The face of lead generation is changing, in my opinion. Now, I guess at face value that is pretty obvious statement, but I think it is becoming a little clearer on how it is changing.

I hesitate to make a big deal out of this, but I think it is worth a post that simply notices that the change is happening. Years ago we discussed how the lead generation process needed to change and how the consumer needed to be better educated throughout the process. We also pondered how that would happen. The obvious statements were made that more content needed to be available to the consumer, but many of us could never precisely define how the process should change any further then that. The emergence of Mint.com, BillShrink, Comparison Ads, and many others gave more insight into how that content would be defined. These sites showed us that the content that we claimed the user needed did not specifically need to be paragraphs of written words, but rather personal financial content and recommendations. These sites created tools for the consumer to use and to interpret their own financial content and then recommend money saving products and services.

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As someone who is always looking for the next big entrepreneurial idea, I’ve developed a few ‘heuristics’ to spot where I think opportunity might exist.  One of my favorite heuristics is to look at something (a commercial transaction, process, etc) which hasn’t changed meaningfully in many years.  Compare, for example, how one buys airline tickets today versus how they did 20 years ago.  It’s almost entirely different.  People from the 90s wouldn’t recognize how we compare and buy airline travel online.  Think of this compared to how one buys a house; by and large, the process of buying a house hasn’t changed much in 20 years or even 40 years!  This example, specifically, baffles me.  How is it that travel agents literally no longer exist but real estate agents still get a 3% commission (on both sides!)  Clearly, there must be an opportunity in using technology and innovation to improve efficiency in the real estate agent business.  I continue to use this heuristic to evaluate and spot opportunities.

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This is a part of an email conversation that took place between myself and a prominent player in the lead-gen space back  in November of ’09. We were going back and forth on the future of lead-gen and I just wanted to take a moment and elaborate on a specific portion of the exchange.

I wrote:

“…I think 2010 is going to be a big year of change and increased evolution in the lead gen space. I think we are going to see more non-traditional companies like Google enter into the lead gen space. The evolution of the short form lead to a referral based model (i.e. Mint or BillShrink) and the re-emergence of of comparison shopping (i.e. Comparison Ads) is going to continue with the traditional companies like LendingTree. Will this evolution continue? How should the mid level lead gen guys react? Should there be concern? Is lead gen going to be completely voluntary by the consumer. Meaning, will they take full control over their data and choose who contacts them?”

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A little over a two years ago – by only a few weeks mind you – SmartHippo announced their beta launch to the world. Since that launch SmartHippo as continued to grow and evolve into a very interesting platform for consumers looking for the lowest rates. The combination of consumer feedback, ratings and bank posted interest rates gives an interesting spin on the evolution of transparency in the industry. The mortgage crisis hasn’t been nice for many start ups in the industry but SmartHippo continues to make big strides in their continued evolution.

Today they announced two very big developments. 1. The naming of former LendingTree General Manager, Lori Collins as their new CEO. 2. The expansion into the Spanish market with launch of HipoListo.es.

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First, I gotta share a new habit I have started. Usually my kids go to bed around 8pm every night and shortly after putting them to bed I break out the laptop and sit myself on the couch for a little surfing of the Internet and blog posting. In some cases that activity is coupled with an ice cold Corona. Well more recently that Corona is been paired up with a bowl of frozen fruit. If you shop at Costco you can buy a big bag of frozen fruit and mmmm, its good. Plus the kids love and think its a desert! You should try it.

Anyway, as good as frozen fruit and cold beer is, it is not what I was planning on writing about. I want to give my thoughts on the future of lead gen and more specifically the typical lead seller model of generating non-branded leads and selling them multiple times. Its my thought that this model, while will always have its place in the space, is not the most optimal source for quality leads. Listen, I am not going to hop on that crazy bandwagon that some people are on that claim you should never buy lead and you should only generate your own, that’s silly. In many, in fact, most cases it is simply more economical, efficient and ROI producing to buy leads from a third party. Leveraging multiple sources typically is the only way to supply enough volume for many companies appetites.

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I gotta tell you, not only did I network and meet a number of new people at LeadsCon, but I also feel energized from the event. I think I benefit from not being a conference junkie.

You know lead gen is the place to be when Turk from Scrubs is hanging out at the conference looking for lead gen tips. I don’t know, I guess I am tired of hearing about the negatives and am going to focus on the positives. I happened to enjoy a number of conversations with industry peers that revolved around what verticals were hot and it was nice to remember that many of us are Internet Marketers and we are not tied to just one vertical. Sorry to all of you out there that are, but many of have the ability to change fairly easy. The problem is that many of us are afraid of change or worse, don’t believe in change and that is OK for some. Focusing on your core capabilities is all that many of you can do, but for those that are flexible, it is all up to you.

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By Murthy Nukala
Founder and CEO – Adchemy

Just a few weeks ago, as Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates testified on Capitol Hill about the state of technology and the need to relax visa standards for foreign technologists, I started to think about the state of technology in our industry.  With Internet advertising evolving every day, I’ve begun to develop this ongoing theory that the technology behind lead generation, particularly when it comes to mortgage leads, is on the verge of something really big.  I’m very curious to know if others agree.

From my perspective, and to borrow a very popular phrase, we’re ready for Lead Generation 2.0. Version 1.0, which served up a mix of bad creative and spotty measurement, is over.  We all learned that lead generation companies can’t just provide leads in volume and then pray they convert.  Particularly today, as the universe of mortgage companies continues to shrink and those that still have online advertising budgets spend less than they once did, all of us are being called upon to explain and ensure the quality of the leads we provide.

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It is complete, I will be joining the Zipsearch! team! To say the least, I am excited for a couple of reasons. First, to join such a solid team that has so much potential. The Zipsearch! team has been consistently generating quality leads for the last 12 years and under the radar too. At one point they were a secret source of mine for Life Insurance leads. Secondly, I am excited to be back in the industry full time! My passion for the industry never died and continued to live through this blog even after I was not directly involved. I feel like I am an evangelist for the lead buyer and quality companies within the industry and that of course will never change. I am extremely excited to make a direct difference in the industry and continue to help lead buyers by delivering the highest quality leads possible. My position at Zipsearchwill be the online Media Manager which will manage all our lead-gen strategies and techniques. Thirdly, I am excited because my views of lead-gen are in-line with Zipsearch!. My goal is to generate quality, not quantity. What does this mean? Leads will not be generated with the goal of generating a click only, this means no crazy square dancing turtles or crazy teaser rates. These types of ads generate quantity, which is fine for most lead generators, but we will focus on quality.

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I am really beginning to feel the winds of change in the lead generation space. In the last few post I covered Smarthippo which combines the feel of a social network, a rate comparison engine and a lead generation site. More recently there has been another addition to the “consumer controlled” rate comparison party. Now I have been monitoring this company for the last few months because I noticed a little buzz brewing. Well now it seems they are going to unveil what they have been working on at the FINOVATE conference.

Mortgagebot is primed to unveil their new platform, Mortgage Marvel. Mortgage Marvel’s goal is to improve the consumers experience when shopping for a mortgage. They claim to be the only online mortgage shopping website that delivers real-time quotes from multiple lenders in complete privacy. Mortgage Marvel allows a consumer to compare rate, fees and closing costs and then directly apply online. They also claim that you could have an approval in 30 minutes.

Taken from the Mortgage Marvel website:

Why you can trust Mortgage Marvel.

We see it like this—if you can accurately research a pair of shoes, a refrigerator, or a new car without disclosing everything about who you are, then why not a mortgage? So we built a site that we’d want for ourselves. Mortgage Marvel and the visionary lenders we present believe you deserve all the information you can possibly have right from the start.

Unfortunately that does not answer the question at all. In fact, that makes me think that they are really nothing more then a Bankrate only with the addition of the ability to apply online. They also say that no personal data is required, only loan amount, property value and zip code. With the limited amount of data collected the question has to asked: Are consumers being led to believe that the rates they are choosing can actually be attainable?

The winds of change are increasing, but I truly wonder if many are simply reinventing the wheel and simply using the buzz words we discuss here so often.

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I enjoyed a brief discussion with the co-founder of SmartHippo this morning and wanted to share it with you.

I thought it was very enlightening and I think you all will enjoy it.

Let me know what you think.

On September 17^th the industry moved one step closer to a consumer controlled social network based lead generation process. It was more of a baby step, but none the less a step forward.

On Septmeber 17^th a company named SmartHippo released their public beta version. SmartHippo allows users to compare rates and feedback with other users that have a similar criteria.

“SmartHippo allows any individual to post information and feedback on the rate they received, and to compare rates with other members of the community with similar profiles. This lessens the chance of consumers with the same lending and risk profile getting different rates on the same loan, which can happen currently.”

“Consumers need services like the one SmartHippo has developed,” said Gary Lewis Evans, President & CEO at Bank of Internet USA. “Competition is always good, and SmartHippo’s social network will allow banks to promote products while providing consumers with the opportunity to validate and or challenge the offerings by pointing out the hidden negatives.”

The rates on SmartHippo are posted by its users and participating banks like Quicken Loans and Bank of Internet. The site gives you the ability to input your specific situation, such as credit score, equity, loan amount, etc and compare your offered rate to users rates with the same criteria. SmartHippo is also a lead generation company and if user choose they can also have up to four brokers call them. I have put in a few calls and once I receive a call back I will pass along the information to you, as far as pricing. I will also try to extract more information about their user base on the call.

As a broker you are able to post your own rates, similar to BankRate, view what rates users are claiming to have received from you and also track your competitors.

What does everyone think about SmartHippo? Do any of you see pitfalls or benefits of a platform like this?

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