Building a loan screener, tailored education tools, and data-driven CRM workflows for the Wesleyan Investment Foundation.
Prospects applying before they were ready and no systematic way to nurture leads.
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Assets for product roadmap, prioritized by impact
30+
In-depth interviews
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Actionable recommendations delivered across journey stage, product, and CRM
Most church leaders start the loan process with limited financial training, unsure when to begin or what’s required.
For customers, this meant applying before they’re ready—leading to pauses, declines, or missed guidance.
For WIF, this meant lost relationships and no systematic way to nurture unready applicants.
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Across two Innovation Sprints, we co-designed and tested WIF’s next generation of digital engagement tools.
Defined goals around reducing premature applications, advancing a customer-centered CRM strategy, and creating stage-appropriate education pathways for churches who are considering a loan.
Conducted 30+ in-depth interviews across church sizes and roles; tested prototypes; mapped key outcomes that mattered most to customers at each step of the journey.
Presented persona models, prototype revisions, a CRM framework with tags for the most significant affinity points that form meaningful groups of users and what they need.
Across two Innovation Sprints, we interviewed 33 church leaders spanning diverses roles and church sizes
Interviewees also reflected a wide range of loan experience levels—from first-time borrowers to seasoned leaders overseeing multi-campus capital projects—with loan needs ranging from small renovation efforts to multi-million-dollar building expansions.
This ensured the research captured a broad spectrum of customer data, touching on how churches make decisions and which factors influence pre-mature loan applications, declines, and successful approvals.
“I love how much you guys get us. It's just so good to me. You could be on staff here now.”
Katie Sharon
VP of Enterprise Strategy
WIF now has a data-driven roadmap for resources they can deliver to each prospect or customer based on their readiness and experience levels, positioning them to increase engagement and bookings with WIF reps, reduce premature or unqualified applications, and simplify loan applications for returning customers.
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WIF representatives will be enabled to respond faster and act on better information, with CRM-enabled workflows ensuring no lead is lost and every church receives timely follow-up.
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The WIF team is now positioned to scale its relational, white-glove service—empowering staff to focus on high-value, in-person interactions while digital systems handle routine guidance and support.
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