Lead Tip #8:

Don't Get Stuck With Bad Leads

It’s a fact with ANY company you get online leads from: some leads you just can’t contact or pull an app on.

Online prospects don’t submit the right information 100% of the time. They mistype their phone number. Or they enter bogus info on purpose.

Do you have to pay for those?

Nope. At least, you shouldn’t have to. Some companies refuse to acknowledge that bogus leads happen, and have zero intention of replacing them.

Others make it a headache to get the return credit you deserve. When you try to get your money back, no one answers the phone, returns your call or replies to your email — until you just give up.

Don’t get burned by a company that holds your money hostage — refusing to credit you for their invalid leads and then pulling a disappearing act.

Your lead company is only as good as their return policy

Anyone can promise quality leads, but the test is if they make good on their word. Before you partner with a company, you need to know you won’t eat the cost of invalid leads.

Ask these questions to find out how they handle returns:

• How do you report an invalid lead?
  You’re too busy to hop on the phone and haggle for credit over every single bad lead. Find out if your company has an easy online system that lets you report on your leads 24/7. Some companies offer a Lead Feedback System, which lets you rate both your good leads and the bad ones that have invalid contact information.
  
  
• Are invalid leads monitored individually by a real person?
  A computerized system that automatically rejects your bad leads isn’t giving you the credit you deserve. Make sure your company has a Quality Assurance team that manually verifies each bad lead you’ve reported on and issues credit appropriately.
  
  
• Do they give you a generous window to report invalid leads?
  This is a BIG one. Any L.O. knows you can’t always get a lead on the phone the first time you call. But some companies only give you a day or two to rate bad leads. That’s not always enough time to figure out if a lead’s truly invalid, and then you’re stuck paying for it.
  
  
• How do they define an “invalid lead”?
  Not all companies have the same definition. Some won’t issue credit if just one piece of information is correct. That means if you’ve got a good email address but a bad phone number, you can’t return it. Savvy marketers need complete information — including phone, email address and mailing address — so they can plug each lead into all their ongoing campaigns.
  
  
• How are replacement credits issued?
  Make sure you have a clear understanding of how your account is credited.

Avoid getting stuck with a pile of worthless leads you can’t work and can’t get credit on. Before you make your next lead buy, get the details on your company’s return policy.

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

Lead Improvements

More Feedback Needed

Each month more L.O.s start using our feedback tool — and they’re loving how easy it is to report invalid leads, and tell us which good leads they want more of.

And with every buyer that sends us feedback, we’re able to better fine tune our system to turn off bad sources and crank the marketing on the best-performing leads.

But we don’t have 100% of buyers using this tool. If you haven’t tried it, it’s simple! You can get instructions here.

http://www.prospectzone.com/mortgage/mortgage-lead-faq.html#return-lead

Questions? Don't hesitate to get in touch with your rep if you'd like a quick demo: 1-877-561-9663

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