The platform was developed her partner Mohamed Radif, who is a software engineer with two decades of experience within large investment banks, with some of this time spent within the mortgage-backed securities investment division.
Dilliway said: “My other half is a software engineer and he’s been working in an investment bank on their mortgage side, so he understands the backend of things. I’ve been a mortgage broker for 12 years, so I have that insight. Bringing the two together, we developed the new CRM platform because we’ve seen and tried a few which are already on the market and weren’t too happy with them.
“We decided we wanted to do it differently. We have been working on this for the past 18 months and we started using it about four months ago.”
The platform, ClientTree, has been trialled by a number of broker firms and clients have also been invited to upload their personal information on the platform.
Dilliway and Radif are directors of the company.
Dilliway said: “Ultimately, the idea behind it is that rather than managing a mortgage as a standalone product, it’s more customer centric. You look at the client, get their data and over time add properties, mortgage products, insurance policies, notes and documents so it’s engineered around the client.”
An overview of the borrower
The platform creates a profile of each client with information on the type of property they have mortgages against, any protection policies and insurance they have and other credit commitments. Information can also be linked and duplicated to the profile of someone a client shares products with, such as a joint mortgage, without the need to rekey information.
A client can fill in their profile on their own or an adviser can do it on their behalf. If any changes are needed, this can be done by either the client or the adviser and amendments will be highlighted so they are easily spotted.
Notes can also be added to a client’s profile, such as any adverse credit, signs of vulnerability or additional assistance because they are a new buyer. These can be removed later when they are no longer relevant, and any changes will be tracked to create a historical trail.
Dilliway said: “It’s called ClientTree for that reason; you have the client then all the branches or products that are related to them and you build it around them. That enables you to see their portfolio, and their current situation. With other systems, it can be difficult to see what the client already has, which can be a challenge, especially if someone has a number of properties.
“It gives you an overview of the client and if anything new comes up, you just add it to their profile. It gives context.”
On the business side, brokers can keep track of who they refer cases to or where referred cases have come from, as well as the commission gained from each business relationship.
Easier for the broker and clients
Dilliway said ClientTree recognised the increasing use of technology and the ability for users to access the platform with their devices made it more convenient.
She said clients could also upload documents to the platform rather than having to provide physical documents.
Dilliway said it would also help brokers to assess a client’s situation and use the profile to generate reports for the regulator.
She said Financial Conduct Authority reports needed to be produced twice a year which “could be a nightmare” due to the information gathering. She said this would alleviate that problem.
Dilliway added: “It makes it easier for the broker. When you speak to brokers, they tend to have an Excel sheet, and this will replace that.”
ClientTree is cloud-based and secure, Dilliway added. The company has also had meetings with sourcing system providers to work on integrating it into other platforms.
Dilliway said the main thing which stood out about ClientTree was its focus on the client and their circumstances.
She added: “The other CRMs tend to take a project management type of approach. Which means they look at cases as they come in, then the mortgage is taken to completion, and it’s the end of the story.
“If you wanted to check what mortgages a client has, it’s not that simple to see. They see mortgages as individual projects whereas we see them as one aspect of each client.”
