications, communications, promotion and thousands of other reasons. New research from Adestra points out that 73% of millennials prefer email, because it’s “part of everyday life.”
As you can see, email is not going away anytime soon. There is absolutely no reason to stop using it in your communications with millennials. However, make sure it does not appear spammy or overwhelming. Those emails are going to be rejected by millennials and “thrown into the trash.”
Social Media
Remember this communication channel. It can be your primary source of referrals. As we mentioned in our previous article – millennials are actively using social media to share their experience among friends and family. When you provide great mortgage experience, you will soon find yourself overwhelmed with referrals.
However, social media is not best suited for business communications with millennials. Millennials view social networking websites as friends first, brands second. It means that you should use other channels to communicate with millennials about business, such as:
Client-Service Mobile Applications
These applications usually do not limit themselves to only communication. They also provide various tech features that millennials love. For example: online document upload, push notifications, etc.
What makes these applications so great? First of all, millennials will associate this particular app with you and your brand. There are several options on the market if you are looking for mortgage-specific communication apps:
– BNTouch MortgageCircles app
– MortgageMapp
– Simplenexus
Tricks to keep in mind:
1. Make sure your application is properly branded. This way you will always be on the client’s mind.
2. Make sure to ask your service provider to put a simple referral form right inside the app. This will make the borrowers’ referral process so much easier, and you so much happier with more referrals coming your way.
SMS/Messengers
It is pretty obviously that you can’t use SMS or messengers as a main way to communicate, but they surely can be used as a great notification tool. In our previous articles we have mentioned that SMSs have the biggest open rate compared to other marketing channels – 98%. Make sure to leverage this.
Does one of your millennial clients have a birthday? Throw him or her a quick SMS congratulation; it might not seem like much, but it sure is memorable. Here’s another example: as soon as a loan gets approved, send an automated email explaining what happened and what is going to happen next. Send a message in WhatsApp alongside the email, make sure it is read and your client is up-to-speed in a timely manner.
As you can see, each communication channel suits a specific purpose in the world of millennials. Use this information to your advantage to talk with them in their own language in the right place.
Speaking of language, we have also prepared a few guidelines on how you should or shouldn’t communicate with this generation:
How To Communicate with Millennials
Keep it short, but provide details
This one can be a bit confusing. How can I provide details, but keep it short? The answer is: you have to focus on what is most important. Millennials don’t like spending a lot of time reading your thorough report of what happened in the transaction. But they do like it when you keep them in the loop.
Your task, as a mortgage professional, is to formulate an informative message that takes only seconds to read. When you create such message, we can assure you that your borrowers are going to refer you to other millennials: “I heard you want to get a mortgage. I know this mortgage person that keeps unnecessary communications to minimum, but I always know what’s happening with my transaction. Here is the number…”
24/7 Communications
Another thing to keep in mind about millennials is that they are expecting you, as their service provider, to be available 24/7. It doesn’t matter where: email, messenger, SMS – you should be ready to provide them with an answer right away. If you are not up for it – rest assured somebody else is. That’s the mindset of millennials. You have to win each and every one of them.
Millennials are used to being connected and having information whenever and wherever they want it. Use this to your advantage and you will be able to provide the best mortgage experience on the market.
Don’t Be Condescending
Let’s face it, the mortgage industry is not the youngest one. When communicating with millennials make sure you are not making any remarks about their inexperience in the area and don’t be condescending with them in any way. Most of them see right through patronizing attitudes and false passion.
To reach this ambitious generation you should recognize their intelligence. Present information in a fast-paced way through the channels they want and in a way that helps them feel like they are making progress towards their goals. At the same time, and without “talking down” to them, you need to be very certain they are truly understanding everything that is going on.
Be Authentic
The millennial generation has little to no tolerance for insincerity and inauthenticity. If a problem occurred during the mortgage process – stand up and say so. For example, “We have a problem, we need this much time to resolve it. Thank you for your understanding.”
The bottom line is, millennials respond better to a more conversational, sincere approach, and not the official one. For millennials, there is no separation between business and personal – work and life are blended – so effective communication means fostering a true connection.
Use Visuals
This is where we all look alike, millennials, gen x, baby boomers. All of us love visual content – it is easier to comprehend, to remember and to associate with a brand.
For millennials there is another bonus in it, visual content is easy to share. Providing your marketing materials in a playful, visual form can bring you a lot of business through social sharing.
Conclusion
As you can see, millennials are really quite a controversial and complicated generation. You have to communicate with them t and with the right message or you can forget about millennials’ business. But if you do everything right, 35% of home buyers are yours for the taking.
Make sure to contact us should you have any questions or suggestions.
Reach us via email info@bntouchmortgage.com or via phone 888-971-1117.
Thank you and let’s bntouch!
