through your website,
is that those from a lead generator
will have stated exactly which type of mortgage the client
wants advice on, how much they think their house is worth, how
much deposit they have and what their postcode is.
“Brokers can then choose to speak only to prospective clients who
fit their expertise and geographical region. What’s more the
potential borrower will have seen the broker’s company name and
given express consent for them to call.”
Justin Rees, head of marketing at Lead Point, agrees.
“Lead generation is the most cost-effective and transparent
method for brokers to source new business,” he says. “Any broker
who has tried other more traditional forms of marketing to promote
their services will no doubt have experienced the expense and lack
of response that these methods generate.”
Rees says lead generation offers more than just a short-term
return on investment and means brokers can generate business in
a variety of ways.
“On the one hand brokers will convert a percentage of those
leads into business to make a return on their initial spend but there
are also revenues to be generated from cross-selling into other
products such as protection,” he says.
“In addition, customers you speak to but don’t convert into
business may become customers at some point in the future. In the
longer term, these leads will generate extra business in terms of
referrals and helping to build a client bank. All these revenues
should be tracked back to the leads when determining success or
failure of a lead generation campaign. We often hear from our lead
buyers that a £25 lead has generated thousands of pounds worth of
business.”
Penny Smee, sales director of lead generation firm Simply
COVER FEATURE
Success, says leads allow brokers to tap into potential pools of
customers they may not usually have the opportunity to deal with.
“We are able to find out what our clients want and then match
their requirements to the leads we generate,” she says. “We also
offer ‘hot keys’ which mean clients are on the phone when they
are transferred to brokers which increases conversions substantially,
along with cutting down on wasted time trying to get hold of
clients.”
According to Stevens despite the current economic climate
remortgages are still the most common type of lead.
“Sometimes there is a disparity between what borrowers want
advice on and the type of clients brokers want to speak to. But for
months now remortgages have been most popular among borrowers,
especially as their existing deals end, while demand from brokers
has also been high for this kind of client as they are easier to place
than other mortgage types,” says Stevens.
“In terms of all lead types when you take into account life
Monitor what you’re paying
‘‘
Lead generation works
for us and has helped
us to grow our
business, even during
the credit crunch
DARREN PESCOD
MANAGING DIRECTOR
THE MORTGAGE BROKER
We use lead generation in addition to
referrals and other marketing
methods as it is provides an extra
source of enquiries that are quick and
easy to tap into. It can be valuable,
especially in the current market when lots of people
are struggling to get enough business through the
door.
When buying leads you need to monitor what
you’re paying for as the quality is not the same from
every lead generator. Measuring your return on
investment is key as with any form of new business.
Conversions have definitely dropped as mortgages
have become harder to place. Previously you may have
got a conversion rate of one in three, now you may
struggle with one in 10.
But it is not the conversion rate that counts, it’s
your return on investment and the long-term value you
get from new clients, particularly as lead prices are
lower now. So it doesn’t matter what your conversion
rate is as long as you are earning considerably more
money from clients than you are paying out on leads.
There is a slightly different approach needed for
converting leads from a lead generator compared to a
referral, but we find it effective to get new business.
Rapid response is key as is paying attention to the
early rapport building stages.
We have used lead generation as a source of new
business for six years and have used Leadbay for four
of these.
Lead generation works for us and has helped us to
grow our business, even during the credit crunch. The
price of leads and the flexibility is key so we can
choose just the leads that are right for our business.
MORTGAGE STRATEGY June 22, 2009 19
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