We are also exploring ways to tie deeper into our clients pricing and credit programs to feed clients real time rates, points, terms, disclosures, etc based on their needs and letting them choose where they would like to proceed. We are also testing different approaches to marketing, and where data is collected and how it is validated.

We have several other stratagies that we are always open to communicating with clients or potential clients — it is a little difficult to stay competitive and be a “trail-blazer” and post all our ideas on a popular site like this.

Let’s talk anytime – jbartlett@consumertrack.com.

AJINY — sounds like your company is having a lot of success driving traffic and generating leads on your site. That is great. You then know the challenges and the difficulties.

We are working with some of our smaller and medium sized clients to help them with their direct marketing and conversions as well.

Our company always seems to improve when we are helping to improve our client’s efforts – whether through our leads or through their own marketing efforts.

jeff

Even a good lead company has several disadvantages that are difficult to overcome. Just as a lender is subject to the practices of the lead generator so too the lead generator is subject to the customer service provided to the borrrower by the lender. They are makreting a service over which they have little control as far as the quality of the service.

There is little or no integration regarding special marketing. This can be a bonus program (air miles, credit to closing costs, etc) or the promotion of specific areas of strength for the lender (e.g. co-ops, no docs, etc – this also has the benefit of offering the client something other than pure bruising, bare knuckled price competition as an incentive).

I also agree that effective web marketing is not easy. However the lead companies have gotten more experienced at this. Mortgage companies that market themselves also develop these experiences and expertise. Those that just buy leads get used to cynically analyzing a new provider but they are basically where they were 5 years ago as far as marketing experitise is concerned.

I’d love to see a discussion on various promotion and advertising techniques being used by mortgage companies. We have done mostly paid search and have done fairly well with it. I’d say our lead cost ranges from $40-60 per, depending on the search terms we are using.

We are planning to expand our marketing and do a LOT of experimentation. I’d love to know what results people have had with banners, email, and other types of online ads. We’re also trying some offline promotion of our sites. I will post some results once I have them.

Good lead generation companies actually spend a great deal of time testing, analyzing and optimizing their websites not only to attract a consumer, but also based on what channel ads are placed (search, banners etc) and what type of messaging is put out to that consumer.

Lead Generation is not easy, and it evolves on a daily basis. Look at the companies that were the leaders in this industry 5 years ago, new players are already passing many of those companies because of evolving and focusing on the consumer experience.

With focus on Web 2.0, consumers have a louder voice on the web, and lead generation companies (the good ones) see that and continue to adapt to match the needs of consumers.

As more lenders look at lead generation companies (and lead management companies) as partners – together both can do a much better job for the consumer and for their own companies.

If a lender and its lead vendor can better share data, metrics, etc, the lead generation company can focus on the successful channels and marketing messages. If an honest lender can fund a loan to a homeowner who came through a lead generation company’s website, that is a win for the homeowner, lender and the lead gen company.

If that type of data can be shared and repeated/optimized/improved — all three parties will continue to win.

jeff b

Marketing effectively is a skill and it must be learned painfully and expensively for any organization. I just think it is a core part of the business and it is dangerous to completely outsource it.

Yes, if you need huge volume then you have to become more aggressive and sophisticated in your marketing but then you are also at a level that can justify the expense of real marketing professionals in-house.

And I couldn’t agree more on the idea that regardless of how leads are generated it is essential that they be managed properly. We went through fits initially because we used to give leads to LOs to generate additional business. They looked at them as “free” extras. If they weren’t busy they’d call, if something came up they would ignore them for days.

Now all of our leads are handled by dedicated inside sales staff. I will admit that our lead management is a work in progress but the difference has been substantial. This is an area where I suspect most lenders can generate some improvement with a modest investment.

From those discussion, I would unequivocally say that lead generation. lead management, and lead sales processes are and will evolve. Tight market always bring exciting innovation.

Here are a few of observations on this topic that struck me over this last week:

-I was surprised by the passion and frustration lead generators had around how leads (consumers) they generate and engage are treated–the experience they are receiving at the hand of lenders
-The general (by no means everyone) lack of focus at the lender on treating leads as customers, NOT data to arbitrarily be ignored or discarded
-The same lack of focus of lead management systems on enabling lenders to deliver WOW! consumer experiences–a major enabler of the previous bullet
-Most lenders lack of understanding or concern over how their lead providers generate consumer inquiries
-Most lead providers lack of willingness to share this information

The good news, and why I say it will evolve dramatically, is my last observations:

-Everyone was talking about related problems
-Everyone understood it was the Internet consumers’ experience that makes your wallet fatter
-A growing group of influential individuals in this market, including competitors, were willing to talk about solutions and innovations

It is going to be exciting!

I think the “change” needs to happen at every touch point. That means lead generators, lead management providers like us, and especially the lead buyers themselves. Success with internet leads these days requires a mind-shift. Now more than ever mortgage companies need discipline in how they work leads.

The fact is most companies could never afford to market like LMB or LendingTree can. They have the economies of scale and they have a lot of smart people that will figure out how to generate quality leads. The biggest issue for our industry now is this shift from an attitude of “printing money” to “running a business”. When times were good, lead providers and lead buyers were spoiled. Now they’re both left thinking… “damn, what just happened”. It’s up to all of us to improve lead quality and lead performance.

Lately I’ve started saying: “Internet leads work if you work em”

A company in between these two scenarios has the know-how and the capital to be successful, maybe a company similar to yours. The most important point is know-how.
We do both.