LeadQual Mystery Shopped over 130 Mortgage Lenders
Reposted From "LeadQual Mystery Shopped Over 130 Lenders" on DialMyLeads.com.
LeadQual conducted a study to determine the current state of lead response in the mortgage industry. In this study, over 350 Internet leads were delivered to more than 130 lenders. Each lead was submitted on weekdays, before 5:00 PM. The objective was to measure the rate of response to Internet leads, as well as the average time that passes before each lender followed up with their leads by telephone.
Lead buyers who want to be competitive are faced with a challenge. Call every lead in minutes, or lose loans to faster competitors.
The results of our study were somewhat surprising, even for us.
We measured the percent of leads that received a response and we also measured the speed with which each lender responded. Both measures are reflected on the horizontal and vertical axes respectively, on the graph below.
Each data point represents an individual lender that received multiple leads across different time zones and area codes.
40% of the leads received a response by telephone before 24 hours had lapsed. Responses inside of 24 hours occurred 7 hours later on average, with a median time of just under 3 hours.
5 Minutes Too Late
Leads generated online do not have a long life. An oft-cited MIT Study1 measured the contact rates for leads that have aged 5 minutes, versus 30 minutes. The study demonstrated that the liklihood of contact will drop by 100 times.
From 5 minutes to 10 minutes the liklihood of making contact with an individual who has submitted an inquiry online will decrease by 5 times! This is a 5 minute window in which the value of an Internet Lead degrades by 80%!
Many lenders in our study responded to their leads in less than 30 minutes and many more responded to 100% of their leads.
Lead buyers who want to be competitive are faced with a challenge:
Call every lead in minutes, or lose loans to faster competitors.
Speed Wins
LeadQual data indicates that speed of response is the best predictor of success with Internet leads. In fact, the first to contact an Internet lead experiences a 238% higher close rate on that lead.
The challenge above becomes an opportunity for lenders looking to succeed online. Call fast, call first and close more loans.
Borrowers complete multiple forms in an online session. Several calls from lenders come in to consumers after they submit multiple lead forms, or when their request for information has been distributed to multiple lenders by lead vendors.
If a Loan Officer calls these consumers hours or even days later, they end up speaking to potential borrowers have already been helped by a competitor. These leads were once positive and receptive to calls from Loan Officers, but will have since become difficult to reach, stand-offish and perhaps even rude.
The challenge above becomes an opportunity for lenders looking to succeed online.
Call fast, call first and close more loans.
1 How Much Time Do You Have Before Web-Generated Leads Go Cold? Research Study by James Oldroyd, PhD, Sloan School of Management, MIT October 16th, 2007
