Mortgage marketing leads are a loan officer and broker’s best friend. They need to have a constant influx of quality leads to keep themselves ahead and on top of their game. Self promotion and company promotion are just a small fraction of generating them, and the rest will come from hard work and thoughtful resources to find qualified candidates for a first loan or refinance. Referrals are a great way to expand your services, but to get ahead, you will need to have a solid mortgage marketing leads program. And to cut yourself a successful path, you may have to experiment with a few avenues to find the one that generates the most contracts.
One way to keep your pipeline full is to purchase your leads. Real estate and third party companies screen applicants with a series of pertinent questions to ascertain when the applicant wants the loan, how much they are qualified to borrow, and gathers all the necessary contact information.
This system works well when the leads are fresh and untouched, however, the broker or agent buying the leads must be sure that the leads have not be sold to multiple agents. Some of the top generation companies re-sell mortgage marketing leads as many as five times, with the attitude that the first loan officer to woo the would-be client is the victor. In reality, some clients are difficult to make contact with and have already been bombarded with a sales pitch. For best results with a third party service, be sure you ask for the premium leads that have not been sold to another agent. It will cost you more money up front, but pays off in the long run.
The marketing approach using a pay-per-click, or PPC method, is a viable resource to find qualified mortgage marketing leads, but can be too costly for a new agent or one with limited marketing funds. The broker must pay a nominal fee for each person that clicks on their ad, yet there are no guarantees that the inquiring party is ready to do the deal. A successful campaign may generate a lot of candidates, but the loan officer must be sure that he or she has the funds to pay the bill. The PPC approach is a great way for a well-financed agent to expand the client list to an overflow capacity, but be aware of the financial risks of paying off the PPC bill.