[00:00] Hi and welcome to Broker Tools, where we unpack the tools, systems, and strategies that help brokers optimize the way they work. I'm Katie, your host, and today we are chatting with Jones from Active Pipe about how brokers can use smart email automations to stay top of mind, nurture leads at scale, and turn database into consistent deal flow without spending hours on content creation. Active Pipe is purposely built for the broker industry and making sure that you can deliver personalized and timely communications in a way that no lead slits through the cracks and every client has a touch point that feels relevant and valuable. If you are looking to build stronger relationships, repeat business, and make your marketing work in the background while you focus on settling deals, this episode is for you. Let's jump into that conversation. So uh the to start about active pipel for mortgage brokers which is making sure their contacts or clients don't forget about them right for a mortgage
[01:03] broker or a business owner it is a important problem to solve because the way our industry works as you would already know I have a loan every two or three years I refinance I try to get a better deal so it's repeat business is a poss huge possibility from their existing client base so if I forget get my broker and move on to the next broker. The broker loses trails or commission or gets a clawback depending on when it happens. So they don't want to lose me right now. The the sad part of the industry is they don't have the means all the time or they don't know how to stay in touch with people because uh again let's [snorts] it not everyone's a marketing expert or you know everyone has their strengths right. So brokers are good with finances and numbers. So that's where we come in. So we make sure they stay in touch with them consistently across different people they've got or they have a relationship with. So when they think of finance, they think of the broker. That's that's the goal we try to work with. Now we have good partnerships with almost all major players or aggregator providers out there in the industry. So
[02:06] we have good uh integration with almost all their uh CRM. So this integration gives us the ability to sort of automate workflows or processes uh uh seamlessly. So the broker or the end user don't have to necessarily do any step extra like copying information, exporting contacts, importing contacts into active pipe, making changes, none of that. So they are doing things as they are currently even before they adopt active pipe. Once they add active pipe, it changes nothing in their world. But active pudges plugs into the back end and we do our magic. So uh sort of few different key triggers we have the ability to look at within different aggregator partners would be the names of course email addresses loan types settlement dates uh different tags different labels they've got. So we can use that to create different targeted workflows or automations and do a structured or a targeted outreach programs for different contacts or groups of people. is active pipe similar to active campaign and obviously you
[03:09] have active in the title so we just don't obviously want to >> misconstrue um that but you can just probably help us a little bit there >> look I'm not exactly sure as to what the features or what the capabilities of of active campaigns are now again campaign is a word that is widely used in the in the marketing industry as you would already know and again active same name I don't know who came up with the first I'm honestly out of depths here in terms of telling you if we are similar or different in terms of active campaign but what I can do tell you is like think of us like someone like a Mailchimper an email marketing platform but specifically tailored for mortgage industry where we have the ability to sort of have integrations with most CRM out there uh we build uh content we give pre-built content campaigns etc uh understanding the industry so we are niche as is as it um focusing on one industry as opposed to a Mailchimp who can be a salon business or a car wash business or a
[04:12] mortgage business, right? Anyone can use it. Again, the the ownership comes to the user to if they know how to use the platform or if they have ideas for campaigns, they can make use of Mailchimp. But otherwise, it's kind of hard for them because, you know, it's not super custommade or, you know, so so yeah, we can sort of do that as a comparison. But again, yeah. >> No, as well it would help I guess people understand what active pipe is and likening it to Mailchimp in a way is almost similar to active campaign because they're both email marketing tools. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Um so look now what sets us apart from competition? Pretty simple. Like first and foremost, we give a lot of pre-built content. Now, we understand it's a challenge for everyone to sort of come up with their own content and no one has the time or the ability to do so or the interest to do so. Like if you ask me to sit and build tons and tons of content, I'm not going to do it. I don't have the interest or the capabilities to do it. So, uh we give monthly newsletters to start with. Now all communications that
[05:16] go out will go out from the broker's email address uh looking and feeling like it's coming from their desk or from them directly. So all branding followed all all logos and colors and everything the domains uh their own email addresses etc. So end user when they get it end user being the general public when they get it it's going to feel like it's coming from their favorite broker directly right not a third party like active pipe or or or someone else. So one fully built news a residential newsletter. So when I say fully built, all content, everything put together. So the brokers don't necessarily have to do anything. Uh everything is pre-checked and everything is good to go. It can automatically be scheduled to send. But for some people, they would like some form of control. So if they want control, we can give them a draft copy. They can have a look a day or two prior to the scheduled deployment date and they can sort of tweak or play around with it if they have the appetite to do so. Otherwise, it's good to go. It's all checked and everything. So we we can send. So, if you're curious to know who uh is building these content, we have an in-house team, editorial team building
[06:20] the content. So, we essentially send the newsletters towards the end of the month, giving us ample time to understand what's going on in the market, what's the important topic that's currently trending or going viral as the kids say these days. uh so you know we can sort of tweak and make the newsletters more relevant to what's going on as opposed to just sending generic content which is not useful to most people right um so again we there's there's a similar newsletter also built for commercial business and asset so again if if we're talking about a business which has a good uh client base of both resi and commercial they can make use of both newsletters now active part gives them an ability to target groups of people. Let's say if it's a residential. So they can they can pick a group, right? A group of people for residential, pick a group for commercial, they can pick a third group which is resi and commercial because we can send an email. If it's not relevant or giving people value, we may as well not send for the sake of sending, right? >> So um again that ability is something
[07:23] active pipe empowers the users with to custom target people to give more value. Now again we have the ability to sort of send RB announcements. Now IB announcements again is goes out pretty much the same day the announcement is made. We can sort of send a message saying hey this is the cash rate uh it's coming down. So here's a link to my calendar if you want to book a session with me. We can explore your options. Um so yeah reach out to me or something. So again that's also just consistent touch points being educational and being up you know updating them what's going on in the market. Now along with the newsletters look we can also sort of uh we have pre-built uh campaigns uh to target the client. So most CRM when they mark someone as a loan settled or loan completed or a deal closed active pipe sort of has uh the ability to see that information. Again depends on the CRM uh we're working with. Every CRM has different trigger points. Um so we can sort of automatically enroll that particular contact or client uh into a post settlement campaign. Now the goal
[08:27] of post settlement campaign is two things. Uh one during the deal stage right when the loan is in progress uh there's a good communication back and forth between the broker and the the client. Now, once the loan is settled, the conversation frequency decreases. Not because the brokers don't want to speak to them, but there is no deal on the table, and they're business owners, they're going to be focusing on their next deal, right? They still make an attempt to speak to them, but it's not going to be as often or as as regular as it used to be. So what this means for a client or a general public it's like they tend to lose connection or they tend to forget them or they feel like oh my broker forgot about me right now we want to eliminate that. So the goal here is to make sure consistent touch points are still maintained even when there's no deal in table today. Even when the deal is completed there's a consistent touch point going. Secondly, giving the brokers an opportunity to cross-ell or upsell other financial services. Most brokers, they don't stick to
[09:29] residential. They do asset loans or car loans or business loans or insuranceances. So, this would be a great opportunity for them to cross-ell other services they've got. So, you you know the saying, right? It's cheaper to uh to retain a client or then to acquire a new one. So, existing client, >> yeah, >> crosselling is much cheaper than to get a brand new client. So, so yeah. So there's different trig uh different uh automated workflows created for a post a client or a settle client for the next three years. So there's going to be a periodic check-in once every 6 months going out for the next 3 years. That's what is pre-built. But the good thing about active pipe is everything is customizable. Nothing is set in stone. So if you're a broker who wants u a a campaign running for the next 5 years for instance or for two years we can tweak it or they can go and tweak it themselves. So nothing is set in stone right all all the check-ins or the the the content again is pre template is pre-built so they can they don't have to do anything. we can just turn it on out of the box or if they want to play
[10:32] around with it, change the template, it's as simple as you know them just going it's think of it like a text editor like a Microsoft Word templates are there. They just go and type that's it. >> They can edit it and or do drag and drop. >> Correct. So edited or all the features are there on the side. They can just drag and drop it. It's pretty straightforward. Now, another great feature about Active Pipe is giving brokers an insight into what's happening with their database or trying to be the master of their own database. >> It's it's a no-brainer. People or at least most people research at least 3 or 6 months before they make a financial commitment. Now, let's let's even break it down, right, Katie? Are you using an Android or an iPhone? What what phone do you use? So, from a phone point of view, I'm very much an Android girl, but from a computer point of view, girl, >> more than Apple. How does these two talk to each other if it's a different ecosystem, as they call it? >> Oh, well, um, we Well, I guess it depends on how you're trying to talk to it because >> Yeah. >> Yeah.
[11:33] >> Yeah. Fair enough. Now, look, so let's say you are in the market to buy a Pixel 10 Pro. What is the first thing do you do? Do you just walk into JB Half or a Google store and order the phone or are you doing some form of research online YouTube videos to see unboxing reviews uh different deals out there? Right. What are you doing first? >> Reviewing. It's exactly like what we're talking about right now. Correct. Software. >> Correct. So, you're researching, right? You're not going spending $1,800 on a phone, but you are taking the time to understand what the capabilities are, what the feature exactly what we are doing right now, right? So, so if you're doing that for a $2,000 phone, half a million dollars at least is an average property in Australia at the moment. So, it's I mean most people should or would do that research and research these days are pretty much going online going to Google. >> Yeah. >> They don't pick up the phone and call the broker straight away. So, if they go to Google, it means they have access to the broker's competitors. So what active pipe sort of uh does for brokers is like let's say a broker has about 500
[12:36] contacts and the broker is consistently sending communication. Uh active pipe sort of creates or builds a history of every single contact to see what's going on after the email ser after the communications have been sent. So it starts building a profile on them and it starts giving them a timeline history of all the communications that has gone to that particular contact and the engagement they've shown. Have they opened the email? Have they clicked on the email? If they have clicked on an email, what are they clicking on? What links are they clicking on? And it gives them a timestamp breakdown of what has happened. >> Yeah. That shows where they're interested in. >> Correct. And we don't even we don't just stop there. We make it even simpler for brokers. We give a a list of highly interactive contacts. All right, Katie, you're a broker. You have 500 contacts. Here are the list of 20 contacts who are highly interactive. give them a call today because there's usually no smoke without a fire. Something's going on. So the broker instead of waiting for the contacts or the clients to reach out to them is
[13:38] proactive to reach out to them directly. He takes the first step or she takes the first step. So we not only give them a list of people they should be targeting or focused on, we give them a reason as to why we think they should be speaking to them today. >> Okay? So if the brokers don't have time to essentially reach out to a lot of people, they can at least target the people that we are telling them to target as opposed to calling different people who may be tire kickers, who may not be ready for a transaction today or who just want to wait. >> So you're almost like a little marketing partner in a pocket. >> Absolutely. We are right. And that's the reason, Katie, we are the king of email marketing when it comes to mortgage. We have close to uh 5 and a half thousand brokers using the platform in Australia at the moment. I don't think any any any partner has a market cap of what we have. >> Congratulations. [laughter] >> Thank you. We don't stop there. We still I mean it's my role to like get more. So >> you're like yeah winning. [laughter] It's important. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Um yeah. So and along with highly interactive we also
[14:42] give them another list of upandcoming contacts. Now these are people who are slowly starting to interact. Now we tell the brokers, hey, keep an eye on them because it's only a matter of time before they become highly interactive. You can either call them today and sort of reinitiate a contact if you haven't spoken to them in a while or just keep an eye on them for their activity. So from a business standpoint for a broker, this is essentially their pipeline that's going to transact in the next 12 to 18 months. So this is what they should be focusing on if they are in a growth spree trying to expand their business. So so yeah, so again a tool that can help them generate more leads within their database, help them fill up their pipeline, also help them to again better serve their clients, being proactive enough to reach out to and address their needs even before the guy walks into their shop saying, "Hey, I need help." Now lastly, um active pipe. Again, look, we are can also be used as
[15:45] a communication strategy tool. Now, as you would know, anything to do with marketing, at the end of the day, you don't sit and measure uh analytics, you may as well not spend the money because you're just burning cash, right? Because analytics are going to give you an understanding as to what's working, what's not working because what works for me might not work for you. Yeah. >> Right. >> So, we break down analytics again on a campaign level. Doesn't matter you're sending just newsletters or you're sending more custom approach or a targeted approach. Doesn't matter what what what strategy you're using. So we give you analytics breaking down and telling you what are the metrics, how many emails have been delivered, what is the view rate, what is the interaction rate, who are the key contacts who are engaging, what are the links that are clicking, is a particular campaign triggering a lot of unsubscribes for you, what does that tell you? Right? So we sort of give you numerous uh metrics to give them a holistic understanding of how every campaign is performing. So if they want to sit and perhaps uh review
[16:49] what's been happening or if they want to check hey I'm spending so much of dollars to active by to running these campaigns what is my return of investment maybe 6 months once six months or once in 12 months they can do an an understanding to see how much it's working and they can probably mirror the campaigns that are working well or stop the campaigns that are not performing well. So that's essentially what we do and how we support brokers. Um again we do sort of give them a content library which has over 1,800 plus articles which the brokers can sort of use part of their newsletters or just an email outreach program or share it in their social media side of things. Uh put it in their website, put it in their blogs. Again the library is updated once a month 10 to 15 new articles pushed in. Now the library is pre-catategorized into different categories. So there's some for first home buyers or investors or refinancers or commercial clients. So essentially there's there's articles that the broker uh that would cover the broker for different types of people
[17:51] they come across on their day-to-day. So they have something for everyone uh which they can make use of and the library is always updated so they're never running short of articles. Now we can sort of autoschedu these articles to go out. So once a Fortnite or once a month an article from this section can go out. Again, if uh they have groups of people, like a group of first home buyers, they can start sending them first home buyer related articles because oftentimes people are not ready to transact right away. Um and you need to do a little bit of nurturing. So when they're ready to transact, they come to you. Um so again, this is where we sort of nurture them and provide them more direction or educational um materials to help them. And yeah, expect nothing in return today, but when the time comes, the brokers go for their wallets. So yeah, >> nice. And I guess at the end of the day, you're really through using active pipe trying to be uh top of mind so that you're not forgotten. And so >> absolutely >> um what you're doing as a service is really um providing I guess the niche
[18:55] information required for a broker because >> correct >> obviously running the deal is their highest your highest priority typically and running marketing campaigns is a lot of work cuz if you're trying to spend time thinking of content and everything like that it's not really like as in the best use of time and that's what active pipe does. has this library so you can just almost pick and choose and send it out. >> Correct. Another way to put it as well like brokers are financial experts or they are experts in their field. Right now we position that in the market. We create the illusion that hey they I mean not the illusion like we we sort of push that messaging out saying hey they are the experts. They know what they're talking about right because they do know it. It's just that they don't know how to push that messaging out because not everyone's an expert in marketing right? So we through the use of um you know automated communications with with our pre-built content uh being relevant in the in the market with what's going on in the world out there. Uh we try to
[19:58] further cement the the the fact that they are the experts. They know what they're talking about. They are the trusted advisor when it comes to anything to do with finance. >> And so if people wanted to know more um where should they go and what should they do? question I love most. So if they want to know more, look, they can either go to our website and they can look for more information or they can fill a form saying, "Hey, book a demo or they can reach out to me, you know, my details." However is simpler for them, they can. And uh we're more than happy to sit and talk to them, understand a little bit more about what their business objectives are, what their goals are, how best we can tweak the platform to work for their particular office. Because if you think about it as a in a holistic way, every office has a database. They want to send communications. But the objectives are different, right? Someone would want to focus more on, hey, I have a huge list of people who are past leads. They came spoke to me, they didn't qualify or they never became a transaction. I need to
[21:00] nurture them. I want to focus them. That's the reason why I want active. Or they're like, hey, I have a good client base. I haven't been speaking to them because I don't have the time. I don't have resources. I need to focus on my clients. So every broker is different when it comes to their objectives. So we understand their objectives and we sort of help them uh achieve it by tweaking the platform to work in their favor. So yeah, they're more than welcome to reach out to us uh either through website or directly to me or yeah, we can happily work with them. >> Perfect. Thank you. It was nice meeting you, Jones. >> Have a good day. Bye. >> Welcome. Bye.
