On a typical day, you can find Customer Relationship Manager, Jelaire Grillo, wearing several different hats as she navigates through data, builds out new integrations, coaches our sales team, and more.
Jelaire has been in the mortgage industry since 2012, starting out as a Sales Assistant but made her way into marketing before joining Prosperity’s Sales Support Team in 2019. Through her years in the industry, she’s come to understand what Mortgage Consultants (MCs) need, where they need help, and where they can focus their efforts to get the most out of their time. She’s able to manage all of this within our Total Expert (TE) Platform and has become an invaluable member of the Prosperity team.
She recently won the Journey Wiz award from Total Expert as part of their Expys award program which recognizes high achieving companies or individuals and applauds ingenuity, innovation, hard work, and customer-centric strategies. We chatted with Jelaire to understand how PHM is using Total Expert to reach more agents and borrowers and grow our existing relationships.
First and foremost, what is Total Expert?
Jelaire: Total Expert is our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and customer engagement platform. We use it to create growth and loyalty with our customers through communication, marketing, and relationship management.
Why is it important for a Mortgage Consultant or agent to use a CRM?
The bottom line is that in this fast-paced world it is impossible for us to keep up with our customers and partners without the functionality of a CRM. Our Mortgage Consultants rely heavily on a CRM to make sure that they are communicating with their customers and partners the correct way. Think of a CRM as a member of your team – it has a role, and that role is to nurture and build relationships.
What makes Total Expert standout amongst other CRMs?
For us, it’s the co-branding functionality. Our relationship with our agents is important and having a CRM that understands that is vital to PHM. Alongside that, it has unique customization that allows us to make our brands come to life.
You received the Journey Wiz award. What is a journey and how are you using them?
In Total Expert, journeys are a set of automations in the form of emails, tasks, reminders and more, that go out to agents and borrowers to connect, inform, and improve workflows. I work with our team to create innovative journeys that connect our MCs to their customers and prospects. From the moment a borrower or agent starts to work with us, we use journeys to stay with them through every step of the way.
What is the most rewarding part of working with agents and mortgage consultants for you?
I love those ‘ah-ha’ moments. There is nothing like working with an MC or agent and watching what they have imagined come to life. Not only is that great but watching an MC push past their comfort zones and into a space they never thought they would, is awesome!
What advice would you give to MCs or Agents to best utilize their CRM?
#1 – Start small. Tackle each part of the platform one at a time, and when you get comfortable move on to the next.
#2 – Know your process. Take the time to map out your process from start to finish. Find the gaps, find the redundancies, and write out what you wish you could do if you had more time. Then work to build those into your CRM.
What would you say to MCs just starting out or don’t know where to start?
The two things that hold everyone back are time and not knowing where to start. We have an amazing Sales Support team here at PHM so our MCs never have to feel like they are alone in this. Reach out and ask for help. When an MC asks, “What should I be doing in the platform?” or “What are the most successful MCs doing in TE?”, the answer will always be that they are starting small, they are incorporating their process into the system, they are taking the time, and they are asking for help. We want to see every MC succeed.