Our client is a mortgage brokerage based in Canada. Each agent received 40–60 new leads weekly from online ads, referral partners, and inbound calls. They were using Zoho CRM, but only for storing contact info. Everything else — from follow-ups to deal tracking — was being done manually.
Emails were written one by one. Tasks weren’t assigned automatically. Referral updates were sent by hand. Zoho wasn’t built around how they actually worked — so most of the team didn’t use it actively.
The agency had a strong client base, but their backend systems couldn’t keep up. Here’s where they were struggling:
Leads were coming in daily, but there was no way to track who had been contacted, who booked a call, or who was waiting on documents. Some got missed entirely. Others sat too long without a response. No one could clearly see who was in pre-approval, underwriting, or ready to fund.
Every agent was sending the same pre-approval messages, document reminders, and updates manually — over and over. If someone was out for the day, their leads didn’t move forward. There were no triggers or automations in place.
Partners who referred leads weren’t being updated when a client booked a consult, submitted their mortgage application, or closed the deal. Everything had to be remembered and sent manually — which meant it often wasn’t.
There were no proper stages inside the CRM — just names and numbers. The team couldn’t answer questions like:
“Has this client submitted their docs?”
“Who’s working on this deal?”
“Which files are taking too long?”
They had the tool, but it wasn’t set up for mortgage workflows. No deal stages. No automation. No tasks assigned when things moved forward. The CRM wasn’t helping the team — it was just sitting there.
If someone didn’t move forward in the first couple of weeks, they were forgotten. There were no monthly check-ins, follow-up campaigns, or reminders to re-engage. Cold leads and expired pre-approvals just sat in the system, untouched.
“We don’t have a clear view of our process. We just want something that runs without us checking every step.”
We designed a customized ClickUp workspace to mirror the way their business actually works—built for finance teams, not generic task lists.
We restructured Zoho to reflect their actual workflow. Stages like
Initial Intake → Pre-Approval Sent → Documents In → Underwriting → Conditions Met → Funded gave everyone a clear roadmap for each deal.
We added automated emails and text messages for every key step — from initial lead intake follow ups to document reminders to post-funding check-ins. Agents no longer had to chase leads one by one.
Every time a lead hits a key milestone, their referring partner now gets notified automatically. No more guessing, forgetting, or manual follow-up.
As deals move through the pipeline, the right tasks go to the right team member. There’s no confusion around who’s supposed to handle what.
Inactive leads, rate shoppers, and expired pre-approvals now go into monthly follow-up campaigns. The team gets second chances on leads they would’ve otherwise lost.
We built a step-by-step view of their lead and deal journey inside the CRM — used now for training, reviews, and staying on top of what’s working.
Since the implementation, the business has seen measurable improvements:
🕒 40% faster response time to new leads
📉 60% less time spent on manual follow-ups
📈 35% more clarity on deal status and progress
🔁 100% of referral partners get updates at key stages
✅ Each deal has a clear owner and next step
📬 Old and cold leads now get followed up automatically