How to Improve Internet Lead Conversions

Steven Kropper recently told listeners at Executive Podcast that the industry has found its way back to purchase lending. He advised lenders to abandon direct mail marketing and focus on warming up Web leads.

“Forget direct mail,” said Kropper, a Mortgage Bankers Association Loan Production Committee member. “You are going to end up spending about five thousand bucks per closed loan … You can’t go out there and buy a list of people who are in the business to buy a house, unless you are scraping the MLS and there are some regulatory problems there.”

Lead providers like Eleadz and Leadbot.com have stated conversion rates ranging from two to eight percent, as reported on MortgageDaily.com. Kropper said these single digit conversion rates have left a gap that can be filled with a few “incubation” techniques.

To address the value gap of Internet and traditional leads, Kropper said, lenders should utilize email campaigns and “occasional touch by phone” to warm up the Web leads. Otherwise, Kropper warned, lenders run the risk of burning out their loan officers or mortgage brokers by giving them weak leads.

In a phone interview with MortgageDaily.com, Kropper, a technology developer and teacher for MBA’s School of Mortgage Banking, said when prospects typically hit Web sites, they aren’t ready to buy and it might be too early to contact them. What lenders should do is develop the processes to stay engaged with the prospect.

“You could email them with something truly of value,” he told MortgageDaily.com, “so when they are ready it will remind them of your brand.”

“Incubate them and find a way to figure out when they move into the buy zone,” he advised. “Contact them before they are ready — and it’s not as effective.”

However, he added, to follow-up aggressively.