Ok… So we’re starting with some Mortgage Lead Generation 101 and walking through the key players in the ecosystem. (In today’s conference, you can’t comment on a category if you are a member of that group. This is tough

LEAD GENERATORS

The ecosystem starts with lead generators (or aggregators), the top three being Lending Tree, LowerMyBills, and NexTag. What’s the job of a lead provider… To match borrowers with lenders. But there are various ways to do this. LendingTree is quite clear in telling borrowers what they are doing — matching borrowers with lenders. LMB, NexTag are experts in email, search, affiliate marketing, etc, but not as clear to the consumer.

But what do these companies need to do that they are not doing today? Some of the lenders in the room say that the generators are reselling their data too much… 3-4 is not objectionable, but 5-6 is pushing it.

There is concern that the people who go online and fill out a form get “crucified” and “bombarded” with dozens of calls. And the fear is that consumers will tell their friends and families not to go online.

One of the lenders in the room posed the following questions to the lead generators in the room… Why can’t you guys raise the bar? Why can’t you improve lead quality? With all the smart people in the room, why can’t you create the “perfect” lead for me?

(Unfortunatly, the lead generators can’t answer now, so we’ll have to wait until the “Lenders” category).

LEAD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Several players here… Leads360, Kaleidico, Lead Mailbox, homegrown solutions, others. Their role here is to provide lead tracking, distribution, automated tools like email marketing, workflow, and metrics — all to help provide information on ROI.

LENDERS

The moderator proposed that the main roles of the lenders in this process are to monetize, educate consumers, be compliant, educate lead providers, pay lead providers (tounge and cheek, obviously).

The other groups (lead gen primarily) are suggesting that the lenders often have unrealistic expectations. So what can lenders do in this ecosystem that they currently aren’t to help everyone be more syccessful? Lead generators want more feedback from lenders — positive and negative. QuinnStreet pointed out that the trust level between lead providers and buyers builds over time, which is critical for everyone to benefit and grow their businesses.

SUMMARY

Overall this session fails to meet expectations. There was very little discussion (only laundry lists), which seems to defeat the purpose of the “unconference.”

See Also: Balancing the Leads Ecosystem (Leads2007.com)