Lead Tip #12:

Qualifying Leads: Your First Fact-Finding Phone Call

You know the facts you need to gather before you can price out a loan and take an application. But there's more to qualifying a prospect over the phone than figuring out the LTV requirement or if the borrower will be stating their income.

Work Your Leads Wisely
To successfully work your internet leads, you need this crucial skill: the ability to distinguish between people who are likely to borrow and those that want a quick rate quote and nothing else.

Consider this scenario: You take 50 leads a week. At the end of the month, that's 200 contacts to juggle. Some you closed, and some told you they really weren't interested. But you still need to weed through the rest. Who do you keep calling, and who do you email?

You can't realistically start every day with a list of 100 "maybes" to call. Not if you want to still have time to call new leads the moment they come in.

You can help avoid this overwhelming situation by doing a tougher pre-screen.

Your Pre-Screening Game Plan
First, you need to get your prospect on the phone. Are they immediately trying to get out of talking to you? On this call, accept that "now isn't the best time to talk," and shoot them a follow-up email.

And if they're still "too busy" on the second call? Give it one last shot:

"I understand you're short on time, but if you can spare just a couple minutes now to answer some questions, I can begin pricing out a loan for you and you can check starting this process off your list."

If you're still getting a "not now," throw them into your automatic email campaign (these programs are called autoresponders) and MOVE ON.

These leads still have value and may respond to your email down the road, but it's not worth your time now to chase after them personally.

With average closing ratios for internet leads hovering between 10 - 20%, you'll get the best results focusing on the 1 in 10 that does close, and quickly determining which should be funneled to your email channel.

Whatever pre-screen plan you decide on, stick to it, so you waste as little time as possible on uninterested leads.

Jeremiah Desmarais, Vice President, Marketing - ProspectZone. ProspectZone is a leading provider of internet leads to the mortgage and insurance industries, and the creators of Smart Leads™. Reach him at jdesmarais@prospectzone.com or 1-877-561-9663.

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Lead Improvements

Did you know your BrokerOffice system - included with all ProspectZone accounts - lets you manage leads from other popular vendors?

No more juggling between different lead formats and having to remember several passwords.

Leads from your favorite vendors are automatically imported into BrokerOffice so you can check them all from one convenient place. You can even run real-time "sales per source" reports to see how each vendor is stacking up next to each other.

For a list of compatible vendors and to learn more, contact your ProspectZone account rep at 1-800-980-0902.