Mortgage lender increases her loan volume by 300% after switching to B12
Jill Burgess’ website replaces time-intensive, manual processes, allowing her to serve 3x more clients/month and save 5+ hours/week
About Mortgages by Jill
Jill Burgess has made quite a name for herself. Early in her finance career, she developed an interest in mortgage services, with a knack for helping people navigate one of life’s critical milestones: buying their first home. It spurred her to start her own company, Mortgages by Jill, with an emphasis on serving first-time homebuyers in the North Carolina Triad.
Now, 30 years into her career, Jill is a trusted advisor in her community and a recognized expert in her field. She currently holds the title of the #1 First-time Home Buyer Loan Officer in North Carolina and is an Ameris Bank President’s Club winner many times over — Jill’s passion for guiding clients through their first home purchase remains. Her husband Gregory Burgess, a partner in her business, jokes that her catchphrase is “I love my first-time homebuyers.”
It’s not a popular niche among lenders, but Jill finds the process of helping clients start a new chapter in their life and build wealth rewarding. “First-time homebuying isn’t a flashy space,” Jill explains. “It has the reputation of taking twice as long for half the volume of deals.”
Despite this, Jill knew two things for sure:
- She wanted to continue serving this audience
- She needed the right platform and processes to help her grow her business without compromising her passion
The challenge
Mortgage lending is a crowded, highly competitive space, especially following the home-buying and refinancing wave of 2020-2021. And while Jill’s reputation for being a superhero lender precedes her (I’ve heard there isn’t a deal you can’t get done, other lenders tell her), she still only has so many hours in her day.
“I got to the point where I found myself spending hours each day answering emails and phone calls. Even 15-minute calls throughout the day add up, on top of the 8-10 hours of appointments I’m doing.”
The challenge for Jill was to find a way to offer potential clients basic information about working with her, programs they might qualify for, and nurture them toward next steps — without explaining it to each lead over the phone, especially the ones who weren’t likely to get approved.
That’s where a website comes in, and while Jill had one for years, it was inadequate. She tried a few different solutions, including GoDaddy and Wix, but it was always another thing she had to manage. Every iteration felt stagnant, like it had potential but wasn’t actively scaling her business to its full potential. “It was basically a flyer,” Jill explains.
“[Those platforms] may work well for people who want to be more involved with managing their site or have people on-staff to help them, but I didn’t like the time commitment or the templates.”
Jill wasn’t happy with the look and feel of Wix or GoDaddy’s designs, but she didn’t have the time or interest to try to refine them herself. She considered hiring someone to work on it for her, but that would add another task to coordinate. “I thought, there’s got to be an easier way.”
The solution
Jill knew her website had the potential to drive more business but wasn’t exactly sure how to make that happen.
“I wanted to capture people searching online and appear in the results, but I know it’s not that easy. The mortgage space has some of the most competitive rankings for SEO out of all verticals.”
Unimpressed by the generic look of her website but skeptical about putting more time or money into it, Jill did preliminary research on solutions with a different model, something more innovative. Her main criteria for a new provider were:
- Modern design that didn’t look like every other website on the internet
- A platform that was easy to use
- No long contracts
“I wanted to play with something for free before making a commitment. It’s difficult as a small business owner when you’re on the hook for something you’re not happy with. It’s prohibitive and blows your budget.”
Jill first found B12 in a Facebook ad and was drawn to the unique concept of AI web design and impressed by the examples on B12’s site. Answer a few questions and AI spits out the initial draft of a website in 60 seconds? Sounds good, she thought.
“When my website draft popped up, I was pleased! It was modern, sleek. I thought wow, what a great start. We’d spent so much time trying to work toward something like this.”
Jill loved the B12 process — straightforward, easy to use, and as she puts it, better than the other guys. Going from draft to published was fast, with relatively little time or input required of her. Only 10 days after discovering B12, Jill’s new site went live in September 2019.
Grow your business with less effort
Sign up to receive personalized advice to your inbox on how to look professional online, save time, and sell your services.
The results
Jill’s business has exploded since joining B12. Between her reputation as the go-to expert for tough mortgage loans, a white-hot market, and a new-and-improved online presence, Jill closes up to three deals a day — that’s 300% more each month than she did before B12.
With B12, Jill built a website that helps her manage the hundreds of referrals she receives each year. It’s a home base that answers visitors’ questions, helps them understand if and how they’ll qualify, processes loan applications, and enables her to close deals faster.
Results at a glance
The website funnels leads toward the information they’re looking for and moves them through the application process quickly, even when she’s off the clock. Homebuying is a 24/7 process, and Jill works long hours, but can’t be available all day and all night. She says, “Some people like getting information at 2 am on a Sunday. My website fulfills that need, giving them the instant gratification of starting the process.”
The new process works. Her online traffic has increased 20-fold, and Jill serves 3x more people than she did with her old website. She’s able to close nearly 100% of the applications because she’s careful about lead qualification and does much of the work upfront, supported by her site.
The website streamlines how Jill and her team handle incoming leads so she spends less time on people who likely won’t qualify later. “Because most people submit their application as a first step, by the time I’m on the phone with someone, 80% of the time, they’ve already read about the process, submitted an application, and have a higher probability of leading to a sale. I won’t approve an application if I know someone won’t qualify.”
Jill’s site is low maintenance and easy to update as needed. Gregory logs in fairly regularly to make tweaks that keep the site up to date with market changes and promote Jill’s upcoming seminars. B12’s copywriters help them keep the site fresh by publishing monthly SEO blog posts.
“The posts add substance to the site and I love that my website, SEO, and blog are all in the same place. I’d rather use B12 for multiple services than someone new for each one.”
Years of hard work have earned Jill an immediate trust factor with new leads in Greensboro, Winston Salem, High Point, and beyond. Jill’s website is a repository for all of the information her audience cares about: her credentials, specialty programs offered, if they’ll qualify, and how to apply.
“If someone is serious about moving forward, on my site, they’re only a click away. B12 provides the best ROI for a small business owner. I probably save about 5 hours a week now, since I spend less time on the phone and with people who aren’t a good fit. I save money too, especially when you factor in the time saved and everything we get from B12.”
Grow your business with less effort
B12 doesn’t add to Jill’s workload, it takes away from it, allowing her to qualify leads faster and serve significantly more clients. A simple-yet-powerful website streamlines how she shares key information, engages visitors, and offers next steps directly on her site. With B12, Jill saves hours each week, and has increased revenue and scaled her firm without hiring a bunch of new employees.
Now, we want to help your business perform at its best, whether your goal is to improve your web design, generate more leads, or sell services online. Schedule your consultation today to learn how B12 makes it easy to look professional online, engage your contacts, and grow your business.
Read more customer stories
Barbara Bartelsmeyer
Staffing firm accelerates growth with a website that delivers more efficient client experiences