Entries Tagged 'Sessions' ↓

Paul Knag led an amazing session on defining the lead ecosystem?

How do you define the Lead Ecosystem? What is each player’s roles and responsibilities? What would you like to see from each player? Here are some thoughts from the session:

Lead Generators

• Match Lenders to Consumers
• More economic and effective marketing method
• Be an expert in generating leads
• Assume some conversion risk
• Leads on demand (market order)
• Be like LendingTree? Setting consumer expectations at point of generation
• Make Internet experience extraordinary for borrowers

Lead Management Systems

• Lead Distribution
• Performance Metrics
• Bell & Whistles (email, etc.)
• Reasonable cost
• Connectivity to other technologies
• Analytics
• Automated email capacity improved
• Improved page view speed
• Better lead responses on lead receipt (server responses to lead provider)

Lenders

• Monetize the lead
• Educate consumers
• Be compliant
• Educate lead providers
• Pay their lead providers
• Call the leads
• Ethics and service
• Be realistic in expectations
• Implement/enforce use of tools/system
• Communicate openly data/analytics
• Improve trust

Miscellaneous

• Lead regeneration (credit repair)/lead retention/incubation
• Pricing
• Loan Origination System/Open
• Dialers
• Consultants
• Research
• Association/Governing Body
• Marketing Management System
• Data qualification

What do you think? What do you what from this ecosystem?

Technorati Tags:
Internet leads, lead generation, lead management, leads2007, mortgage lead buying, paul knag

There was a general consensus (I think?) that we as an industry would work on a standard for real-time lead feedback data exchange.

Who wants to be on the lead standardization task force? Comment below.

Technorati Tags:
lead generation, lead management, leads2007

There is a lot of discussion of LOs as “mercenaries” and does the organization have a responsibility to the consumer to manage that ongoing relationship?

There was a lot of discussion that LOs are in a transactional mindset and have incentive structures that focus them only on 30 day relationships. Therefore, if the organization does not take responsibility for the customer experience, then the consumer will be disappointed and you will disadvantage your conversion.

What is the key to developing a better customer experience?

DoublePositive pulls out some interesting points from this session.

Technorati Tags:
doublepositive, leads2007, customer experience

We just completed the “Improving the Customer Experience” session at Leads2007 and I found a very interesting observation…

Rarely was the term “customer” or “client” used in the discussion. In contrast, the term “lead” was the focus. Do we really care about the customer experience? Is it important to the growth of our industry? Or is it just about “crushing” the “lead” and the process the customer and their experience?

Technorati Tags:
lead generation, lead management, leads2007

Obviously, we have navigated back into 1990s mortgage credit crunch waters. This, you would think, has become somewhat predictable to the mortgage business. However, the originations environment change significantly during the last boom:

• Wall Street got closer to direct originations and purchased platforms,
• Products became much more exotic and specialized (driven by investor portfolio needs as much as consumer needs),
• Internet originations became a viable business model, and
• Lead generation entered the market to capture the 60%+ consumers using the Internet to seek a mortgage

The last one is particularly interesting since it is a player in the mortgage market that has never experienced this dramatic downturn. So, how will their process change? What will be different?

Paul Knag, formerly of American Home Mortgage and one of the casualties of grand scale mortgage implosion has some ideas. What do you think?

Technorati Tags:
lead generation, leads2007, mortgage lead buying, paul knag, mortgage implosion

Is there a better way to generate mortgage leads? Maybe the Web 2.0 way? Lead Critic explores what a new mortgage lead generation business plan might look like.

Technorati Tags:
Internet leads, lead critic, lead generation, leads2007, social media, social networks, Web 2.0

Todd Webster of Closed and Funded has started the discussion on building a better sales approach to maximize your relationships.

Todd reflects on the “tune and burn” techniques that have scorched our clientele and left our industry scared with mis-trust:

I have found that consumers tend show no loyalty to their brokers any longer. I believe that this is directly the brokers fault. By focusing on profits and ignoring their clients they have built up the resistance to return to the same place that “helped them out”. Referral and repeat business is the best business and no lead on the planet is able to come close to it.

However, I believe that when a purchased lead is harvested correctly, that when a broker ceases to concern himself with his own good and begins to focus on the wants and needs of the client. When calls are answered and not shuffled off to processors or voicemails for follow-up at particular times. When 1003’s and disclosures are explained correctly and completely. When brokers forge a bond with their clients they have the ability to take that one purchased lead and correlate it into 2 or more deals. The break the bank attitude is a concept of the past and the greed generation will have to come to grips that clients are nostalgic for the good old days when they felt like they could trust their brokers and bankers.

Maybe this has something to do with the Dave’s observation over at Mortgage Broker Coaching:

I will never forget a mortgage broker conference that I attended about 6 years ago. I was looking around the room and I felt like I was attending a conference of thieves, drug dealers, pimps, thugs and every other snake that might come crawling out from under a rock.

They drove fancy cars, had expensive watches, had the latest $1,000 suits, smoked the finest cigars, had beautiful women on their arms. Yeah baby! The mortgage business rocks man!!!

They came….they messed up the place…and now they are looking for another fast easy buck (industry) to support their inane existence.

How do we bring back the Trust?

Technorati Tags:
todd webster, trust, mortgage broker, closed and funded, mortgage broker coaching, trusted adviser, leads2007

1. Lead Return Format
2. Data Interchange between Product, Pricing, and Eligibility Services
3. Data Interchange between Loan Origination Systems
4. Market Orders
5. Lead Transmission Format

Thoughts?

Technorati Tags:
Internet leads, lead management

Have you ever tried to determine the size of the Internet lead buying community? I would suggest that it is very small relative to consumer inquiries the occur online. And a large part of that smallness is borne of frustration.

Consumers flow willingly and actively to the Internet channel, yet our industry has erected artificial barriers (e.g., lack of lead standardization, proprietary delivery methods, returns via CSV files, lack of positive feedback loops, etc.) to delivering a compelling experience to consumers, lead buyers, and yes to the lead suppliers as well.

I can’t wait to start lifting this attitude and changing this pattern at Leads2007!

Technorati Tags:
Internet leads, leads2007