It is funny how often times the simplest, most often overlooked, things are what can make us the most successful. Lead management is one of those things. Sure, some of the details can get complex, but the concept is simple. And lead management software has made the processes a snap to implement.

At the end of the day an effective lead management system is one that solves the much researched problem of efficient supply chain management.

Optimizing your lead management system, whether it is software or manual, is fundamentally a process of keeping a delicate balance of:

• raw materials or inventory (leads),
• manufacturing capacity or through-put (sales capacity–ability, motivation, and willingness to work through the quantity of leads),
• ability to be efficient with the raw material (leads) with limited waste (lack of follow-up or “single call and dump”),
• ability to match the end consumer’s demand (in this context the lender, wholesaler, or investor),
• and the ability to analyze and measure for purposes of improvement

The concept is fairly simple the hard part is implementing without making the process too complex to execute or scaling your process beyond you and a couple of buddies type mortgage operation. Those who figure it out will be the big survivors and winners in this mortgage market.

Copy of presentation: Optimizing Lead Management, by Kaleidico

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This is one of the biggest mistakes I see lead buyers making with their leads. An Internet leads, if generated with any level of integrity, is not a cold call. It is an initiated, hand waver!

Think about what a quality Internet consumer lead implies:

• There was a need
• They have done some level of research (i.e., did a search, read an email, had a discussion)
• They provided private contact information

They are asking to be called so don’t treat them like strangers–complete the experience.If you have not already read my ebook, What are Internet Leads? you may want to grab that to reinforce some of the concepts in this post.

Stop looking at a lead–that name, email, and phone number–as a complete and discrete item in and of itself. To be consistently successful, very successful, with Internet leads you need to think of a lead as one step in a complete customer experience. And if you do things correctly you, as sales, can be the very quick fulfillment of that process.

When you receive a new lead it is important that you have some knowledge of where the consumer has been and how they got to you. I am firmly in the camp that sales people show know the source of the lead. They should also be armed with a logical transition script. That transition should very simply link the sales call to the online experience the consumer just completed.

• “Hi Mary, this is Joe Banker from AAA Mortgage and I am following up on your rate inquiry from Bankrate,” or
• “Mr Thompson I understand you a looking to put your home to work for you in retirement? Did you find the information about reverse mortgages informative on the ZipSearch website?”
• “Ben, I see you found us through our partnership with LendingTree. Did you know we are one of their 5 star lenders? Can I transfer you to one of our LendingTree certified bankers?”

A quick, responsive, personalized experience will ensure that your Internet leads don’t turn into cold calls. This approach and personal attitude should extend to your voice mails and emails. Here are a few tips:

• Take sufficient notes on each attempt to leave a unique and logical follow-up voice mail
• When you leave multiple voice mails reference the number of times you have attempted and the time of your last and next attempt
• Emails must be contextual. Do not set-up mindless time-based emails that are disconnect from your call campaign

Here are a few common, but dangerous practices that will turn those warm Internet leads into instant cold calls:

• Starting your conversation off by pitching your bread and butter product when the lead tells you what they want
• Being the second or third to contact them
• Predictive/auto dialers–save these blenders for debt collectors and triggers

They leads have spent their time being anonymous and researching their needs in private on the Web. Now, they have raised their hands and said I have a question. Treat them like a person–complete the experience.

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The Internet sales environment, which most of us are increasingly operating within, is demanding a redesign of our salesforce. This redesign is going to focus in on key new expectations of Internet consumers:

• Immediacy
• Responsiveness
• Follow up/through

Unfortunately, these expectations construct some serious challenges for the traditional retail loan officer. Most are not used to:

• Needing to be hyper-connected (telephone, cell, email, text messaging, etc.)
• Managing a deal without face-to-face contact
• Potential competition on every deal
• 100% of the follow-up responsibility on the loan officer (this client-type doesn’t call you)

Consequently, numerous challenges are created for sales team leaders and managers, like:

• Driving high call volumes
• Compelling multiple call-backs
• Disciplining consistency in sales processes
• Agent fatigue
• Lead distribution and redistribution

My “Building a Sales Team” presentation guides you through the fundamentals of creating a team that can perform and excel within this harsh Internet sale environment.

For more guidance in building this type of salesforce reference some of my past posts on Better Closer Blog on topics like Sales, Sales Teams, Salesforce.

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It’s definitely that time of year again. The NFL is drawing close to an end and my baseball stats sheets and forecasters are arriving in the mail–that’s right Fantasy Baseball is in the air!

This time of year gets me all excited about stats and predicative indicators. So, this weeks best practices post and whitepaper is in tribute to Michael Lewis’ ode to Fantasy Baseball–”Moneyball.” I am about to show you what ROI, %contact, %app, AttAR, AttCR, and many more quintessential key metrics and indicators can do to optimize your loan production.

You can get more details on setting up you leads metrics program in Kaleidico’s Internet Kaleidico Lead Metrics whitepaper.

As you will see in the whitepaper, I am a big advocate of instituting metrics in a framework designed for action. My approach starts with a few high-level defined objectives. They should be broad in scope, but specifically targeted at the top line (bottomline, expense, metrics ALWAYS get you looking at your feet and those kids ALWAYS lose).

Then from the objective, I fill in a simple matrix of  specific metrics, the levels on which I am going to analyze the metrics, indicators (where am I watching for movement and irregularity), and finally pre-defined triggers (the action).

Enjoy the whitepaper and seeing your business improve through metrics.

BTW, let me know if anyone would be interested in a lead generation (buyer and sellers) community Fantasy Baseball league. I am always game for others funding the charity of my choice!

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Are you feeling the market constricting around your neck? Is it harder and harder to find borrowers you can actually help? Have you shaken down every real estate agent in the tri-county area and found their pockets empty too?

Welcome to the crowd, but don’t panic.

The first step is to admit you have a problem. Stop saying, “I get all my business from referrals” and believing it. Take control of your success. Build a marketing plan to get fresh referrals, Internet referrals, and create a business that is bigger than you!

That’s right we are building a bigger vision here.

STOP! Before you run out and slap down a couple grand on a random lead provider, a recipe for 0% conversion and some pissed off loan officers or worse owner/manager, get a plan.

Here is the 10 step plan I used back in my lead buying days.

1. Executive Summary

Start with a summary of your objectives and build a path for success.

 

Explore key questions like: Why am I buying leads? What kind of production do I want to add to my current funding volume? Who am I targeting with this marketing campaign? Do I have the right culture and environment for Internet originations?

 

2. Business Objectives

This is where you start breaking vision into execution. What are the quantifiable reasons and intentions for growing your business and buying Internet leads?

 

If this reads like this: “To make more loans.” Don’t buy leads. You will only be frustrated with failure.

 

It should be something more like: acquire a portion of the 70% of consumers that us the Internet to find a mortgage, expand my business to leverage my other state license opportunities in state with stronger mortgage markets, use the Internet to better target niche strategies like FHA, VA, reverse mortgages.

 

3. Target Market

A lack of consideration for who you are targeting is the #1 mistake in Internet lead buying. Most lead buying starts with a panic stricken, “I need leads!” Again, a recipe for missed expectations.

 

When you are buying leads you are outsourcing your marketing department for one or more campaigns. So, plan accordingly. You want to think about who you want to get through this channel and if they are likely to come through this lead provider. This is where your due diligence in my last series on “What are Internet Leads and Why Buy Them?” will pay off.

 

4. Target Products & Programs

This is tightly coupled with the target market discussion. Too often brokers and lenders go wide open on their filters and can’t actually service those borrowers. Now, you may be able to still make the economics (ROI) work doing this, but think about the bigger impact–sales motivation! If you start feeding LOs garbage (triggers) or broad credit, LTV, and loan amount spectrums that you don’t have product to support you are going to burn them up quickly and submarine production.

 

5. Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy? Didn’t I just outsource that to the lead provider? You did, but the savvy, high converting, mortgage shop knows that borrowers may not stop at their lead submittal. They want to know who you are? Or they may lose track of you during the process. This is the “Internet lead splash effect” I always talk about. Consumers will splash out of your marketing channels, or “buckets.” Create a strategy for catching them and getting them back into you production.

This may include automated workflows, email campaigns, website(s), etc.

 

6. Metrics

Lead Critic preaches this all day. It is your life line to success. Know what you are going to measure and make sure you can before you receive a single lead. Document these metrics and test how you will retrieve them.

 

Trying to build and airplane while it is flying is impossible. Trying to get metrics while you are bleeding marketing dollars is nearly as hard.

 

7. Triggers & Milestones

This is another little secret that is rarely used. These were early warning indicators I liked to se for myself. Much like investors set investment guidelines to manage their buying and selling to take the emotion out of the trades, I suggest you do this with lead buying. If your overall lead buying or individual lead sources trip the preset conditions or number of conditions then condition yourself to automatically pull the source or ramp it up based on performance. This will always ensure you are optimizing your marketing buy.

I also recommend you share these with your lead partner. They are experts with their leads. They will be motivated to help you hit more of the ramp up triggers.

 

8. Implementation Tactics

Now it’s time to get to business. What are the specific tasks to execute? Do you have the tools and infrastructure to track and manage this type of loan origination. Lead tracking and management is critical on these types of referrals. You will quickly be managing a larger pipeline (even with the most modest of lead buys) over a longer sales cycle than you are probably accustomed to. This is where a capable lead management system is critical.

 

9. Budget

Believe it or not this is another one of the top mistakes I see in lead buying. Most buy ’til it hurts. Figure out what this budget is. See if it is meaningful enough to get a good campaign underway. No lead provider wants to take your last $500, hope you convert one of the 10-15 they can give you for that, and then hope you parlay that into the next buy. This isn’t gambling. This is business planning. Do it accordingly.

 

10. Evaluation and Rebalance

This is the money-maker part of the marketing plan. All assumptions and outcomes change in battle. Those who adjust the quickest and most appropriately take the day. Determine how often and how you are going to do these evaluations. Quicker cycles (daily) are smarter until you get a baseline. Then pay attention to the results and make adjustments.

Lead buying should be a core part of your marketing plan. After all, it is where borrowers are starting their process and allows you to effective filter those you can help. But, don’t do it without a plan.

I have first hand experience in watching what commitment, talent, and tenacity to this business model can do for a small little mortgage broker shop in Southeast Michigan. If you don’t know who I am talking about check the top 20 national loan originators list. They are knocking on the door of lenders like Countrywide and IndyMac.

Here is a great FREE tool to get you started: Kaleidico Lead Buying Worksheet.

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Welcome to 2008! Time to reassess all your assumptions and set blockbusting goals for the New Year. I am guessing, if you are visiting Lead Critic to start your year, that smarter lead buying and higher lead conversion rates are centerpieces to these new goals.

I thought I might lend a hand by taking a deep dive into what makes an Internet lead and why you should buy them.

The topic is far more complex than a simple blog post. To tackle the full scope of the topic I have linked to my “What are Internet Leads and Why Should I Buy Them?” whitepaper, which is free. You are also free to distribute and republish as long as you appropriately attribute the content.

However, until you download and read that here is a quick bonus to tune up your 2008 lead buying:

1. Learn to generate some of your own leads

This will help you gain an appreciation of how difficult it is, yet establish a framework to catch a few fish

2. Due diligence any lead provider you use

Google their company name(s) and any associated domain names, search Better Business Bureau and Duns & Bradstreet

3. Publicly survey their marketing

Google keywords relevant to your products and services, visit their websites or directories, survey relevant popular destination and news sites.

4. Ask to see sample landing pages and contact forms

You are looking for what the consumer might expect after submitting on these forms. Construct scripts and sales processes to meet or exceed these expectations

5. Get a general understanding of where your lead provider locates their lead generation efforts

High profile media buys (Yahoo!, MSN, New York Times), organic search, paid search, own web properties, vertical search engines, blogs, etc.

6. Determine how your lead provider sources the majority of their consumer traffic

organic search, paid search, banner ads, email campaigns, link exchange, affiliates

7. Triage and pre-qualify lower quality and higher volume leads.

Outbound calling has a high rate of burn out. Use a contact team to pre-qualify and reward higher producing loan officers.

8. When you find good lead providers listen to their counsel

No one knows more about the marketing that produced your purchased leads and what their successful clients do to convert them. Listen.

9. Measure. Analyze. Optimize.

Success is all about the metrics to find you sweet spot, perfect the process, and then blow it up!

10. Never buy leads without a way to manage leads

See number 9. Even small lead buys can mount into significant pipelines and databases that can yield even larger gains when nurtured over time.

Visit next week for: “Creating a Lead Buying Marketing Plan”

Here’s to your success in 2008!

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Many of you spend a fair amount of your life online these days. You use email daily at work and with friends and family. You are probably doing a good bit of this year’s Christmas shopping online. And, you have probably, long ago, discontinued your local newspaper (that never ended up on the porch anyway) for your favorite Internet news, weather, and sports website.

So, why are most of us in the mortgage business so stubborn to believe that our future clients are online too? Why are we resistant to believe we can convert leads (referrals) from the Internet?

I think the answer is simple–fear. Certainly this is nothing to be ashamed of, because it is the key limitation in all of our potential successes. Here is the good news: that fear is founded in a lack of knowledge or understanding, which we are going to wipe out in the next ten weeks.

I am going to wipe away the mystery and magic of Internet mortgage originations and lead buying. I am going to provide you information and resources that are going to make you a contender on the Internet!

Let’s get started with the basics:

Attitude

This is the first barrier to be crossed. Internet originations are different, but not harder or worse than what you are doing today. The first step in gaining a productive attitude is changing your language. They are not Internet leads they are Internet referrals.

Remember, someone raised their hand for information and a phone call. Treat each lead with that attitude.

Process

The Internet channel requires repeatable, consistent, scalable process. Think about your own Internet experiences. What if you filled out a contact or order form online and heard this from the company: “I have too many inquiries to answer you today.” or “Most of these inquiries from the Internet are crap anyway. So, I am not even going to call you.”

Any of these quotes sound like your process? I guarantee you the following: the volume will be higher, you will need to make more calls to contact, and you will need to sort wheat from chaff. However, done correctly, it will be your most profitable, efficient, and consistent channel of business.

Math

Break out your calculator to figure your success, because once you tune the attitude and create a repeatable, scalable process it is all about math. Calculate how much you want to make then work backwards to determine how many leads (referrals), calls, and loan officers you need to get there.

This may all seems very simple and maybe it is, but I will warn you the key is in the process. This is where it always breaks down. If you do not have the discipline to learn, create, and enforce the repeatable and scalable process even the highest quality leads in the market will only convert erratically and sporadically.

Are you tired of shaking down realtors, lawyers, and CPAs for referrals? Ready to take control of your own success? Then come with me on this journey to build your Internet originations business.

Here is a whitepaper to get you started: Internet Mortgage Originations Overview

Next week: What are Internet Leads and Why Buy Them?

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