From predictive search results to real-time fraud detection, artificial intelligence has quickly become a foundational layer of modern business. This is no longer just a Silicon Valley buzzword. It’s real, it’s powerful, and it’s transforming the way we work.
AI is increasingly being used in mortgage sales and marketing, but not all lenders are leveraging it well. Rather than trying to automate entire departments (which AI doesn’t do well today), smart lenders are using artificial intelligence to streamline loan officers’ daily tasks.
A customer relationship management (CRM) platform, combined with properly trained AI, can streamline and even automate the work that loan officers do before a borrower completes a mortgage application.
AI is a big part of the development roadmap for the mortgage industry. If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, you’re in trouble.
turning point
It’s in our inboxes, underwriting platforms, and borrower communication tools. Automation is already helping marketing departments across industries identify engaged prospects, optimize email send times, and personalize campaigns at scale.
For sales teams, you can also predict the pipeline to prioritize leads and flag when a borrower might be shopping. All of this increases efficiency for loan officers and real estate agents. However, this will only happen if the technology is deployed correctly.
We are at a tipping point where AI moves from a “nice-to-have” to a competitive necessity. Lenders who ignore it will be ahead of those who have it built into their operational DNA.
Preparing for AI introduction
Lenders are naturally risk-averse when it comes to changing processes, and for good reason. It is wise to consider the risks before implementing.
The content generated often lacks the nuance, compliance oversight, and industry context essential to financial services. Improperly trained tools are notorious for hallucinating facts, citing incorrect regulations, and creating content that sounds “offensive,” especially to experienced borrowers and partners. This can expose lenders to significant non-compliance risks.
There’s also the issue of consistency and brand voice. Generic AI-generated posts may tick the boxes on lenders’ modernization efforts, but they don’t build trust with borrowers. And trust is everything when it comes to mortgage lending. AI-generated content filled with emojis and em dashes is easy to spot. Borrowers know they are not dealing with the competent human advisors they need.
Despite these challenges, financial institutions can no longer afford to ignore AI. These tools have already been adopted by our competitors. The question is how do lenders enter the game in a way that puts them in a position to win? The easiest way is to use an AI-powered CRM system.
Where AI changes the game
When it comes to mortgage marketing and sales, AI is not replacing the need for marketing automation platforms as some had hoped. But these tools can now do more for lender loan officers than ever before.
Companies use AI-generated content to train large-scale language models (LLMs) to help loan officers consistently deliver compliant marketing messages without risking compliance violations. The more years of compliant mortgage marketing you have with your existing library, the better. Without it, lenders are taking a significant risk every time an LO uses ChatGPT for general marketing emails.
Automation means consistency, compliance, and control. The goal is to ensure that the right message reaches the right person at the right time, every time. A good marketing automation platform tracks performance, logs interactions, and allows marketers to analyze and adjust campaigns over time.
AI can help with this, but only if properly trained. The lender’s marketing automation can then pick up these messages and deliver them in a way that drives engagement.
But the first place financial institutions are seeing the benefits of AI is not in content generation, but in keystroke savings.
Helping LOs work faster
Top loan officers aren’t interested in AI talking to borrowers or deciding what to email. They understand how relationships build strong relationships and lead to sales and referrals.
Borrowers don’t want robots to return their calls. You also don’t want to receive an email full of emojis you’ve never seen before from a loan officer who’s never used them before. They want a trusted professional to help them finance their home.
LO wants AI to make your day more efficient. Some of these tools are already built into your CRM’s prospecting workflow, scanning your LO database of past customers for new financing opportunities. These leads are automatically entered into your dashboard and queued as your personal contacts.
But sometimes LOs find their own opportunities and just need a little help.
Suppose a loan officer walks into the office and notices a change in the market. Interest rates on government-backed loan products are changing, and borrowers in our database may be able to refinance to eliminate private mortgage insurance and reduce their monthly mortgage payments. When accessing the CRM, the LO enters “FHA” and filters the results to show recently completed loans.
Interest rate filters help generate a list of borrowers who can benefit from such offers. Those who qualify will receive an email with a personalized message for each borrower on the list. Without automation, this task would take several minutes to complete for each borrower. But with AI, you can do it with a single prompt like this:
“Find all past customers who closed at an interest rate above 6.6% within the past 18 months and would benefit from an FHA loan offer. Show me three email formats to choose from. All include marketing messages about the benefits of avoiding PMI to lower your monthly payments.””
After a few seconds, click on the email of your choice and marketing automation can take over from there.
What should lenders do?
For mortgage sales and marketing leaders, here are some steps to prepare for this change and avoid risk.
First, educate your team. Don’t assume your staff knows how to use AI responsibly. We provide training and clear guidelines. Make sure your guidelines include guardrails that clearly explain what employees can’t do with AI and what information they shouldn’t share with the public LLM.
Second: Audit your content. If you’re experimenting with AI-generated messaging, run it through your legal and compliance departments. Double-check accuracy and brand tone. Unless you are using a CRM that already provides compliant copy via a well-trained LLM, you should test everything your team generates using AI for compliance.
Third: Invest in high-quality integration between platforms. Make sure your AI tools are integrated with your CRM, loan origination system, and other marketing platforms. Cutting tools will only slow down your work. Remember, don’t expect AI to replace your job; rather, expect it to augment it. Start by letting AI handle repetitive tasks or surface insights, rather than crafting core messages.
Finally, keep your eyes on the goal. Technology must serve a long-term vision. Don’t follow trends. Build a system that improves employees’ work ability.
AI is not a silver bullet, but it is a powerful tool that can improve every part of your borrower engagement strategy. When it comes to mortgage financing, relationships are everything. AI isn’t going to change that.
