"The resulting pieces are really accomplished, consistent, and professional. Thank you for a cleaner, more comprehensive set of timeless tools to inform and educate our customers."

— Chris Maskill, CEO, Builders Capital Mortgage

Informed decision-making delivers measurable results for a wholesale mortgage lender

• Company: Builders Capital Mortgage
• Location: Seattle, Washington
• Industry: Wholesale Residential Construction Lender
• Annual Revenue: Confidential
• Number of Employees: 8

The Challenge

Builders Capital Mortgage, a wholesale residential construction lender in Seattle, was a young business that was growing using guerilla marketing tactics. They had no marketing plan and few sales collateral materials. The CEO contacted TsuluWerks to revive the sales pipeline with a concerted mix of communications strategies.

The Strategy

The TsuluWerks-Builders Capital alliance started with design, content development, and production of a sales kit. TsuluWerks created the big idea of "Fast, Flexible, Friendly Construction Loans" to focus on the excellent customer service and fast turnaround the company provides. Upon completion of the sales kit, it was apparent that a partnership could help Builders Capital reach their overall strategic and marketing communications goals. TsuluWerks became the Made-to-Order Marketing team for Builders Capital Mortgage.

As a virtual chief marketing officer and marketing department, we create, implement, and manage all communications for Builders Capital, and provide weekly reports to measure effectiveness and profitability. We use a separate phone line and Builders Capital email address for company-related communications, providing seamless integration with their operations and procedures.

Early in the alliance, we collaborated with the client to launch Construction PRO, a customer loyalty program that rewards high-performing brokers and offers co-marketing opportunities. As a Made-to-Order Marketing team, we research, coordinate, and develop content for all marketing materials. We meet weekly with the CEO to discuss strategy and bi-weekly with the sales team to ensure campaign implementation and quality control. In addition to ongoing marketing management, the following marketing communications were developed to help Builders Capital fill their sales funnel with qualifies leads:

• Direct Mail and Thank You Gifts
  We created a direct mail campaign to announce new offerings, leverage industry trends, and remind brokers of the advantages of adding construction loans to their portfolios. As part of the customer touch program, customers receive quarterly thank you gifts and gifts for "off" holidays like National Homeowners' Day. A direct mail campaign generates, on average, about 13.77% of all incoming sales calls to Builders Capital.
• Newsletter
  Growing competition for the attention of customers means that any customer communications material must be immediately interesting and appealing. Broker + Builder, the bi-monthly newsletter, covers broker issues in the residential construction lending industry, new trends and tips, and provides information on new products and services. The newsletter is researched, written, designed, and distributed by TsuluWerks. The topics emphasize issues that affect readers rather than simply the products that Builders Capital wants to promote, which was particularly important during the turbulent mortgage industry climate in 2007. The newsletter serves as a brand building tool, generating an increasing number of phone and email inquiries. It has generated 1.63% of all incoming business calls.
• Construction PRO Customer Loyalty Program
  The Construction PRO (Premium Resources for Originators) customer loyalty program rewards high-performing brokers with premier access to industry information. Construction PRO members receive current builder leads in their area, get marketing support and co-marketing offerings, and have access to educational opportunities in the industry.
• Advertising Campaign
  TsuluWerks created a series of ads that highlight Builders Capital's offerings in residential construction lending. The ads generated an average of 26.8% business phone calls during the months when they were published.
• Trade Shows and Promotional Products
  Trade shows attendance requires both management and preparation. TsuluWerks takes care of it all for Builders Capital. We created, designed, and produced the trade show booth. For every trade show we coordinate with Builders Capital on pre-event, day-of, and post-event marketing strategy and implementation. A TsuluWerks representative attends the show to represent Builders Capital marketing department and discuss the customer loyalty program.

The Result

As the Made-to-Order Marketing team, TsuluWerks helped Builders Capital exceed financial projections by 115% within the first six months.

See an example project

TsuluWerks, Inc. + 1511 Third Avenue, Suite 301 + Seattle, WA 98101 + 206.782.4040 +