E-Loan

E-Loan

is a Pleasanton, California-based financial services company that offers savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) and access to partners that may be able to assist customers in obtaining loans.In October 2008, E-Loan's parent company, Popular, Inc. said E-Loan would no longer operate as a direct mortgage lender in 2009, but would continue to provide certificates of deposit and savings accounts. Operational, general and administrative support functions would be transferred to other Popular subsidiaries.Company officials said customers who have already obtained loans through E-Loan would not be affected.

History

E-Loan was founded by Janina Pawlowski and Chris Larsen in 1997 to provide customers with access to mortgage loans over the Internet. In 1998, the company received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital.

Challenge

Re-engage Online Loan Applicant Mortgage applications are notorious for being long and complicated. E-LOAN has worked hard to change that perception by developing a simple online application that guides borrowers through the process. Even so, many borrowers abandon the application before completing it. The challenge for E-LOAN was to create a cost-effective process to re-engage these customers and get them to complete their applications.

Solution

Automated, Event-triggered ProgramsUsing the Responsys Interact® on-demand marketing platform, E-LOAN implemented anevent-triggered, multi-stage email program to remind and encourage borrowers to completetheir mortgage applications. The program was executed in two waves.The first campaign, triggered 30 minutes after the application was abandoned, reminded
applicants to complete the process, provided a quick link to the partially completed application,
and encouraged applicants to use phone support. The second campaign, sent oneweek later, called the applicant’s attention to the company’s value proposition and offereda quick link to the incomplete application.E-LOAN also worked with Responsys to build two-way integration with the company’sdata warehouse as well as custom enhancements to the platform to support A/B andcontrol testing requirements.In a separate program, E-LOAN targeted applicants who were approved for an auto loanbut ultimately did not fund the loan. Assuming that these individuals opted for dealer financing,E-LOAN issued a refinance offer via email and direct mail to qualified applicantsafter funding was initilly approved.

Results

Higher Open Rates and Increased Customer RetentionE-LOAN has garnered outstanding response rates. The company reports that open ratesare 56% higher than average, and CTRs are 161% higher than the financial services average.The real stand-out is the auto refinancing program, which has yielded a 300% lift inresponse over the control group.

Key learnings:

Automation is critical. We used to send this type of campaign once a week on a manualbasis. It wasn’t scalable and lacked the immediacy of the 30-minute trigger, whichoperates 24/7.Build intellectual capital. The automated programs don’t rely on one employee whomight jump ship along with his accumulated knowledge. Don’t be left high and dry whena skilled employee leaves.
Continual testing. Our testing platform lets us continually test and learn with very littleincremental investment.Not everything is incremental. Measuring campaigns against a holdout cell is criticalto understanding whether the campaign has value. This is especially important formultichannel marketers who generate awareness and interest through channels other than email.