The Refi Wave Playbook: 6 BNTouch Tactics to Run When Rates Drop 50bps

When rates drop 50 basis points, the LO with a refi playbook closes the volume the next two weeks. The LO without one watches it go to a competitor. Six BNTouch tactics make up the playbook: confirm the Refinance Monitor is active across the funded book, activate Equity Alerts and dial in the refi-eligible conditions, build a rate-watch group and SMS-trigger borrowers into it, push a past-borrower email blast through Pik-a-Search, run a co-branded refi campaign with referring partners, and stand up the Refinance Analysis as the closing tool when the call books. Each tactic has a click path. Each compounds the others. The book that runs all six against a rate drop is a different business than the book that runs none.

By Yuri Polukeev, Founder of BNTouch.

A 50 basis point rate move is not a campaign. It is a window. The six tactics below collapse the LO’s response time from days to hours.

Tactic 1: Confirm Refinance Monitor is active across the funded book

Before the rate drop happens, Refinance Monitor needs to be on. Activation is at the module level. “Under your picture, you’re going to click the dropdown, you’re going to go to modules. You’re going to scroll down this page, you’re looking for refi rate” [4VFRyx_TjUY m10]. Once active, Refinance Monitor watches every funded borrower’s rate against the national average and surfaces opportunities in the dashboard alerts panel. The setup requires accurate funded-date and program fields. “These programs are correct as well. This says 25 years, 30 years, 35 years, 40 years” [4VFRyx_TjUY m3]. Custom program names like C30 still match correctly.

Tactic 2: Activate Equity Alerts and configure the refi-eligible conditions

Equity Alerts surface refi opportunities from the value side, not just the rate side. “With Equity Alerts, you never miss a chance to reach out to the right borrowers at the perfect time” [EkpJzldBI0k m0]. Configure alert types under the equity alerts interface. Standard rules: LTV below 80% (PMI removal or cash-out refi), high equity plus higher-than-current rate (rate-and-term opportunity). When the rate drop hits, the borrowers fitting both rate and equity criteria are the lowest-friction calls.

Tactic 3: Build a rate-watch group and SMS-trigger borrowers into it

The rate-watch group is the BNTouch container for borrowers who want to be notified when rates move enough to refi. Setup in Monica’s training video: “Add a group called rate watch. Add that group equals rate watch as the trigger” [7SXnFLRpWd0 m6]. The campaign starts when a borrower is added to the group. Triggers can also remove the borrower automatically once they hit application or processing stage. “If I want to remove them once they’re in the marketing sequence application or in processing” [7SXnFLRpWd0 m7], a second trigger handles the cleanup. Borrowers can self-add via SMS keyword trigger (“text RATES to get notified”). The LO can bulk-add past borrowers from the borrower record list using move records.

SMS templates are pre-built for the rate-watch send. The training video walks the meta tag substitutions. “You’re going to get the meta tag for the client name” [7SXnFLRpWd0 m20] plus tags for the rate and term. The SMS goes out with the current rate plus a “want to talk” CTA the borrower can reply to.

Tactic 4: Push a past-borrower email blast through Pik-a-Search

Pik-a-Search filtered by funded status, rate threshold (above current market by 100+ bps), and time-in-loan (past prepayment penalty window) gives the LO the list to blast. Save the search. Use the start campaign option to fire a refi-wave campaign on every record in the filtered output at once. The Refinance Tools training video covers the click sequence inside the borrower record. “Create a refinance analysis. Any refinance analysis that I’ve had in the past are going to be right here. Maybe I’d like to create a new one” [Kpevn7zluEA m5] to attach to the email. The email goes out with the analysis link pre-filled per borrower.

Tactic 5: Run a co-branded refi campaign with referring partners

Realtors and other referring partners benefit from a refi wave too. Their past clients have equity and want to know about it. Build a partner-targeted campaign that goes out with co-branding (“Refi opportunity from {LO_name} and {partner_name}”). Use the participant link from the partner plays post so the partner first name pulls in via meta tags. “Use these meta tags to pull in that data so that when you get that task assigned to you, you have everything you need to follow up” [90pJMzSzUsg m5]. Partners get a co-branded touchpoint. Past clients hear from both sides at the same moment. Conversion rates spike because the borrower trusts the agent who closed their original deal.

Tactic 6: Stand up the Refinance Analysis as the closing tool

When the borrower books the call after the SMS or email, the Refinance Analysis tool is what closes the conversation. From the borrower record, open Refinance Analysis. Enter the current loan terms in one column, the new rate scenario in the next, optionally a third scenario. “Several options you can send. Simply click the add scenario link to add another column. When you are ready to create a presentation hit the calculate button” [LBwUBZ9GnWw m1]. The tool highlights the best scenario and explains the savings in plain language. “Whichever scenario you mark as best will be highlighted in the comparison columns and contrasts will be explained in further detail” [LBwUBZ9GnWw m2]. Save the analysis to the borrower record. Send it through the portal or as a PDF attached to email. The borrower has numbers to make a decision on.

What the refi playbook does not solve

Two honest limits. One, the playbook works on a clean funded book. If the rate, term, and funded-date fields are missing on past borrowers, Refinance Monitor will skip them. Spend the week before any expected rate drop checking the record completeness, not setting up campaigns. Two, the volume of opportunities a 50 bps move surfaces can exceed the LO’s call capacity. Triage matters. The Equity Alerts panel sorts by potential savings size; calling the high-savings borrowers first protects the LO’s time when the wave is largest.

See the refi-wave playbook running on a sample funded book

If you want to see Refinance Monitor, Equity Alerts, rate-watch group, past-borrower Pik-a-Search blast, co-branded partner campaign, and Refinance Analysis running together against a sample rate drop, the fastest path is to request a demo and ask the BNTouch team to walk through the refi tools panel and rate-watch campaign setup. The refinance tools overview covers the module family.