Everything we know about the lead business from everyone at the Leads360 family. From online lead providers like LowerMyBills.com to Mortgage Lead Management best practices. We'll tell you what we know and what we've learned.
We have always advocated the importance of partnerships and cooperation when it comes to business, and so we want to take this opportunity to congratulate one of our most important partners, QuinStreet. Today marks an important milestone in the history of the company, as they are now trading on Nasdaq after a successful IPO. We look forward to sharing continued success well into the future and are proud to be a partner with a company like Quinstreet.
Every day we help improve ROI on leads, so we figured that we’d help you improve your ROI on poker (even if you’re not very good). That’s why we are sponsoring a jackpot to be paid randomly to one lucky participant in the 2nd Annual Leadscon Poker Tournament. Get there on time and throw your business card in for a chance to get paid. Now you can win, even when you (painfully) lose.
Hopefully we’ll see you at the poker tables and at one of the panels or sessions that we’re participating in. If not be sure to check back here and at Leadcritic.com for all the news from Leadscon.
If you have not already registered for the Leadscon poker tournament, reserve your seat today!
Details:
* Location: Mirage Poker Room
* Time: February 23rd, 9pm sharp
* Duration: 4 hours
* Entry Fee: $70.00
* 1 hour rebuy opportunities: $60.00
* Winnings: 1st 45%, 2nd 25%, 3rd 15% and 4th 10%, 5th 5%
(Details are subject to change)
ABC. Always Be Closing. Alec Baldwin’s character, Blake, said it in the speech from Glengarry Glen Ross that this blog takes its title from. But what does it mean really? How can we Always Be Closing?
Taken at face value, Blake’s comment was pure braggadocio. The assumption being that his keen super powered sales mind was able to discern every action that leads to a close, and every action that does not. If, like him, you can see that, simply do that which will lead to a close, and do not that which will not. But this part of his “pep talk” was hardly any help at all. If his audience had his ability, they would have his sales record, and they would not need a pep talk.
That was a different time. And a different type of sales than most of us are engaged in. Always Be Closing takes on a less mythical meaning in the age of the internet. With strategic, relevant, and most importantly automated communication to your leads, you can Always Be Closing by keeping your name in front of customers until the moment when they are ready to buy. Research shows that as much as 40%-50% of leads will close eventually. Those leads which don’t close right away are too often passed over by salespersons in search of a quick close. Does this make sense, when nurturing these leads will lead to a close almost half the time? Is the only thing standing between you closing these leads a lead management solution with smart email capabilities?
Always Be Closing still means close the deal you have on the phone right now. But to close as many as 50% of your leads, Always Be Nurturing might be even more profitable advice.
With Super Bowl Sunday upon us, I ask you to consider the following: A closed sale is the same thing as a completed touchdown pass.
As a salesperson, you are the quarterback and you are looking for a receiver to catch the pass. You know how to sell, you know your product. You have the ball, and you’re good. The big problem that you have suddenly discovered is that none of your buyers are running their routes.
Come to think of it, there are no routes, and there was no play called, because there was no huddle. All those prospects, running whatever direction suits them, seem to be unaware of your game. Unaware of the ball, unaware of the end zone, unaware of the quarterback. You wonder why your receivers are oblivious to you.
If you can interrupt one of them and get them on the phone, you can explain all this to them to complete the pass and close the sale. You are pretty persuasive, after all.
But suddenly there is one guy, standing in the end zone, wide open, his eyes locked on you.
Do you know who this guy is? He’s the guy who has just requested information about your product online. Literally 60 seconds ago, he filled out a form asking for information because he wants to buy. You don’t have to explain anything to this guy, because he has worked it out on his own. He is in the right place at the right time with his mind focused on buying what you are selling.
But the right place and the right time come together for a brief window. Another couple seconds and this buyer will wander out of the end zone and get focused on something other than wanting what you are selling.
Your skills as a salesperson equip you to connect with some of these less obvious wins and guide them into the end zone. But if you are not taking advantage of the technologies that can help you instantly connect with the buyer who is looking for you, then the buyer will be standing in the end zone, wide open, wondering why the quarterback is oblivious to him.
Last week I mentioned that we (the marketing department) are doing some cultivation marketing, and I would like to tell you how we are taking on a specific challenge.
While this particular “cultivation marketing” idea was still in the conceptual stages, we outlined two goals that we set out to accomplish. The first goal was to reach out to our recently signed customer base via direct mail and make sure everything is running smoothly for them. After doing some research, we were amazed to find that the majority of negative feedback and complaints from software and computer users in general, could be directly attributed to pilot (user) error. We looked at that statistic and asked ourselves, “What if we promoted our help resources (beyond what we already do) to the extent that we could swiftly resolve these user error problems, (and thus customer frustration)?”, “What would happen to our retention and referral numbers?” To accomplish this, we thought that we would send them a dedicated piece of direct mail that would clearly outline the steps necessary to get the help they needed. This piece would clearly and concisely include our support email, phone, help documentation, etc. We know we have an excellent client services department, so we are hoping that a little extra nudge can make a big splash.
The second goal we set out to accomplish was simply to get more referrals. Like any other business, we benefit greatly from word of mouth referrals, so instead of waiting around for the situation to arise, why not simply ask for them? To achieve this, we included a pre-stamped comment card that asked if they knew anyone who would benefit from our software. We offer incentives for referrals, so we figure that this was a great way to stimulate some new business.
Why direct mail over an email?
The simple answer is because it works in this case. There is something to be said about packaging and the benefit of a personalized touch. We truly think that making a customer or prospect feel their worth is extremely important. To ensure this, I asked for every single piece of direct mail to be hand signed by our CEO. Now some people may not notice the signature, and others would say it is a waste of time, but in our opinion, having an opportunity to let our customers know that we really care with this simple notion is priceless. In our particular case, we wanted our client base to receive a card that they could put next to their desk detailing all the available ways to get help. An email with this same content would simply just not be effective for our objective.
I illustrated our thought process and the details of this project because I truly am an advocate of nurturing your client base after the fact. Obliviously not everyone is in the software business, but regardless, I think that there is something to be learned here when doing your own cultivation marketing. Whether you decide to use direct mail, email, or phone, make sure that you are bringing something of value to the current client, and something that will help encourage high retention, and of course, referrals.
We’ve talked about the great importance of personal attention, nurturing, and follow up before the sale, but what about the importance after the sale?
In the fast paced environment of sales, usually we are focused on closing the next big deal, generating and purchasing the best leads, and constantly trying to outdo ourselves. This is a good practice to follow, but it is still vital to make sure that people who we have already closed, (the ones paying our bills) are completely happy, especially when there is a chance for a resale or a referral. This notion seems pretty straight forward, but let’s face it, investing time and money on things that can’t really show a blatant quantifiable return, is tough to swallow.
At Leads360 we recently undertook the task of doing some “cultivation marketing,” a term I coined that really encompassed what our ultimate goal was. For a second, imagine that you are a farmer who grows a type of plant. You first have to prepare the soil, plant the seed, and the nurture it to get it to grow. Once the seed turns into that plant though, there is much to be done. You have to make sure weeds don’t overtake it, insects don’t destroy it, and that is gets adequate water and light. Finally after all your hard work, the plant bears fruit. I am positive that you have heard this tired analogy to the sales process before, but bear with me as I take it a bit further. What happens after you have harvested all the fruit? Do you neglect the plant and let it die, now that you have enjoyed what it has yielded you? The farmer understands that although the plant may be initially finished with providing, if maintained, more fruit can be taken next year, and more importantly the plant can spread its seeds ultimately creating new plants. Going back to the sales process, this means that “cultivating” the existing sale can help secure another sale from them in the future, and increase your chances of that company referring you to a friend.
Next week, I’ll explain how Leads360 is taking on this challenge, and talk about the important considerations that should be taken when committing to cultivation marketing.
Integrated Scoring from TARGUSinfo
Leads360 is pleased to announce our partnership with TARGUSinfo, the industry leader in real time lead verification and scoring services. Using On-Demand Lead Verification can significantly increase the contactability and conversions of online leads by automatically verifying and enhancing leads prior to distribution.
How Does it Work?
TARGUSinfo will instantly indicate any linkage between the name, address and phone of each lead and provide you with actionable information on whether to accept or reject that lead. Ultimately, you can distinguish between the good and bad leads and drive more conversions. Clients can also enhance their leads by appending alternate phone numbers or addresses, household level demographics and household property data.
You can leverage TARGUSinfo’s lead verification services automatically when new leads arrive or trigger using an action. Here are a few use cases:
I’m excited to report, finally, that we are officially collaborating with Google. Frankly it’s a bit of a relief as we’ve had to keep quiet about it for many months. We started working with Google long before the introduction of their new Comparison Ads feature, which, if you haven’t seen it, is incredibly slick (more on that later). Google acknowledged and appreciated that we had a wealth of knowledge in the mortgage lead management space, and through our strategic relationship over the past few months, we’ve been involved in the exciting development of AdWords Comparison.
As I said, if you haven’t seen Google Comparison Ads for mortgages, you can check it out here. Essentially you can run mortgage pricing scenarios on-the-fly and compare lenders. Nick Hedges has a pretty thorough review of the functionality on his lead blog.
For Leads360 this is big news. We know that customers that use our lead management platform perform better with internet mortgage leads. For companies that want to try Google leads they should know that Leads360 has a turnkey integration with Google so leads will be received in real-time as inquiries are made by prospective customers.
One of the unique benefits of using Leads360 is that we have built-in de-duplication management which may be useful when working with Google Comparison Ads. Essentially, if you receive more than one inquiry from the same person, you can instantly identify and merge leads so your loan officers are more efficient and provide a better customer experience, which everyone knows is Google’s #1 goal and will be increasingly important over time as Comparison Ads grow in popularity and competitiveness.
Currently Google’s mortgage-related Comparions Ads beta is open to a select group of lenders. If you want more information or if you are an existing Leads360 Enterprise customer we may be able to help you get into the beta. Contact your Client Success Manager for more information.
On February 23-24 in Las Vegas, Leads360 will be sponsoring and participating in the 2010 LeadsCon conference. No matter what you do in the online lead generation industry, there will be something for you at this conference. If you would like to attend, please use this link to get up to $200 off your registration.*
Learn about the enormous amount of potential and opportunity from industry leaders while also sharing your own thoughts and experiences.
We were attracted to this opportunity because we like the direction and focus that the conference is trying to promote. The landscape in the online lead industry is constantly morphing, and the way to stay competitive and continue to grow, is to collaboratively come together and walk into the next stage of the industry as one entity. At Leads360 we like to not only think of ourselves as a business, but as thought leaders as well. Every day is a learning experience, and we want to share as much of what we learn as possible. Helping others do well can increase the overall health of the industry, and when that happens, we all win.
Seminars we are participating in:
End Of The Funnel – A View From The Bottom
WHEN: Wednesday February 24, 2010 @ 10:45am-1130am
WHERE: The Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Nevada
Extreme Lead Management – Five Innovative Use Cases You Don’t Know About But Should
WHEN: Wednesday February 24, 2010 @ 9:00am-9:45am
WHERE: The Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Nevada
Remember that discounted registration is available here.*
*Discount rate good on new registrations only. Credits or refunds cannot be issued on previous registrations. Discount rate good through February 6, 2010, prevailing rate applies after that.
Recently, LeadCritic posted an article regarding the enormous growth in the For Profit EDU sector, and how although business is good, forward thought and preparation is going to be very important. Like LeadCritic mentioned, with access to internet ever increasing coupled with the fact that the work force is actively looking to get ahead and stand out, growth is moving as fast as a freight train.
From our vantage point at Leads360, we have watched the industries we serve experience the same lifecycle again and again. We know all too well how the Mortgage industry was effected and especially know how quickly things can go from good to bad, and then to worse. Over-saturation is a common fear in growing industries, and smart companies know that even when potential business is booming, they need to prepare to weather the times when it isn’t. Companies should embrace the bountiful period, but never take anything for granted. The point of this warning is not to scare anyone, but to bring about a call to action. This cyclical nature can be looked at as good thing, de cluttering said space, and allowing for the survival of the fittest. The separation of the “men from the boys” can allow companies who have prepared and are following best practices to establish themselves as industry players, and can create an environment for them to continue to grow and flourish far down the road. The keys for this preparation are fairly obvious. Make sure your company is not fooled by the tremendous growth by letting standards slide. Be sure to contact leads quickly and concisely, don’t allow for precious leads to be stranded by the wayside, and utilize current technology to stay ahead of the curve. Although you may find some things unnecessary at the moment, teaching your sales force how to embrace new technology before the storm, allows for an easy transition when your company needs it most. Take heed, but enjoy the ever expanding market.