Telecommuting Helps Cannondale Financial Grow Business, Cut Expenses, and Recruit Key People
In the highly competitive
mortgage brokerage business, where it's grow or die, Cannondale Financial has
found the secret to growth: Hire telecommuters. John Reyes, Managing Director
of Cannondale Financial, says he hires people in the states where he wants to
do business. They work from home and originate loans in their territories, enabling
Cannondale Financial to establish a local presence in multiple states, without
the expense of opening and maintaining brick-and-mortar offices. This strategy
has helped Wilton, Connecticut-based Cannondale cost-effectively expand into
New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. The strategy is paying off. "My
volume has increased 50%," says Reyes. "These are loans we would not
have originated if I didn't have these [telecommuters] working for me."
Telecommute CT! Helps Cannondale with Enabling Technology
To make the strategy work, Cannondale Financial decided to equip remote workers
with the capability to provide fast local service, while communicating quickly
and easily with the company's headquarters. Cannondale turned to Telecommute
CT! for help with analyzing their telephony and technology needs. One of the
recommendations the company has adopted is use of a centralized virtual voice
mail system. "Each person has an extension here [at headquarters],"
says Reyes. "When they get a message, they're paged. When they are in their
remote office, they stop forwarding calls to our system and retrieve their messages.
It's much less costly than setting up a separate voice mail system in each employee's
home."
An Immediate Return on Investment
Currently, Cannondale employs two telecommuting loan originators in New York,
and one each in New Jersey and Massachusetts. The company has spent approximately
$2,000 per employee equipping each with a PC, a multi-function copier/printer/fax
machine, and two or three communications lines. "It's not expensive,"
Reyes explained. "And, once an individual gets that first loan done, we
break even on the equipment."
Telecommuting as a Recruiting Tool
By offering telecommuting, Cannondale has been able to attract people with the
skills and talents required to sell mortgages. Many of their telework recruits
had been in the business but stopped for family reasons, such as caring for
children. "Telecommuting is an excellent recruiting tool," says Reyes.
"People came on board because they were amenable to the idea of working
at home," says Reyes. "They liked the flexibility, and those are the
people we were looking for."
Telecommuting has
made it possible for Cannondale to offer better compensation than his competition.
"Because my loan originators [work at home], my overhead is lower. I don't
have to open offices elsewhere. And because my overhead is lower than brick
and mortar companies, I can offer more commission."
Future growth
Telecommuting has Reyes developing ambitious plans for the future. "I'd
like to go to a new state every year," says Reyes.
For a no-cost analysis of how your company could benefit from telecommuting, contact James Lush at Rideworks. Call 1-800-255-7433, e-mail: [email protected] or visit www.telecommuteCT.com.