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ISCOVER
Traditional lead generation is outdated, expensive and impersonal. It’s time to consider a smarter way of matching borrowers with brokers, writes Clive Kirkpatrick
I’ve worked with brokers for more than a decade at banks, franchise groups and aggregators. In that time, I’ve witnessed plenty of innovative approaches to lead generation. Unfortunately, most of them all fail the broker in two areas – cost and quality.
Brokers regularly complain that the leads they’re paying for aren’t even leads at all. Conversion rates are generally poor. To me, this is evidence of a malfunctioning lead generation mechanism much more than a reflection of a broker’s salesmanship.
A broker shouldn’t need to distract themselves with converting poor quality leads – it’s wasted time. Instead, they should be working with people who genuinely want their help. Customer acquisition is the name of the game, not lead generation. A targeted approach is far more effective. So why didn’t the industry think of it sooner?
The answer lies in technology and the quality of customer data. It is not uncommon for large broking groups to purchase leads from third-party providers. In some cases, these leads are not qualified, meaning that the person didn’t even want a home loan. They may have purchased a fridge from a department store and their data was captured and sold. When they received a call from a broker months later, they had no idea that the fridge they purchased would also trigger a home loan inquiry. That is a poor customer experience – for the broker and the fridge owner.
By contrast, Joust Instant Match is one of the more sophisticated solutions I’ve seen that provides a good experience for both the customer and the broker. For a start, it captures a number of specific data points from a person who is looking for a home loan (not a kitchen appliance).
Solving an industry-wide issue
I can see Joust Instant Match becoming a far more effective marketing spend for players across the industry, from large networks to individual brokers. From a business perspective, it just makes more sense.
Franchise groups have a contractual obligation to supply leads to brokers as part of their franchise agreement. They are paying exorbitant fees for these poor-quality leads, which continue to frustrate brokers unwilling or unable to convert them.
From a wholesale aggregation point of view, Joust has a role to play in helping those 20 to 30 per cent of brokers who are unproductive or inefficient. They may be new to the industry or struggling to grow their business. Aggregators can help them become more productive more quickly by providing a customer acquisition mechanism, rather than a lead generation one.
If you’re a one-man band, revenue can be lumpy; you spend time doing your marketing and prospecting, then your leads come in and some of them convert. You do the credit and get the deal over to a lender. While you’re waiting for approval and settlement you go out and do your marketing again. Your income stream is inconsistent. A data-led customer acquisition tool can smooth out your income stream during those down times.
Mortgage brokers shouldn’t be waiting for customers to come to them. With access to quality data, brokers can proactively grow their business by choosing the clients they want to build relationships with.
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