Huge Lead Pool

The internet represents a vast pool of potential leads. The better part of the civilized world has internet access at this point, and many millions of people spend at least a portion of their day on it. So for reasons of simple numbers alone, internet based lead generation is a great opportunity capable of producing an almost inexhaustible supply of new prospects. These prospects can be brought to an opt-in page from simple internet searches, approached through social media, or targeted with banner ads on specific websites.

Spontaneous yet Relevant Lead Generation

Another good thing about internet leads is that they are spontaneously generated – for instance through searches. These leads are to some degree already distinguished from random individuals. They self sort into those who are potentially interested and those who are not. The very fact that the individual performed a search at the outset means that they have at least some interest in making a purchase. After this, further filtering takes place. Filling out an opt-in form for instance shows an even more concerted level of interest on the part of the web user. This can’t be said of something like cold calling, which is much more random in nature.

Speed of Transactions

Often entire transactions – from lead generation to sale - can happen solely on the internet. They also happen quickly and conveniently. A web user might, for instance, perform a search, hit a landing page, go from there to a sales page, and make a purchase. This entire sequence of events could easily happen in only a few minutes. If a number of these happen per day, its easy to see how sales can be boosted overall without a business even making too much extra marketing effort.

Easy to Integrate with Lead Management Software

Finally, generation of leads on the internet is easy to integrate with many different types of lead management software, which are often designed for the express purpose of managing web-based prospects. This software can organize and take care of a large part of the process of handling leads from generation to sale, freeing up employee resources and allowing the business to focus on other areas like product development.

Next Wave Marketing Purchasing-Insurance-Leads

Lead management is the intelligent and disciplined maintenance of leads as they impact sales. These days lead management has become a well organized science that uses various software innovations to enhance its effectiveness and ease of implementation. This is especially the case with aged insurance leads, who may require a bit more persistence than brand new prospects. The latter is the case both because aged leads have already said no to various marketing efforts and because insurance in general is not an immediate gratification type item. This makes good lead handling and sales automation essential with aged leads in the insurance industry.
The following are some of the ways that effective management of leads can help the rate of closings with aged insurance:

Sales Automation

Sales automation is another general descriptive term that refers to the process of automating a lot of sales functions that a business initiates with their leads. Again, there are a wide array of software programs available for marketing purposes, and any insurance provider should have these kinds of systems in place in order to enhance their lead management and thus their closing rates. Automating sales efforts frees up employee resources and allows sales people to focus on more important parts of the sales process, such as actually having personal interactions with sales leads.

E-Mail Campaigns

E-Mail campaigns are an important strategy for managing leads. Increasingly the kinds of repeated emails that aged insurance leads require are being automated into drip e-mail campaigns which distribute emails at various time intervals or in response to preset triggers. It pays for an insurance business to investigate all of the kinds of software currently available for this type of marketing, and when they find one, to buy it.

Web Development

Having a great website is also a large part of managing your leads effectively. People relate with a company by way of its website, whether these are brand new prospects or leads that have always been contacted. It pays for an insurance business to put a reasonable amount of resources into developing a great website as well as into the search engine optimization that allows people to find it.
An insurance website should be both informative and engaging to the customer. This means things like videos, blog-like sets of articles, and current news in the world of insurance are things that a business should consider. The more perks and interesting features you include on your website, the more people are going to want to visit it and learn what you have to offer, even if they have not showed initial interest. So invest in a great web site and you will not regret it.

Aged mortgage leads can easily become your most productive and profitable marketing segment. Remember each of these mortgage leads had some intention when they submitted their contact information.

Your mission is to find that intent and re-ignite it!

There are 5 proven strategies to nurture aged leads back into real-time opportunities:

1. Data cleansing and appending – Most aged mortgage leads end up in the trash because of bad data. Whether it is accidental or intentional, customers enter bad emails and phone numbers all the time. The good news is that the fix is often cheap and easy to fix–quickly bringing dead leads to life.

2. Email drip campaigns – Not everyone is cut-out to pound the phones trying to get unresponsive leads to take action. This is where a diligent email drip campaign can squeeze more out of your lead buy or monetize aged lead data you buy on the cheap. Simply build a progressive mortgage or refinance email campaign that builds up demand for the current low mortgage rates or special federal mortgage programs.

3. Telemarketing and phone screening – Much like the email marketing strategy a simple campaign by phone can reawaken a Web lead/prospect to their original intent. What’s even better about this strategy is that it can be very affordable and done in large volume–personally or outsourced.

4. Direct mail campaign – Believe it or not direct mail can be a very powerful strategy for Web leads, especially aged leads. Often times Web consumers are easily confused by all the information and clutter on the Web. They submit a request for information or help and then they forget or aren’t sure where they were. Then the call comes and confuses them even more–making them non-responsive. This is where mail helps. A traditional, well done piece of mail can build the traditional comfort and trust to bring that prospect back to life.

5. Integrated lead management strategy – Any of these will give you (guaranteed) good results and a positive ROI on any aged mortgage lead buy. However, if you really want to pump up your business work on an integrated plan–probably using a lead management system–to blend the marketing approaches.

Take a look into your “dead pool.” Are there aged or discarded leads that might still have mortgage needs? Maybe their financial situation has changed and they have new refinance or mortgage needs? They might even be a great source for referrals and cross-sells.

You don’t have aged leads of your own or real-time mortgage leads don’t fit your budget? Contact Next Wave Marketing Strategies and try these strategies on a batch of our Aged Mortgage Leads.

So much discussion surrounds getting mortgage leads we often forget how to properly manage these leads once we get them. If your sales pipeline database system is automated then it can be a very time consuming job. If done correctly, a lead management database that automatically alerts you to scheduled call back or important dates ensures a smooth continuous flow of leads daily.

The benefit of a sound lead management system enables an experienced mortgage agent to make good use of mortgage lead management tools.

Increased sales conversion rates as each mortgage branch obtains new mortgage leads from various sources like websites and marketing lead providers. These leads are pre-sorted to include prospects with varying qualifications such as self rated credit, LTV, or loan amount. By qualifying leads i.e. filtering the data correctly seasoned agents can prioritize their time.

First they focus on closing the most valuable leads then work their way towards the bottom of the list. In this fashion the often cumbersome task of following up on genuine leads becomes more efficient always increasing the conversion sales rate.  A mortgage company with a solid lead management system should be able to close 20% more leads.

Remember good leads do not get lost, not even those considered aged leads. Be organized in the approach. Have an automated workflow system in place to earmark the leads and any documents to the appropriate file i.e. digital files can make searching very quick as opposed to leafing through endless paper file draws.

Highly efficient database searches for quality leads generated can be differentiated in terms of zip codes, loans required, area codes, credit history, etc. Such digital cataloging of the leads simplifies the follow-up and tracking of these leads. Many mortgage companies make their lead management database password accessible via Internet applications so that sales reps on the road can dial-in to grab new leads even accessing the information on a cell phone.

Digital lead management systems accessible remotely accelerate better sales closing response time. On average studies prove online systems save 35% to 45% off things such as travel, materials and lodging across the board while generally accelerating the rate of sales.

Ideally, the mortgage agent should theoretically never have to step foot in the office. He should be able to access all sales related leads, materials and educational training online while on the road – out-in the field making hopefully closing sales.

Although physically, the leads are maintained at the office on a computer network server, it should allow the data to be pushed out from the office over the Internet for authorized sales agents to access 24/7.

Since the database is maintained centrally it can be quickly updated with new materials or changes necessary to key documents etc. The sales lead management applications offered to the sales agents in the field should be easy to use and robust.

Whenever we talk about potentially sensitive insurance or mortgage financial information, it is necessary to ensure multiple security features are built into the system. A solid security system is also a sales benefit that can make sales prospects feel confident that your running a top quality organization that is dedicated to their success.

By implementing an intelligent mortgage lead management system you will be able to produce better customer service and data security for the sales prospect, efficiency and profits for the mortgage firm.

Internet lead generation is certainly the secret to most mortgage, debt, and insurance businesses dramatic growth over the last several years. However, there may be part of this secret that is eluding you–the Secret of Aged Leads.

In this exclusive report, you’ll learn the secrets to closing these cheap Internet leads at rates that may convince you cheaper is better.

Here is a sample of the tips inside:

• The best time to call Internet leads
• How to use email to increase contact rates
• Tips to improve call sales scripts
• Techniques for building trust on the phone
• Increasing conversion with lead management

Not only will you learn how to close these less expensive Internet leads, but you will improve your overall sales processes. This report compiles the 10 secrets that I have seen consistently boost my aged lead clients’ sales. Now these secrets are yours for FREE.

Get instant access to this free report now. Simply fill out the form to the right (or below).
Learn to close more sales with cheaper Internet leads.

Get your FREE report!

A lack of sales can usually be tracked to one of a few problem areas. Getting rid of these common sales problems is really easier (and cheaper) than you might think. A business strategy built around aged Internet lead and good lead management processes could be the solution to a banner year for your mortgage, debt, or insurance business.

1. Not Enough Sales Leads

This always seems to be a problem, right? We hit a good run and have a full sales pipeline and then it seems to winnow away–sending us into a marketing panic. Stop scrambling from month-to-month looking for where you are going to get new people to talk to and find an affordable marketing method that will keep your sales queue full.

Aged Internet leads can be this cheap source of qualified leads.

2. Expensive Marketing

Most marketing is expensive. Add to this the uncertainty of getting the right kind of responses. Think about the traditional approached you have used in the past: Yellow pages, newspapers, magazines, local businesses or displays. I call this “hope marketing.” You are broadcasting your service and message–hoping the right people see it and call.

Aged Internet leads are a way that you can buy only those prospects that are truly qualified and opted-in for your call.

3. Unqualified Sales Leads

Mostly because of the marketing methods, but still a big problem is the amount of your marketing budget wasted on unqualified sales leads.

This is one of the big advantages of Internet marketing and aged leads in particular. These leads are qualified through a series of questions on the Web form that self-identifies the scenarios and conditions of their financial service needs. Allowing you to carefully filter out and buy only the customers that you can help.

4. Failure to Follow-up

So, we’ve solved all the marketing problems. If you’re still not making your sales numbers then chances are you have a lead management problem. And the number one lead management problem is a failure to follow-up.

Since most of us start our businesses small we are quite efficient at using our email inbox as a CRM. But, as you grow you will start to miss critical follow-ups. This is why designing a good lead management process is critical to buying large volumes of cheap aged Internet leads.

5. Sales Pipelines that Don’t Produce

Similar to failure to follow-up a sales pipeline that doesn’t produce is probably linked to how you manage your leads. Sales requires constant activity, follow-up, and pressure on your leads. If you abandon these people in your pipeline then they will drift away.

Make sure that you have a lead management process that keeps marketing to every lead in your pipeline–puttin you in a good position to be top of mind when that person is ready to buy.

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Buying Internet insurance leads is only half the battle. Effectively managing leads to the point of closing new insurance policies is the real goal. Achieving that goal takes a little thought and planning. Most importantly you need to think about how you are going to manage your insurance leads.

Initial Contact - Get everything started on the right foot. Don’t let even a moment slip by without reaching out to your new Internet insurance leads. Whether you are buying real-time or aged insurance leads you need to be highly responsive to these Internet consumers. I always encourage a quick (maybe even automatic) email reply to the customer. This note should simply let them know that you got their inquiry and to expect your call shortly.

Setting Expectations - Notice I used the word “expect” in the initial contact advice. This is critical. Whenever you contact a sales prospect you should be foreshadowing the process–laying down the path and expectations. Your emails and telephone calls should always wrap-up with next steps and what you need to complete the transaction.

Managing Follow-up - When you are working several deals at once it is very easy to miss something or someone. Make sure that your follow-up system is rock solid. Either use a lead management system or a very good tickler system to remind you of what the next step is and when to follow-up on every account.

Lead Nurturing - Not every deal closes. That means you need to develop a lead nurturing campaign. This is a simple, but consistent follow-up plan to stay top of mind and add value even to consumers that you haven’t sold to yet. If you continue to touch and reinforce your value to these consumers, many will close in the future.

Lead management can be the most important part of your lead conversion equation. This is especially critical if you are investing in aged insurance leads. They are cheaper, and this is a big opportunity if you manage them with superior follow-up and service. Aged insurance leads can be a gold mine to the insurance agent with a solid lead management process.

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The business of debt lead conversion calls for smart lead management and CRM skills at your end. You may have plenty of leads at hand, but if you fail to close sales with them, then it’s all for not. Good lead management techniques not only factor in the best methods of generating leads but take you to the end of your sales cycle. Good lead management solutions help you convert your debt leads into debt relief clients. Debt leads also take typically longer than other product and service cycles to close sales due to the commitment and long term financial aspects associated with them.

Therefore, to keep a debt lead in the loop at all stages and finally convert and retain them should be the aim of a long term debt lead business. This is how you should be setting up your lead management system to up your debt lead conversion ratios:

1. Identify the right debt leads – Make use of the filters; your lead provider has to pick only those leads which have asked for your services. This will help you concentrate on fewer interested leads and maximize your sales potential.

2. Communication tools – Lead management is primarily about communication. How you reach out to the debt lead, what time of the day, how you project your service all go a long way to converting your lead into an interested client. Timely use of email and the phone without appearing intrusive should be used.

3. Training your agents – An agent well versed with the peculiarities of the debt lead business will be able to get you a higher conversion rate. This is because debt leads have a lot of queries relating to financial aspects and the nuances of your offer. If you are going to put in a greenhorn, you are most likely to lose out on sales. Therefore, it’s important to train and test your agents before you let them handle your precious leads.

4. Use analytical and optimization tools – If you are serious about long term debt lead conversion and retention you have to know the nature of your debt leads – where they come from, what type of crisis they want a solution to, will they be interested in future solutions with you, what type of contact method is the best and so on. Analyzing such data will throw up patterns over time to help you reschedule your lead management style.

5. Have customized lead management software in place – This will help you capture all the cycles associated with lead contact, qualification and conversion. A debt lead management system will also keep you from guessing the next step for your business. It will organize data and generate reports to take action on. You can also track the agent performance and quality based on their lead conversion ratios.

A good lead management system is crucial if you want good debt conversion ratios. Your next step will be to get a refined CRM system in place which will keep track of all those leads you have successfully converted into your clients.

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The use of technology can propel a business from near dormancy to the fast track of sales. Similar is the case when you are in the business of procuring and following up on debt leads – a highly competitive and volatile market where the first mover gets to close sales.

To keep ahead of competition, call centers and businesses calling on debt leads and debt lead agents prefer the use of power dialers to increase the number of live contacts they can make. A power dialer lets a business contact hundreds and thousands more debt leads than what manual dialing could achieve. It therefore becomes imperative that a debt lead business select the right power dialer depending on their goals, agent capacities and budget to maximize productivity.

Selecting the right power dialer can make the difference between boosting and busting your business, so you have to be careful. A brief overview on the top 5 power dialers will help you make an informed decision for your debt business.

1.     Speedy Dialer.com – a device with a built in telephone and connected to a PC, this dialing system gives you the opportunity of either using auto dialing and leaving automated messages or using the power dialing system with an agent. The speedy power dialer needs the help of an agent to detect busy signals, live answers, no answers and so on and mark it in the software. This method is cumbersome if your operations are large scale, as an agent may miss upgrading the software and you may lose out on valuable updates. Speedy dialer is best for small scale operations or for agents working from home due to scalability issues.

2.     Callfire.com – this company markets itself with state of the art telemarketing solutions. If your debt business is on a massive scale or poised to grow very quickly, predictive dialing from callfire.com is perfect. The software not only ups the live contact time but also enables agent call monitoring and tracking. Security features like limited access to agents on lead information adds to the quality of service you offer.

3.     Insidesales.com – this provider specializes in providing CRM systems with built in power dialing. The dialer predicts when to make calls to clients, who have been called, the status of a call and other little touches to make sure that you seamlessly bridge the gap between marketing and sales. At the same time you get your calls updated into the CRM software saving your agents time, if it were done manually. Insidesales.com is most appropriate for medium to large businesses who want a CRM package with built in power dialing.

4.     Five9.com - offers predictive dialing with software solutions to maximize productivity time. Though you may increase your dialing capacity with predictive dialing, your business will also have to match this with the number of agents. Otherwise you may lose live debt leads due to the enormous capacity predictive dialing has.

5.     Spifiredialers.com – offers a predictive dialer with the ability of the dialer to predict when an agent will be available for the next call and scaling calls up or down. It also has a built in CRM system which updates all client records, sets reminders, call-backs and mail delivery systems.

It’s important that the dialer you select is an aggregation of the qualities you seek in the dialer versus what the provider has to offer you.

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Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates." Internet debt leads are not so different. They come from lots of places, are generated in many different ways, and they have various levels of quality.

Getting the most out of this diversity means understanding what makes debt leads different and how to most effectively manage these diverse leads to maximize conversion.

Generating Internet Debt Leads

Internet debt leads are generated in any of a variety of ways: email, SEO, PPC, squeeze pages, co-registrations, and many more niche techniques. Each has it’s own unique characteristics and tends to attract different types of customers. For example, leads generated by natural (organic) searches can attract researching customers that are often very early in their buying process. However, pay-per-click or email generated leads may be later in the process, but may also be more likely to shop your offer.

Getting Debt Customers to Inquire

Getting customers to your lead form is one thing, but getting them to give you all the personal financial information is another deal altogether. That means it becomes very tempting for lead generation companies to provide some form of incentive to get the lead–iPods, eBooks, outrageous financial promises. 

Unfortunately, you rarely know what is offered the customer for their name and telephone number.

Filtering and Delivering Debt Leads

There is one more significant factor in the lead generation business that will inject diversity–how they chose what you get.

Lead generation companies, like any good businesses, are focused on making money. That means they are looking for best execution on every lead. Ideally that benefits the customer in that every lead gets a home (or is paid for). However, for you, that might mean you have even more variables.

Most lead companies will allow you to request certain filters and characteristics for your leads. This helps a bit, but it is hard to determine when those various lead types will be delivered and in what quantity.

Managing Debt Leads

Now that you have this "box of chocolates" you have to manage them all into some form of success. Here are some of my principles to successfully managing debt leads:

• Every lead goes into a lead management system of some form
• Everyone gets an email–immediately, automated preferably
• Everyone gets a call–even the ugly ones
• Nothing gets killed without 5-7 attempts
• I suggest everything ends up in an appropriate email nurturing campaign

You number one goal in managing a diverse set of inbound leads is that nothing gets lost and everything gets multiple touches. I can’t for the life of me see why any organization would kill any lead they ever buy. It should simply get handled in a different way based on customer responsiveness (or lack thereof).

Nurturing Debt Leads

Debt leads have a tendency to be long sales cycles. And many of them (unfortunately) tend to need debt relief service more than once in their life. That means lead nurturing is critical in this lead category.

Email is the best way to handle this process. However, I do recommend working in regular telephone ticklers along the way.

Segmenting your debt leads into various campaigns based on their characteristics and responsiveness can help you efficiently manage any diversity that comes into your sales pipeline. Researchers can get all the education and information their hearts desire, without tying you up. Meanwhile, those ready to solve their debt problems have you in their email or on their telephone ready to go when they are.

Converting Debt Leads

At the end of the day, converting debt leads is about being there when the debt customer is ready to change their situation. And on any given lead that timing is different. Therefore, realize that, understand it, and design a lead management process to service any lead you might get in that "box of chocolates."