How to not get burned buying mortgage leadsAdrien LadouceurBuying mortgage leads
The Internet has changed the face of business marketing with its
power to supply anyone with a computer scads of information at the
press of a button. If you know how to get noticed among the sea of
cyber-traffic, the Internet can be a source of an endless supply of
interested clients for your company. But tread carefully, it can
burn you just as easily, sucking away valuable company capital and
giving little in return. Still, the Internet's vast potential to
connect the professional to the consumer, with an efficiency that
is impossible to duplicate in any other medium, is too valuable a
resource to allow some online horror stories to prevent one from
taking advantage of Internet marketing. Instead, one should learn
the proper methods for venturing into the vastness of cyberspace
without becoming lost in a monetary no-man's-land.
A current popular trend in online marketing is the sale of
leads. Buying leads makes sense--after all, it costs a great deal
of money to set up and maintain an effective marketing campaign,
and leads generated from this campaign are typically time-consuming
to manage, process and disperse to the people who can actually work
them. Furthermore, most online marketing is available to the
national market, so if your company is only licensed in a limited
number of states, or if you wish to focus on a limited number of
states, buying leads is a more economical way to save money and
time getting only the leads that you want to work with. Lastly,
when you buy leads, you're paying based upon marketing performance,
unlike traditional marketing where you pay for an ad to run, and
the number of interested contacts that result from it is determined
by fate.
However, when purchasing leads, there are still many precautions
you should take in order to make sure the company handling your
online marketing is going to bring you results, or if they're going
to waste your time and money. First--and this is very
important--realize that Internet marketing is still just marketing.
The first warning sign that a company is not what you want is when
you hear unbelievable closing guarantees from them with "very
little work" required on your part. If it really were that easy,
why isn't this company just closing these deals themselves? "All
sale, and no effort" promises are all fluff. With any type of
marketing, Internet included, the burden of transforming an
interested lead into a profit-bearing client lies on the person
working the lead. Remember, no matter what, it is just a lead--the
individual indicated that they were interested in being contacted,
and even had to provide several details about themselves, but they
are still just a lead.
Keeping this in mind, there are several useful questions that
can help you determine which companies will generate valuable leads
for your company and which ones are just looking to make a quick
buck:
How long have they been in business? What references do
they have?
Back in the late 1990s, we saw many Internet-based companies sprout
up. Very quickly however, most of them failed. An online business
requires as much dedication and capital to survive as an offline
business does. If the Internet marketing company has been around
for five or more years, they've figured this out. It's always a
good idea to ask for references as well--every good company has
them.
How do they market for their leads? Can you see a sample
of this marketing?
This is very important, as there are many ways to market for leads
online. Spam is a term anyone with a computer is aware of, and it
should be avoided. Given recent legislation regarding Spam, it will
attract more legal problems than leads, no matter what promises are
made by the marketing company. Search engine leads (leads that are
mostly advertised through Web page placement on the search engines)
are good, but have a lower percentage of seriously interested
"shoppers" than other types of marketing. Direct "opt-in" e-mail
marketing, banner ad marketing or "pop-up" ad marketing are
normally the best leads out there, but beware what is being
promised. If there are promises of certain rates, or free draws
promised to applicants, it would be best to steer away. Take a look
at the marketing yourself and determine if you would feel
comfortable having it represent your business.
How old are the leads?
While Internet marketing is very effective, Internet leads have a
very short shelf life. A lead that sits around too long will go
elsewhere, so make sure that the leads that you are buying are not
too old. Be sure to ask the lead company if they will replace a
lead that claims to have filled an application over a week
ago--which does happen even with legitimate marketers.
Check with the better business bureau
A good marketing company always remains in good standing with the
Better Business Bureau.
What is their replacement policy?
Once you have narrowed your search for an Internet marketing
company down to companies with strong marketing practices, one way
to separate the good companies from the average ones is to examine
their replacement policies. Be careful, as this is the step at
which the sharks will try to bite you! I've heard of companies
guaranteeing that if their leads don't close, they will be
replaced. At first, this sounds like a great deal, but look closer.
The companies that I've encountered offering this kind of deal will
indeed replace any lead that does not close, but if the replacement
goes nowhere too, well, too bad.
A good replacement policy should be fair to both you and the
company in question. As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to
be true, it most likely is. The company should replace any lead
that has invalid contact information, or which had no interest in
being contacted regarding refinance at the time the lead form was
filled out. Of course, many things can happen between the time that
a form is filled out and when the broker actually speaks with the
lead, but if it's just a bogus lead to begin with, you should not
have to pay for it.
Is the lead exclusive?
Many would say there is no such thing as a truly exclusive online
lead. This is technically true--there is no way an Internet company
can guarantee that every lead they sell has not contacted another
company. Yet this isn't to say that paying a bit extra for an
exclusive lead is not worthwhile; just be clear with the Internet
company what you mean by exclusive.
Often though, it is more cost-effective to simply go with
"semi-exclusive" leads--leads that have been sold more than once
for a lower cost. Just be sure to find out how many other times
they have been sold. If it is more than three times, keep walking.
A lead that is oversold is useless to anyone who buys it, because
the lead gets so fed up with all the contact calls, that they
become very irate when an innocent broker calls them or they simply
don't bother to answer.
Internet lead generation is a cost-effective, efficient way to
market your business. It allows you to focus on the clientele you
wish to work with, and has the power to supply you with the amount
of traffic you want, when you want it. There are many good Internet
marketing companies out there, but there are also many not-so-great
ones, so be smart when contacting one of them. A good company will
work with you to ensure the success of your venture. After all, the
success of their business is dependent on your success with their
services.
Adrien Ladouceur of Direct Media Group may be reached by
phone at (807) 577-3950 or by e-mail at
[email protected].
