What is a lead? If a lead is an
opportunity to do a loan now, when does now end?
Is it after you leave a message
on the prospects answering machine and they don't get back to you?
Does the lead end when you go
through some initial financials and the client doesn't service?
Based on our research, a lead is
one of three things:
- A loan now
- A loan later
- A potential referral source
Quite often, we can get caught
up chasing a deal that will service right now, that we lose sight of all
the
other leads that have fallen by the wayside.
When you add up the cost of acquiring those leads in the first place, we
are literally letting money slip through our fingers.
Why don't you take a moment to go back through your appointment diary,
your
Outlook mail or your CRM system for the last few weeks and see how many
leads
that you have made some initial contact with, but for whatever reason,
the lead
seems to have gone cold. Maybe the
prospect's level of motivation has changed (they've just found a
property that
day they really want) or maybe they got realistic on what they can
afford and
have found a cheaper property meaning their servicing level has
improved.
Ultimately, it's all about
timing.
At some point in the future,
that lead will eventually convert. Whether it's today, six months or 2
years
from now. The point is, if you have a system to continually follow up
with them
via e-newsletters, emails, sms, etc. your chances of being in front of
their
mind at the right time increase dramatically.
Even if they never buy from you,
they can still become a great referral source. Whilst speaking to one of
Australia's top brokers recently, I found out that one of her best
referral
sources has never got a loan from her, but she constantly sends
qualified leads
that have a high conversion rate.
Basically, when does a lead stop
being a lead? Never.
Happy hunting,
Paul
