Annemieke Schoonderwoerd – Mogelijk

Annemieke Schoonderwoerd is a Marketer and Partner at Mogelijk, a real estate financier that arranges business mortgage financing between entrepreneurs and investors. Mogelijk was established in 2016 by property developer Maarten Rövekamp, BOG broker Pablo de Loor and marketer Annemieke Schoonderwoerd. The company was founded with the idea to make real estate financing easy and accessible. In five years, the company grew from 3 to 80 employees.

Mogelijk’s main KPIs for growth

According to Annemieke, Mogelijk’s main KPI for growth revolves around brand recognition: “We look at volume, how many people know the brand, and whether that number is growing. But we also look at the experience around the brand. Do they know us only by name? Or do they have associations around the brand? Does the target group know what we do and what we stand for? That is a very important KPI for us. Next to that, we also measure our own growth in terms of the market and the demand in the market.”

“We have a product with many new entrants”, Annemieke continues. “Every day, hundreds of entrepreneurs are thinking of buying a property and how they are going to finance it. So, we need to be continuously present in the media. Ensuring that we are constantly present at moments where we can reach the target group with the right content. Mass communication is important, but so is good content. Investors are also part of our target group. They are the ones who lend their money to entrepreneurs. Investors want to absorb a lot of information, and we can stimulate them with rich, intelligent content. To create trust, but also evidence on our part. Next to that, we need to explain our model. We have only been around for five years, and unknown makes unloved. Explaining how it works and what your certainties are is very important.”

Utilising data

Annemieke shares how the use of data differs per target group. The company has a ‘quick scan’ on their website, allowing entrepreneurs to find out which loan amount is feasible for their project. Annemieke: “We get around 1500 quick scans in per month. 1500 entrepreneurs and property investors who are thinking of financing a property and want to know whether Mogelijk is a suitable party for this. To attract those entrepreneurs to our website we use a lot of media to build awareness. We are on the radio, do a lot of out of home advertising, are occasionally on TV, and are present in trade magazines. When an entrepreneur goes to our website, we make sure that everything is set up in the best and easiest way possible for them. The call to action ‘do the quick scan’ is constantly visible, and the journey through the quick scan is also swift, easy, and convenient.”

Optimising the journey

“Each month, we have 20,000 unique visitors on our website”, Annemieke continues. “Of the people who come to our website, 10% convert to either a quick scan, a contact request, or download content. Of that 10% conversion, about 12% become a deed and eventually convert to financing. However, in that process from quick scan to deed, many applications fall off the wagon. It may be because we say no, or because the entrepreneur makes different choices. We are working on optimising that journey with data. For example, we want to offer our investors more targeted information. Every Tuesday morning at 9 o’clock, we produce 30 to 40 information memoranda. All those investors, 1500 people with accounts, have two hours to go through those IMs. It is fantastic that there is so much on offer, but it can be done much more efficient. If someone clicked 10 times on a property in the Gelderland region with an LTV of 50% and a loan amount between 2 and 3 tonnes, we know what they are looking for. Should we then offer you 40 IMs again next time? Or should we put the information memoranda that are closest to your preferences on top? By using data, we can make the process easier for everyone.”

“You must not be blinded by numbers. You have to keep looking at who are the people behind it and how you can make them happy.”

The right people

Talking about challenges, Annemieke highlights two main pitfalls: “First, you must not be blinded by numbers. You must keep looking at who are the people behind it and how you can make them happy. It is also a challenge for us to do the right measurements. We have a huge amount of data, but how do we measure and interpret that data right? Last summer, we founded Mogelijk Technologies. We used to buy our software from external parties, but we wanted to have a piece of it in-house as well, thus eliminating some of the independence. However, it is difficult to get good people for these positions. There is a lot of demand for programmers, so how do you retain them and keep challenging them? And how do we translate all the wishes that are expressed in our commercial departments? By definition, a commercial person does not speak the language of a programmer. We now have a product owner who translates those wishes into programming briefings, and that has been a great step. I believe you must connect those different departments so we can understand each other better and learn from one another.”

Claiming authority

Annemieke shares how the company started to focus more on long-term brand building: “Since 2021, we have reserved a chunk of our marketing budget for the brand, rather than conversion. Now that we have been around for five years, we should invest in claiming some authority in the market. I believe research is very important for the long-term. Although research is becoming increasingly important for us, it is still early days. We have great ambitions at Mogelijk and want to provide one billion in financing a year. Research is certainly part of that journey.”

“You can differentiate yourself from others on speed, the process, but also on warmth. You can automate everything, but we also find it important to have that personal contact.”

A personal touch

Mogelijk has a huge drive to automate and make their services and software smarter, better, and more efficient. Annemieke tells us that the lack of legacy in systems and software is a big advantage: “Many parties have existed for 20 years and have outdated systems. To be able to start from scratch is a huge luxury. The real estate finance market has grown exponentially, and I am sure it will consolidate soon. I believe you can differentiate yourself from others on speed, the process, but also on warmth. You can automate everything, but we also find it important to have that personal contact. We invite every entrepreneur we finance into the office to speak to them directly and get to know them. It is about combining a lot of data and tech with that personal attention.”