The Principal with Andrew Pohlmann

Guaranteed Rate has more loan officers in the top 100 than any other company. Andrew Pohlmann, EVP of marketing and sales enablement with Guaranteed Rate, a Total Expert customer, was recently featured on The Principal podcast with host Christine Stewart, editorial director for The Mortgage News Network. In this episode of the podcast, Andrew shares how Guaranteed Rate is leveraging technology to create “the secret sauce” or “winning formula” to support loan officers as market uncertainty continues.  

Blending Technology and Expertise to Drive Loan Officer Revenue Growth 

Andrew believes that technology is only one part of the ‘winning formula’ that allows loan officers to be successful at Guaranteed Rate, but it is a critical part. Leveraging Total Expert, Guaranteed Rate has bundled its technology stack with content and marketing automation tools that allow loan officers to focus on driving revenue growth.  

He explains that the goal is to be one step ahead of the loan officer. They want to anticipate what loan officers need, what activities can make them more productive, and what they wish they could do on their own, and then use technology to complete those activities for them and leave them to do the things that loan officers do best. 

Working Efficiently by Monitoring Contacts for ‘Key Triggers’ 

Instead of spending hours monitoring contacts, Guaranteed Rate’s technology, powered by Customer Intelligence, allows loan officers to receive notifications when their contacts have experienced a ‘key trigger.’ By receiving an alert that a customer has listed their home or reached a specific credit threshold, Guaranteed Rate’s loan officers can automate pre-designed campaigns that allow them to focus their time on being in the field building meaningful relationships.  

As rising interest rates impact loan officers’ pipelines, Andrew believes automated campaigns and messaging enable loan officers to break through by providing valuable, educational, and timely content based on the trigger of that individual consumer. 

Guaranteed Rate has also developed specific campaigns to engage with referral partners and agents that are new to the company. By providing valuable messaging that informs partners of new or existing products and services that can help them navigate current market complexities, like rate buyback programs, for example, Andrew believes that they can demonstrate that Guaranteed Rate loan officers are the right people to be supporting them in these times.  

Being Prepared for When Rates Go Down 

A customer today is a refinance customer in the future. Andrew believes that loan officers can get ahead of the competition by building relationships now that could be fruitful when interest rates go down. “The very first loan application I took in the ’90s was 9%, so it’s still better than what it was when I started,” he shared. By leveraging technology and content that can help loan officers educate their customers about the realities of the current market conditions, Guaranteed Rate is working to ensure that they are who customers turn to when rates change again.  

Advice to Loan Officers  

What’s Andrew’s advice to loan officers who haven’t experienced a market like this before? Get into the field. He recommends connecting directly with new real estate agents or hosting a luncheon. Some of the most successful Guaranteed Rate loan officers are working to strengthen relationships that may have started from email but have evolved into in-person engagements.  

For new loan officers, Andrew recommends being available to consumers and real estate agents on their terms. In the same way that loan officers are using Total Expert to anticipate their customer’s needs, they must anticipate the needs of their referral partners. “Be that expert. Be that loan officer that the agent can rely on,” he says. Obsessing over the mutual customer and their needs will, in turn, support the agent and ultimately amount to a stronger relationship.  

For more of Andrew’s conversation with Christine Stewart, listen to the full episode of The Principal.