Successful Telemarketing Leads

If you are purchasing telemarketing leads, see if you can get a copy of the script or the questions that the customer is asked. This will determine if there are any incentive-based methods used to generate their leads. This is by far the most common problem we hear about telemarketing leads. “The customer would say, well I am not interested in a mortgage; I just wanted the free offer” or “I told them I wasn’t interested in a mortgage, but they transferred me anyway”.

If a customer only completed an application to get a gift certificate or some “Free Offer.” Chances are they are not going to be too interested in home financing. Also, see if your own phone number can be added to their call list so you can test the program for yourself prior to taking any leads. Make sure you know exactly how they are acquiring their phone list and that it is scrubbed against the do-not-call registry. You might also want to get a little extra protection and insist that their agreement specifically states that they are compliant with the do-not-call registry.

Lead Broker vs. Lead Generator

Make Sure You Know Who You Are Dealing With!
This is the single most important piece of information you need when looking for a source for your mortgage leads. Are you working with a lead broker or a lead generator? What’s the difference? A lead broker generally purchases leads from third parties (a lead generator) and will resell them to you. A lead generator, on the other hand, generates its own leads directly on its website through its own marketing efforts and sells them directly to you. With a lead broker, it will be difficult to determine how and where they are getting their leads. You should still try, even if it requires you to agree that you will not engage in business with their sources.

It is best to know as much as possible about HOW the lead was actually generated. This will clear up any questions regarding whether a company markets “incentive” offers to consumers. You also want to know when the lead was received and how many times the source sells its leads. If they tell you only four times test them out. Go to the website and complete an application. Sit and wait to see how many calls you get from lenders. Without this information, there is no real way of knowing if four companies or 15 companies received the same lead. Lead generators who wants to earn your business should have no problem giving you the details of their lead generation process. If they won’t, you might be working with a lead broker. Not that this is bad; however, if they are unable to provide you specific information, it does raise the question of the age of the lead and the number of times the lead was actually sold or resold. A lead generator by contrast manages its own website and spends its own advertising dollars to generate its own leads.

Submitted Greg Kazmierczak