Have you ever wondered how you should evaluate your lead generation campaign and where lead generation fits into the wider marketing mix? Justin Rees, Head of Marketing, explains all here at Mortgage Strategy.

Have you ever gone shopping online for a new television, stereo, digital camera, item of clothing, CD, or book? How many sites do you visit before making a final decision? Two, three, ten? Personally, I check as many sources I can and I usually look at it from three angles: price, service level, and delivery.

Consumers are more savvy and creative today than they ever have been and have a very powerful research tool via the internet at their disposal. The ‘hassle’ of shopping around, no longer exists, at least arguably not the way it has in the past. The question is no longer, “why shop around?” But rather, “why wouldn’t you shop around?” I will always check a number of different websites sites before I buy a consumer item, so with something so important as a mortgage or a loan, why wouldn’t I do the same and search for the best product and deal for myself?

The majority of lead generators will sell “exclusive” leads, when in reality the most that they can possibly guarantee is that the lead is exclusive to their site or lead generation company. Believing that a consumer will only visit one site looking for a mortgage or loan is naïve. In a lead generation world where consumers ‘shop around’ for the best quote, buying a shared lead where a consumer expects to be called 3-4 times will prove exponentially cheaper, up to 4 times cheaper in some instances.

Our American LeadPoint brethren run on a shared lead model which has proven extremely profitable and successful for both the lead buyers and lead sellers. Interestingly enough LeadPoint UK, like our US cousins, already have the capability to sell both shared and exclusive leads at the press of a button. We have resisted switching to a shared lead model however because the current “exclusive” lead model continues to be popular with the UK buyer base.

If buyers become more open to the idea of much cheaper but shared leads their ROI has the potential to soar. If you would like more information about shared leads, please do get in touch.

Diana – diana.dinis@leadpoint.com

In my previous role at an online advertising company we had two extremely successful advertising campaigns. One was a utilities company looking to grow its customer base the other a Laser Eye Surgery aiming to put Opticians out of business using its technology to fix people’s eyes. Both embraced the Internet as means to generate leads for their service with phenomenal customer acquisition results.

Towards the end of 2005 I came across the founders of a US company called LeadPoint, Marc Diana (CEO) and Per Pettersen (CTO). The vision was to build a lead marketplace where buyers and sellers were connected in a free market environment without fraud. The whole system was built on getting feedback from clients (positive and negative) meaning only genuine leads were paid for and the quality of the leads being traded was always being improved. Being a logical chap, I thought this business model made complete sense for all parties. Buyers would get great quality real time prospective customers, consumers would get the advice they needed, Sellers would earn a fair price per lead and LeadPoint would take a small commission. I would be crazy not take this opportunity, this business is going be huge…

Then we created products for the Mortgage Industry. Initially I was surprised by the amount of negativity we found amongst brokers towards leads. I thought you need leads to grow your business! “Fingers had been burnt”, “leads don’t work”, “can we return them if people aren’t interested” were classic responses. The “this is a marketing exercise and you need to look at overall ROI line” was not always greeted with a reasonable response.

After over 18 months in business, we have now developed relationships with hundreds of companies who purchase internet leads in high volumes. For many, it is the lifeblood of their business. So why does it work for them?

* Leads are followed up properly. They are called in the first 60 seconds of receiving them. If they cannot be contacted immediately then they are tried 8 times per day until contact is made.
* Proper technology or CRM systems are used to track the lead process.
* Full feedback loop from lead purchase to sale.
* The customer has a CPA (customer acquisition) objective.
* LeadPoint operates a fair return policy so any invalid leads are returned.

These customers see lead generation as the most important part of their marketing mix. They understand that to grow their businesses they must embrace the Internet as a means to win business. Some run PPC or SEO search marketing campaigns, others leave it to the professionals. Advertising used to be an art now you have to be a scientist to work out Google’s Algorithm!

Lead generation is set to become increasingly important to businesses over the next few years. You would have to be crazy not to get involved! That is why I joined LeadPoint.

Nick Chapman, LeadPoint UK MD

As an Account Manager looking after a number of Lead Buyers at LeadPoint, one of the first questions I am asked by new clients is how our leads are sourced. I start by explaining that our leads are real-time and Internet generated, reaching the Buyer’s inbox within 3 seconds of the consumer submitting their information. So far so impressive, but what does ‘Internet-generated leads’ actually mean?

All the leads that are currently trading on the LeadPoint platform are data leads, meaning that they contain contact details and other relevant information for consumers who have registered their interest in getting advice/a quote from one of our financial services partners. The leads are generated by our Lead Sellers; highly experienced marketers who use their expertise in search engine optimisation techniques and pay-per-click marketing (e.g. Google Adwords) to attract consumers to their websites. To ensure that the information that we ask of the consumers is consistent across all the Sellers’ lead channels, we provide the forms to the Sellers to include on their sites and make sure that this and everything else that they display is fully FSA compliant.

When we build our forms, it’s important to get a balance between getting enough information from the consumer and not putting them off by asking for too much. We use industry best practices to determine which pieces of information are essential for any given lead type. Our Sellers are also required to make it as clear as possible that the consumer will be contacted by telephone, rather than receiving an online quote. Inevitably, there will always be consumers who enter two phone numbers, a home address and an email address and then profess to be astonished at being contacted, but we have a refund policy in place which protects buyers from losing out where the consumer has given incorrect details or had no intention of applying.

What we provide is a marketplace where Lead Sellers can monetise their marketing efforts and Lead Buyers can run highly targeted campaigns to get consumers who are searching for the products they have to offer. From the consumer’s point of view, they have access to a range of FSA authorised advisors and as we only sell each lead once they will only be contacted by the most relevant broker.

Katie – katie.jenkins@leadpoint.com

Consumers in the UK are bombarded daily with horror stories in the media about identity theft, internet fraud and disreputable telesales companies and many have been found themselves on the receiving end of these kinds of shady practices at one time or another. It is, therefore, unsurprising that we can be a suspicious lot and are often on our guard when someone contacts us to sell us a product – even if it something we are actively looking for! It is vital that any contact with the consumer should actively build their confidence and reassure them so that when they do speak to a broker they are already feeling positive about how their enquiry is going to be handled.

This is where Secure Rights comes in. Whereas LeadPoint remains invisible to the consumer, Secure Rights, our customer facing verification service, exists to enhance the consumer experience. The Secure Rights logo is displayed prominently on all of our sellers’ websites. Clicking on the logo takes the consumer directly to a “contact us” page giving them direct access via email to our verification team. The Secure Rights customer service email address also appears within the confirmation email they receive when they initially submit their request. This means that the consumer has a point of contact from the moment they submit their request and is not left searching for a means to raise any concerns he or she may have.

From time to time our verification team may need to contact a consumer in order to confirm their interest prior to the lead entering the marketplace or to verify the feedback provided by the lead buyer. In these instances it is similarly important that the consumer comes away with a positive impression. Our team goes out of their way to handle these calls with courtesy and professionalism so that the consumer can once again feel reassured in the legitimacy of the companies involved in his or her enquiry.

Consumers talk to each other. A positive experience from start to finish means that they will be happy to recommend this means of seeking out advice about a product to others and that means that we end up with a happy and flourishing marketplace all round.

Megan – megan.whelan@leadpoint.com