Lead Generation is a big business. Unfortunately, however, the lead generation industry has very low barriers of entry. And with the further development of technologies like ClickPoint ( LeadCritic advertiser) and other companies it has become even easier. A person could begin generating, brokering, or selling leads as quickly as they can find someone to buy them.

Where lead generation becomes difficult and barriers begin to expose themselves is when you insert the word “quality” into the equation. Quality lead generation can be challenging, especially in fully saturated verticals. As demand begins to reach the limits of supply the ability for new companies to enter the market and generate quality leads becomes difficult. These new companies have to be exceedingly more competent at how they generate leads. Simply entering into a new vertical and performing the same marketing strategies that companies more mature in the industry are performing will simply not be sufficient, unless you can do it significantly better. The other alternative for new companies is to change the process in which the leads are generated.

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Released today was another report revolving around the EDU lead generation space. This report, fortunately, will not send stocks plummeting or law firms scrambling like the GAO report, but instead gives a little insight into the demographics of people filling out lead gen forms.

The study, which was released today, was undertaken by EduDirectReponse and took a closer look into 1000 random generated edu leads. The study took general advertising campaigns (none degree specific messaging) and syndicated the campaigns across multiple channels including SEM, Email, and Display. The campaigns covered the entire United States and produced at least one lead in every State.

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There is a lot of talk about educating the consumer and providing the proper content so that they can make informed decisions. In the finance space this content is completely missing from the lead generation process. In the EDU space there is content overload.

The finance space provides very little information about the companies the consumer is being matched with until after the consumer has committed to receiving phone calls from unknown companies. There are a few companies that are changing that process as we speak, but I can continue to make that general statement until it becomes the norm. What the finance space does do well is cap the amount of companies that will contact the consumer. While we all know there are companies that sell their leads more then they claim, we can assume that most legitimate companies are being ethical and responsible with their distribution model.

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There are have been a number of announcements over the last two days by companies like Mortech, Leads360 and Kaleidico regarding their “partnership” with Google, more specifically Google’s Comparison Ads.  These companies are now “certified applications” for Comparison Ads and can provide some level of service for the lenders active on the comparison site.

So, coming across these announcements peaked my curiosity about what companies made the list of certified partners. Initially it was pretty tough finding this list, but I did come across a cached page that listed specific partners. I am not sure if this is a complete list, but it seemed like a recent list that now is no longer available.

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Google’s Comparison Ads has been live in the U.S. for about a month and a half and many are curious to know how well it is working for the lenders involved. Well, for starters everyone should understand that all the lenders are currently bound by an NDA and all public comments by the lenders go through Google for approval. Lucky for us our friend and mortgage refinance was able to get his opinions approved by Google and subsequently we are able to publish them here. specialist  at RMC Vanguard Mortgage Corporation, Owen Raun.

So with out further ado An Insiders View of Google’s Comparison Ads:

By Owen Raun with RMC Vanguard Mortgage Corporation

RMC Vanguard has been a lender involved in the initial stages of Google’s venture into mortgage lead generation.  Google makes this on line shopping option available to a limited number of consumers in 15 states who are searching for mortgage.  We are only active in 5 of those states and focus only a smaller range of consumer profiles than most so I imagine we are in the bottom quarter of total leads received to date.  Assuming this blog will be read by lenders I have the following comments.

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Over a year ago Google began testing a mortgage rate search within their Merchant Search platform in the UK. Not much more then a few blog post here and there discussed the new search tool. Most couldn’t imagine it going much further then just a simple test and the fact that it was circled around generating calls, not specifically data leads, added to the passive concern of so many.

With the new LendingTree suit against Mortech and the revelation of Google’s continued interest in breaking into the mortgage lead generation industry it has proven that the UK test was not performed on a whim and they did have long term intentions. What can be debated is what those intentions truly are. I think to do this we have take a look at more then simply the disheveled mortgage lead generation industry, but the online marketing industry as a whole.

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A study conducted by GlobalSpec that surveyed 555 Marketing and Executive level managers found that while they were focused heavily on lead generation and customer acquisitions they had a very difficult time actually finding enough leads.

More then half surveyed said “there are too few marketing resources”, however they also said that buying quality leads was far more important then receiving quantity. There simply are not enough quality sources according the findings. The study claimed that majority of the responders said, “generating enough high quality leads for sales” was a major issue as well.

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I am not sure if you have noticed the trend of TV commercials that supposedly trick the consumers into believing they are eating food from a fine dinning restaurant, but are in fact eating fast food. These commercials have been driving me nuts. Let me tell you why.

First, if you haven’t seen the commercials here is a good example:

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According to MarketingSherpa’s Business Marketing Survey, lead nurturing is an area that is a point of pain for many businesses. They asked 980 marketers in a variety of industries if they have a process for lead nurturing. Surprisingly, only 56% have a solid plan in place.

56% have some defined lead nurturing process in place, but only 36% of them are satisfied with that process. I believe that most lead nurturing programs out there are not really as successful as they could be in optimizing communications during the sales cycle.

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It seems that things like to come around in full circle. Maybe we don’t actually come full circle. Maybe we simply get to a point where objectives become clear again and the things that where cluttering our vision and making our judgments questionable got so fuzzy that we were forced to get back to the basics.

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Another company that was covered here and interviewed here few months ago, SmartHippo made an announcement today. The community based mortgage shopping network announced that it has created an advisory board that included a number of industry experts.

Founding advisory board members include Lori Collins, former Senior Vice President and General Manager for LendingTree Exchange; Bill Rice, CEO of Kaleidico; and John Philip Green, Founder and CTO at LearnHub.

George Favvas, CEO of SmartHippo.com, said: “We’re excited to have some of the smartest and most accomplished business and technology leaders join our advisory board. Their expertise in lending, customer acquisition, social media, and consumer Internet will be invaluable assets as we grow our business.”

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So, who has the most loyal customers in financial services? Here they are according to the Brand Keys 2007 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index.

Bank

1 Wachovia/
Washington Mutual (tie)
2 Bank of
America
3 JP Morgan Chase
4 PNC/Bank of NY (tie)
5 Wells
Fargo
6 CitiCar Insurance1 Geico
2 State Farm
3 Allstate
4 Nationwide
5 ProgressiveCredit Card1 Discover
2 Capital One
3 Visa
4 American Express
5 First
USA/MasterCard (tie) Insurance1 NY Life
2 ING/The
Hartford (tie)
3 MetLife
4 Prudential/Travelers (tie)
5 AXA
6
AetnaMutual Fund1 T. Rowe Price
2 Fidelity
3 American Funds/Janus (tie)
4 Putnam/Vanguard (tie) On-Line Brokerage1 Scottrade
2 Schwab.com
3 Fidelity.com
4 TDAmeritrade.com
5 ETrade.com
6 MerrillLynch.comSource: Brand Keys 2007 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index

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I am not sure when the last time you have been to you local shopping mall, but if you’ve been to one in the last 6-9 months I am sure you have noticed a specific store full of buzz. People are slammed together inside the large store chatting with store attendees, testing out the products and quite literally pushing other shoppers out of the way.

If you haven’t been to the mall in a while I will try to fill you in on the huge buzz that is the Apple store. It is simply crazy! There are grandparents, parents and children all enjoying the store and its products. Aside from Apple offering amazing products they have changed the way people shop. They added convenience to process! Not only is Apple an innovator of technology, but they are also innovators of the consumer experience.

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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. Continue Reading

The sky is falling! The Sky is falling!

ComScore released numbers stating that Google’s search marketing produced a 0% increase from the previous year. A complete article can be found at Silicon Alley Insider . What does this all mean? Well, it means that Google isn’t recession proof and they too feel the pain when consumers aren’t buying or clicking in their case. According to Alley Insider Google began seeing a decrease in growth starting in October of last year.

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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. Continue Reading

I am back after a little hiatus and many of you have been wonder where the only out spoken consumer advocate on the Internet has been. Well, I can only tell you that lead providers should beware! I have been on the prowl scouring the Internet for offensive behaviors. If you are out there foregoing the rights of the consumer please change your ways or I will find you and call you on it.

In the in the spirit of the NFL playoffs I am going to throw my first penalty flag at a specific lead generator for unnecessary roughness on the consumer. It is my opinion that there is a fine line of how many offers you can present to a consumer in one form and how many different types of leads you can generate from one consumer. A person fills out a mortgage form to receive quotes for a mortgage and that is it. Although a form may be able to present a few options for the consumer and possibly offer them credit repair solutions if applicable and of course only with their consent.

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While researching search terms and keyword trends there are a two that I will always check out of curiosity and the they are “Mortgage Quotes” and “Mortgage Leads”. I believe the last time I checked these two keywords was over 3 months ago, possible much longer. Either way, it is worth noting for lead buyers the results I found.

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December is traditionally a slow month in the mortgage industry where contact rates and funding rates tend to drop by at least 15%. Loan officers start scheduling significant time off and prospects get very busy. I remember even during the mortgage heyday our loan officers dreaded this month. Is anyone experiencing the December drag? Have your contact rates dropped in the last few weeks?

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In the past we have discussed going the consumer more control over the loan shopping process. George Favvas took a positive step forward with the creation of SmartHippo which is gives borrowers the chance to post the rates they received, rate the lender and also shop for the lowest mortgage rates. Now another website looks to give more control to the consumer by allowing them to compare apples to apples. Nameyourloan.com is an auction based platform that allows consumers to view multiple offers before they ever have to speak to a lender.

“Through advanced technology, we are starting to make haggling and deceptive lending tactics a thing of the past,” explains Salahi. “At the same time, we are transforming a generally stressful and complicated process into a very pleasant and easy experience for borrowers. Our multiple bid auction format, coupled with constant consumer feedback, will make it easy for us to weed out dishonest lenders–and hopefully put them out of business!”

The process is fairly simple, a consumer fills out their information similar to a typical mortgage inquiry. Once the form is complete the auction begins. The auction last 24 hours from that point. After the form is completed a notification is sent to 3-4 lenders who’s filters are aligned with the borrowers information. These lenders then price out an offer according to the borrowers info and an email is sent to the borrower notifying them that offers are waiting for them.

The offers are fairly thorough and gives the consumer all the corresponding rate information and fees. Once the consumer views the rates they have the choice to accept the rates, restart the auction with different parameters or cancel the auction altogether.

Overall I liked the the UI on the website and the ability to view the rates before ever speaking to a lender. I am not sure that viewing the rates first is going to reduce the likelihood of fraud, but it is a painless process and very convenient. We’ll have to wait an see if consumers find it useful, but none the less it is another evolution of the lead industry and another step closer to giving the consumer full control of the loan process.

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