Live Call Transfers vs. Internet Lead Round #1

One of the benefits of being a software provider to both lead sellers and lead buyers is data metrics.  We have the ability to work with lead scoring, reporting, and metrics that can give us valuable insight into the world of leads.

Which leads work best?

I will tell it like it is.  If you want to spend less time chasing leads there is a strong movement towards offline marketing like radio, tv, and direct mail.  These avenues are helping companies spend less time trying to chase down leads.  However, if you have the right software that can help you make educated decisions, leads generated online can be more cost effective.  It all comes down to cost per closed deal.

So I know you still want to know which is best, right?  Sorry, there isn’t really a solid answer but there is analysis you can conduct.  You see what really matters is what kind of buyer are you.  Are you the kind of buyer that likes to get a good deal and doesn’t mind the extra work it takes to call more leads to find the good ones?  If you are, then you most likely will lean towards internet leads.  If this is the case you still need to find the best internet lead sources.  The best internet lead sources have the best contact rates and give you the best opportunity to present your service.  This means you need to be able to respond fast or in real time.  You also need to be one of 1-3 people pitching the potential client not one of 12.  So how do you know if you have a good internet lead provider or not?  It’s all in the numbers and unfortunately you won’t be able to tell that without some data to sample.  The first step should be to read my article on becoming a lead company.  Reputable lead companies act like reputable lead companies.  Look for the same things I promote to lead companies.  Look for trade associations, look for BBB, and look for real referrals.  Now that you have your company picked, get ready to analyze and stay on top of performance.  You need to be looking first and foremost to contact rate.  Train your agents to ask the customer how many other companies are they getting quotes from.  With our LMS system we record this information for you and give you real time reports to help you make sense of it all.

Ok, you decided internet leads are too much work for you and you would rather pay more for a live person on the phone ready to hear your pitch.  If this is the case our Lead Management system has the perfect live call solution.  With our live call solution companies like Leads99 and Double Positive can post right into the system and your agents can input a phone number and pull the lead information in real time as the phone call is coming over.   The only thing left to do is to look at metrics like application percentage and close percentage.  With 25 live call transfers you should be able to get a good read on the quality.  All you have to do is determine cost per close.  If each live call cost $50 multiply by 25 for a total spent of $1,250.  If your team closed 2 deals then use that data to get $1,250 / 2 = $625 COST PER CLOSED DEAL.  You should have a benchmark you are looking to achieve with every live call campaign.  Now that you know your CPCD is $625 you have a benchmark to judge all lead providers.  Example metrics are used to help determine speed to contact, contact rate, and cost per closed deal.