When I read what’s said about online lead generation in the trade press, I realize that the industry still has a ton of upside – just because there’s so many misconceptions about it, and these misconceptions are probably scaring away the smaller firms. For example – I was reading Mortgage Banking Magazine this morning and came across this paragraph in the ‘Broker Business’ column:
Anyone with e-mail knows that marketing promises made to would-be borrowers aren’t realistic. Lead-generation firms clog the Internet with claims to lower monthly payments and provide instant cash to anyone who will provide some personal information that they can sell to lenders. [Mortgage sales trainer Doug Smith, president of Douglas Smith & Associates] acknowledges there are some good mortgage lead firms, but notes that loan officers purchasing leads ‘can spend a lot, and most strike out.’
Cripes.
First, there’s limits on what you can say in an advertisement. If a lender in your network isn’t offering it, you can’t promote it. That great rate might not be available to everyone, but it’s available.
Second, no reputable mortgage lead generation firm provides cash incentives (for that matter, any incentives) for form completion. Just ask up front how the leads are generated. If someone’s trying to send you crap, you’ll find out right away as you talk on the phone to the leads. People will happily tell you that they just filled out the form because they wanted to enter a sweepstakes. Then you can drop your supplier like a hot rock.
Third, many originators, large and small, have been using a variety of lead generators profitably for years now. What do they know that you don’t? If you’re ’striking out’, how do you account for their success? I suspect anyone with good CRM and good salespeople can use lead generators profitably; if not, it should be a warning flag about your own business. Dismissing the lead gen industry is just shooting the messenger.
I could write about this stuff all day – if you’re a loan originator and want to talk, shoot me an e-mail.
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We should pull together some experts in lead generation to do an online panel discussion on how lead generation works. Very few people understand how this all works.
I agree with Pete.