Initial Training – Account Setup

When you log in to BNTouch for the first time, the first thing you should do is customize your CRM for your business. The best place to start is the Options Tab. If the tab doesn’t appear at the top-right corner of your CRM, you can click the “More” tab to display a drop-down menu with any options that have been hidden due to the size of your browser window.

Each of the sections listed in the “Options” tab will contain settings related to various parts of the BNTouch CRM. The first three sections should be configured first, as the settings in these three will be used throughout other parts of the CRM.

Click the first section labeled, “Personal Info, Photo, Logo, and Signatures.” Details for your account should be entered in the “Personal Information” sub-tab, including your name, contact information, website information, and social networking links. Information entered here can be automatically inserted elsewhere in the CRM through the use of Meta-Tags. By using the hashtag phrases to the right of any of these fields, you can pull the relevant information from this page into emails, templates, campaign steps, and more.

In the “Photo & Logo Upload” sub-tab, you can upload custom images to represent your office in your communication and marketing. You can upload both high- and low-resolution versions of your photo and logo.

The “Company Information” sub-tab will show your BNTouch account information. These fields can only be modified by an administrator account.

A customized signature can be configured for emails and in-system communication in the “Personal Signature” sub-tab. “Social Icons” can be added or removed here to provide links to your social media platforms in your signature.

Back in the Options Tab, the “Predefined Templates” section can be used to customize the formatting of the emails sent from your BNTouch CRM. Instead of using a plain, text-only email, a template will automatically include your contact information, photo, logo, and more. Click the “Select Template” button to make any of the listed templates your default.

Created or uploaded templates can be accessed using the drop-down menus at the bottom of the screen. Templates specifically for Borrower or Co-Borrower Birthday emails can be selected as well.

Email server settings can be modified in the “Mailbox Preferences” section of the Options Tab. By default, these preferences will be set to the BNTouch email server. Unless you are very familiar with email server settings, we recommend leaving the options here as they are.

If recipients of your emails ever report your communications being erroneously reported as spam, you can use your own email server by entering the relevant details here.

Now that you have configured some important options for your CRM, the next step is to start populating it with borrower and partner information. Most software will allow the exporting of data as a “.CSV” file, which can be imported to BNTouch. Alternatively, many lead providers and LOS systems can sync with BNTouch to instantly update data without needing to export a file and import it to your new CRM. Check with the software or system you will be bringing data from to see which process will work for you.

If you need to import data from a “.CSV” file, open the Options Tab, scroll to the “Tools” section, and click “Import.” Choose whether you are importing Mortgage/Borrower data or Partnership data using the drop-down menu. The “mapping” options can be used when uploading future files to follow the same pattern used in previous uploads. Click the “Choose File” button to select the file you saved to your computer, then click “Upload File & Proceed to STEP 2.”

In “Step 2” of the import process, you will first choose which fields in the “.CSV” file correspond to the fields in your BNTouch CRM. Choose which fields match the fields in your data file, making sure to select the “First Name,” “Last Name,” and “Email Address” fields. Below, preferences for the imported data can be configured, including the pipeline status and group for the imported records, duplicate record identification and processing, and import map saving options. When finished, click “Import with selected options” to bring the information into your CRM.

A summary of the imported records will display. If any errors or mistakes have occurred, you can still reverse this import by clicking the “History” link above. There, just find the import action you accidentally performed and click the “Remove Records” link to the right.

At the top of the screen, you may have noticed an alert that “Safe Mode is ON.” Safe Mode prevents marketing campaigns from sending automatically when triggered, instead holding them in a “pending” area of your Dashboard Tab where you can choose which campaigns are sent and when.

When you are confident with your understanding of automated marketing in BNTouch, you can turn Safe Mode off from the User Menu in the upper right corner of the screen. This will allow your marketing campaigns to be sent automatically. Please note that any campaigns held as “Pending” will be sent when you turn off Safe Mode. You should check the “Campaigns” sub-tab of your Dashboard and cancel any campaigns you do not wish to be sent when you disable Safe Mode for your account.

 

Now that you have set up your account, you’re ready to get the most out of your BNTouch CRM. To learn more about the tools, features, and options available in BNTouch, please continue with the rest of our Initial Training series. These articles and videos will walk you through each tab of your new CRM and show you common workflows you can use in your business. The next step in your Initial Training focuses on the Dashboard Tab, the first screen you will see when you log in every day that serves as a “heads-up display” of your mortgage business.

To learn more about any particular feature, check out our training video library and online manual. You can access these at any time in the user menu in the upper-right corner of your screen.