Leads360: Lead Management, Tracking & Distribution Software

We have moved!

2007-10-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Come visit us at our new company blog - CoffeeForClosers.

See you there!

AlwaysOn. Going somewhere? Then your going there.

2007-07-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Join us at AlwaysOn Stanford to hear CEO Jeff Solomon speak.

Will you be there? Or will you be left behind?

2007-07-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Leads360 Establishes Professional Services Department

2007-07-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

Leads360 has created a new professional services department, that will be responsible for a number of new initiatives designed to improve the customer experience for Leads360 clients.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 8, 2007 -- Leads360, creator of LeadManager® lead management software, has announced the formation of a professional services department to provide business consulting, best practices implementation, and superior customer service. The department is dedicated to increasing Leads360's already significant standards of client satisfaction.

"We have moved beyond the standard customer service approach into a comprehensive full service solution for effective Internet lead management," said Jeff Solomon, CEO of Leads360. "Our new professional services department will help us to better understand, meet and exceed the changing and growing needs and expectations of our client base."

The department plans to achieve its customer service objectives through a full complement of education initiatives, consulting services, on-site implementation and business process and workflow auditing solutions.

Structured based on client feedback and suggestions, the professional services department will oversee an ongoing series of focus groups, client surveys, seminars and webinars. Representatives from Leads360 will be in attendance to help attendees increase recognition of how they can implement and maintain a successful lead management strategy with Leads360. All events are complementary.

Currently, the department is in the process of creating additional online and onsite planning and training workshops, and an interactive e-learning program that represents a significant advance from the standard product training video. "Recently, we have received a number of client requests for onsite training on LeadManager®, which we are happy to provide," Solomon said.

Leads360 has also been actively developing strategic partnerships and contracts to facilitate new products and services to better serve its clients.

"Our goal at Leads360 is to offer not just a lead management solution, but also to provide a superior customer experience," said Jeff Solomon.

About Leads360:
Leads360 is the market and technology leader for on-demand lead management solutions. Leads360's enterprise lead management application, LeadManager®, enables companies to more effectively distribute, track, analyze and convert sales leads into profitable customers. LeadManager® is the only solution that enables companies to build and manage a completely custom lead management workflow based on their unique best practices. Combining technology expertise with professional services, training and process consulting, Leads360 provides the industry's most cost effective solution for taking sales leads from start to close. For more information, please visit http://www.leads360.com.

Coming Together to Improve Internet Leads

2007-07-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

We think that internet leads offer the best opportunity to increase revenue in many verticals. Yet because the lead generation and lead buying processes are far from transparent there is often a resistance to using internet leads or a continuing frustration by those who do. We believe that the internet-based lead providers offer the most cost effective solution but we also know that internet leads must be managed correctly. Join us and other industry leaders at Leads2007 to discuss the the biggest issues in the world of Lead Buying. Read all about it here.

Congratulations to Matt Coffin and LowerMyBills.com !!!

2007-06-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Matt Coffin has been a wonderful partner and friend of Leads360 and has helped us immensely to fuel our growth in the mortgage industry. Today we salute him on being named Entrepreneur of the Year! Read the whole story here.

Leads360 Interview from NAMB Seattle

2007-06-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Your leads are being stolen and resold

2007-06-18T09:48:00.001-07:00

Lead Critic has another interesting post about lead security. He argues that leads are highly vulnerable to theft and reselling. Both lead providers and lead buyers do not spend enough energy valuing and protecting their leads. You can read all about it here. We feel that our Lead Guardian product is the best method of defense for lead buyers currently available.

Leads360 Introduces PointSync Functionality

2007-06-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

New integration capability allows fast and efficient data transfer between Calyx Point and Leads360.

Los Angeles, Calif (PRWEB) June 11, 2007 -- Leads360, creator of LeadManager™ lead management software, has introduced PointSync, an exclusive new software tool that provides efficient bi-directional integration with Calyx Point.

"In an effort to make the Leads360 product more valuable for our customers, the company has been trying for a long time to achieve efficient integration with Calyx Point, one of the most popular brands of loan origination software," said Jeff Solomon, CEO of Leads360. "With PointSync, I am proud to announce our success. A seamless one-click connection between LeadManager™ and Calyx Point has been built at last."

In addition to the automatic exporting of data, PointSync also keeps LeadManager™ up to date on each loan officer's deals as they move through the processing pipeline in Calyx Point. This enables managers to run closed-loop reporting within the LeadManager™ that shows complete performance visibility.

"This system makes it easy to see which lead sources are truly performing and which loan officers are doing their job," Solomon said. "Mortgage companies now have more sophisticated reporting capabilities, and can more effectively monitor the conversion rates of their loan officers."

About Leads360
Leads360 is the market and technology leader for on-demand lead management solutions. Leads360's enterprise lead management application, LeadManager™, enables companies to more effectively distribute, track, analyze and convert sales leads into profitable customers. LeadManager™ is the only solution that enables companies to build and manage a completely custom lead management workflow based on their unique best practices. Combining technology expertise with professional services, training and process consulting, Leads360 provides the industry's most cost effective solution for taking sales leads from start to close. For more information, please visit http://www.leads360.com.

Los Angeles: StartUp Hotbed

2007-06-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

The good folks over at StartUp Beat have us on their radar. You can read about our new PointSync feature here. We are thrilled to be in one of the most exciting places for technology start-ups. All the talent of silicon valley with all of the benefits of a large and culturally diverse city. We love LA.

Thinking of buying leads?

2007-06-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Lead Critic (formerly Moreinsight) has put together a great guide for Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Bankers, and any other sales businesses thinking of stepping into the world of buying sales leads. Buying sales leads is not something to jump into blindly. Lead buying is a whole different business model to lead referral and it's adoption should not be taken lightly. Here are Lead Critic's 4 steps to success with lead buying:

Do your homework!!
Set realistic expectations for yourself and your business.
Put a Lead Management system in place before you begin purchasing leads
Buy good leads

Read the whole story here.

Embrace Opinion

2007-05-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

BusinessWeek has a new article which provides a great case study for a business coming to grips with the court of public opinion. By opening up and letting loose, Nintendo has come into its own. It's a great reminder that while you can't please everyone, if your product is truly well made and customers tend to love it, they will protect your reputation for you. Our customers have been our best advertising. Their passion for our product has done more for us than we ever could have done for ourselves.

“Opening up a MySpace area doesn’t sound all that innovative to you guys,” he told an audience of game marketers. “But for us it was a big deal. When people previously said bad things about Nintendo on our community areas, we deleted. Now we had to take the decision not to meddle. We had to allow consumers to say bad things about us. It turned out that our own supporters were much more articulate in supporting us than anyone in our offices at Redmond could ever be.”

Leads360 Chosen as Leads Management Solution of Choice for Education Market

2007-05-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Software Solution Helps Manage Escalating Lead
Generating Ad Expenditures

LOS ANGELES, Calif., May XX, 2007 – Leads360, creator of LeadManager® lead management software, is heading the charge in the secondary education market by introducing needed lead management solutions for managing, tracking and closing leads.

“Education is the second largest lead market in the US, but schools are only now starting to use lead management best practices,” said Jeff Solomon, CEO of Leads360. “Our easy-to-use customized system is delivering a straightforward process allowing this sector to quickly build and manage needed lead management workflow.”

Leads360 is the proven provider of lead management solutions to the mortgage industry. The current business issues facing subprime lenders have required new disciplines and processes. Leads360 is the solution these companies sought out to assist them in contacting and converting a higher percentage of leads. This challenging market environment has allowed Leads360 to create a strong software infrastructure with best-in- class workflow management and reporting structures. Mortgage industry customers have allowed Leads360 to develop a well-built solution that translates across all industries with complex lead management requirements.

In the secondary education industry many are trying to manage the leads on their own by using complicated Excel spreadsheets, paper, handwritten notes and binders.

“Before Leads360 we printed out daily logs of the leads, with counselors writing notes about interactions with tier leads on the logs and then posting them in huge binders. It was awkward and time consuming,” said Sondra Gerhoff of the Allied Health Institute. “Now counselors have calendar applications for reminders, there is a one-stop place to add information about any one lead, and I can now track everything: how counselors are doing, how many calls they are making, etc. Its great!”

Leads360 ensures leads that come in from any source are assigned, followed up on and closed. Companies can now manage the leads through reporting systems that deliver information regarding how many leads close from a given source, from a given user or even system-wide. Its integrated processes enable individual users to easily and consistently manage follow up.

Leads360 can also be used to intuitively track ad dollar expenditures, and follow which campaigns are delivering viable leads and identifying those that aren’t.

Gerhoff continued, “I can now clearly see the return on investment of any campaign; in fact, we even canceled one very expensive lead campaign we thought had been delivering, but after seeing the lead activity reports it was just money wasted. Prior to Leads360 we did not have any way to track that.”

Come to Las Vegas with us

2007-05-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

That's right Vegas. Come talk with us at the Strategic Equity Summit 2007 in Las Vegas. We will be there giving demonstrations of our Lead Manager and Lead Guardian products. Please stop by and talk about your Lead Managment needs with our knowlageable staff.

Leads in Electronic Format; Key to Sales Success

2007-04-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

First, let me define what I mean by “electronic format”. When someone calls in from a direct mail piece or from some other form of advertising, the sales person who picks up the phone doesn’t immediately know who the customer is, and should enter their information into a database or lead management software. As simple as it sounds, it’s all too common that sales people won’t do data entry.

Receiving leads in electronic format is becoming increasingly more common, and more important. In the Mortgage or Automotive space, this is pretty typical; other industries have not fully adopted this model.

We believe that a successful lead management strategy requires that leads are delivered and managed in electronic format. This may seem pretty obvious, but clients that don’t get leads this way, typically don’t see the value of our software. If you’re generating leads from direct mail, call-ins, trade shows, or any other method that doesn’t typically deliver leads in electronic format, you will have a more difficult time developing process around how to convert those leads (another reason why I believe traditional marketing methods are seeing increasingly lower conversion rates vs. the internet for example).

How do you get leads delivered electronically? Some methods are more obvious than others; of course if you are buying leads from LowerMyBills.com, they’ll send them to you in a number of electronic formats. But if you’re doing print advertising, direct mail, telemarketing, etc… you may not be so lucky. We’ve got some experience with this; contact us to discuss ways we can help.

Notes to Laura Ramos @ Forrester on Improving B2B Lead Management

2007-04-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Laura:

I recently read your paper entitled Improving B2B lead Management from October 2006. As the CEO of Leads360, a leading provider of enterprise on-demand lead management solutions, I felt compelled to connect with you in hopes we could discuss our respective thoughts on the subject.

From your document it seems you have six (6) key steps to successful lead management.

Agree on the definition of a quality lead

Build or refine processes to capture lead quality information

Validate, score and classify leads

Improve lead routing and efficiency

Nurture leads that don’t yet warrant sales attention

Define and analyze closed-loop performance metrics

I love the simplicity of your model and believe it is consistent with the approach we take to lead management. One important distinction that I believe is often under-scrutinized when looking at technology providers in this space is specialization. Many of the companies you mention in your research (Unica, Aprimo, Eloqua and Vtrenz) do provide some lead management functions very well, but also address many other aspects of sales and marketing. Leads360 is focused on providing software for managing the above mentioned six steps. We start when leads are generated and end when they are converted.

I think there are a few reasons why received significant attention in this space thus far. First, while our 10,000+ subscriber base is heavily Mortgage focused, I believe our product extends far beyond the needs of the financial sector. Additionally, we are a young organization and small relative to companies like Aprimo and Eloqua. Finally, I believe lead management has traditionally been considered a component of other business services, in particular CRM, and therefore has not been given independent attention. Recently, as demonstrated by your research on the subject, the business community is recognizing lead management as a core aspect of successful sales and marketing.

As a software company we have always positioned ourselves as offering a highly configurable technology that can be easily customized to the unique business demands of any sales and marketing organization. We enable clients to configure, test and analyze the core aspects of lead management: qualification, distribution, workflow, nurturing; then we help them and re-configure these processes to improve effectiveness.

We are a budding company in this space with strong revenues and growth; surely we have further to go in taking market share from companies like Aprimo or even SalesForce. However, our beeline focus on lead management best practices is unique and proving to be effective for our 500+ clients.

A Case Study In Innovation

2007-04-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

While we all tend to imagine that innovation happens organically (think Ben Franklin), it often requires strict constraints. Intel develops a faster and more energy efficient chip because notebooks need to run powerful software on cross country flights. Starbucks develops packaging to store & transport ground coffee so it can serve the same latte in San Francisco and Shanghai. Leads360 develops its software to meet the demands of customers and exceed their expectations in performance and usability.

The X Prize Foundation succeeds by providing strict constraints and incentives for innovation.

From Autoblog Green
Neal Anderson: You bet. The X-Prize Foundation started back in '96 and Peter Diamandis, the founder and chairman of the X-Prize Foundation had a vision of opening up the space industry and breaking it out of the government's hold on it and opening up private space flight. So he launched the Ansari X-Prize back in '96. That prize was awarded in 2004 to Burt Rutan and Paul Allen who won the Ansari X-Prize, a $10 million prize, which had a tremendous impact on the industry. Richard Branson of Virgin, now Galactic bought the winning technology and you can get tickets as a space for a couple hundred thousand dollars a pop. And you're starting to see more than six or seven companies that are vying to the first to space with the technology that he was inspired by that prize. Plus lots of media attention too and one of the great things about the prizes is that you really offer a lot of leverage to investors. So for a $10 million prize there were twenty-six teams from seven countries that invested quite a bit of money. I believe it was $100 million to try to win the prize and then we had Branson spending $120 million afterwards to buy the winning technology. A little bit of money can really spur a lot of investment. The idea for the X-Prize Foundation was spawned by Charles Lindbergh and his pursuit of the Orteig Prize, which a lot of people don't know that Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic to try to win a $25,000.00 prize and that really – after he did that that opened up the aviation industry tremendously. That's a little background on the, on the X-Prize Foundation. In the wake of the success of the Ansari X-Prize, lots of individuals challenged Peter to broaden the scope of the X-Prize model to focus beyond space and kind of bring this X-Prize model up to areas of energy, education, healthcare and things of that nature. So the Automotive X-Prize is the third X-Prize that's focused on energy, we launched a prize that's focused on healthcare in the genomics field late last year. So the Automotive X-Prize is really – our focus is to to inspire a new generation of super efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change. So we're using the same model to help break open the bottleneck of innovation that's happening in the automotive industry, to try see a whole new generation of viable, production capable super efficient vehicles come out of this competition.

What Really Matters Is Conversation

2007-04-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

David Armano of Business Week has an interesting story about how people now interact with products in ways far beyond consumption. This multi-dimensional understanding of consumer-product relationship is beginning to take hold in the business world. However, we are curious about it's implications in the business to business landscape. How are businesses changing the way they consume products and services from other businesses? Leads360 relies on many great companies to get our work done just as hundreds of our clients rely on us to help them be successful. How will our B2B relationships change in the coming years? We strive to be increasingly responsive to our clients and we greatly benefit from their input and experience with our products.

Subprime Woes, Help is on the way…

2007-04-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Many subprime lenders are feeling the pressure of a collapsing market; however some are weathering the storm better than others. Enter Leads360, the #1 provider of sales lead management and tracking software to the mortgage industry.

For subprime lenders to stay afloat they need to capitalize on their leads, every one of them. Unfortunately many of these lenders the volume and profitability of subprime customers offset the need to effectively manage leads. In many ways subprime lenders have been printing money; what’s a few poorly worked leads in the grand scheme?

Well times are changing, subprime lenders, just as the entire mortgage market is recognizing, need tools to do proper follow-up and follow-through on their leads. Leads360 is helping over 450 mortgage clients manage their leads every step of the way; from generation to initial contact to application and funding. The key is that the successful mortgage companies, and those that want to be around for the long haul, recognize that competing in a compacting market requires discipline and process. Leads360 is the company they seek to gain a competitive advantage and to contact and convert a higher percentage of leads.

Should Small Companies Blog?

2007-03-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

Fast Company as recently (ironically?) blogged about this question (posted below).

It's an interesting question and challenges us to think about how and why blogs are or are not an important tool for companies. Fast Company argues that blogs are just one more way to gain some visibility. That is certainly a reality today, however the analysis leaves out two important points. One, that blogs are obviously more useful to companies that can sell their products across the country or across the world than companies which are inherently local (as in the Fast Company example). Also, Leads360 recognizes that a blog is a more appropriate forum to have a more wide-ranging conversation with our customers than our website. A friendly conversation with your a car salesman about the NCAA tournament might brighten your outlook and deepen your connection to the product but it would not be appropriate on the manufacturers main website or advertisement. Blogs are accepted as an "informal" mode of communication which can be valuable to any business that values their customers.

Should Small Companies Blog?

I scrolled through Technorati today looking for a blog topic, and I simply typed “technology” to see what would come up. Not surprisingly, the search engine produced a wide variety of sites from a guitarist offering online guitar lessons to a blog about online college degrees.

Nothing intrigued me enough and I continued to look down the page and I noticed a blog titled “Meet Dr. William Boothe.” Unless you’re from Dallas, TX or in the eye-care industry, you might not have had any reason to click on the title. But I grew up in Dallas, and Dr. Boothe’s name is plastered on billboards, his commercials are all over the radio, and he even sponsored prizes at Dallas Mavericks games. My thunder-sticks could not escape his campaign. In Dallas, no one could flee his advertising conquest, but now I can read about him in a blog! Yes, a little slice of home from my work computer in New York.

So, obviously, I click on the site to see what someone had written about the man who helped pioneer the LASIK eye-care industry, but, to my dismay, Dr. Booth wrote his own blog, about himself. A slight self-call, but not unusual in the “blogosphere,” although, somewhat unusual as an advertising technique I assumed.

Blogs have become a tool small businesses must use, according to allbusiness.com, a site that gives advice to small businesses and entrepreneurs. While, I slightly disagree with the comment because I do not think many people will read a blog about a floral company, produced by that floral company, I do think this tactic would work well with those in private practices, like Dr. Boothe. Lawyers would also be great candidates for blogs as well.

In Dr. Boothe’s case, his blog reads more like a resume, or an informational section on his website, but I can’t find a link to his blog from his website. Slightly strange, but then I click on the section titled “About Dr. Boothe,” and I realize he just copied and pasted the words from his website to a separate site for a blog. In effect, he realized that having the blog on the website did very little because those people on the website can read the website to learn about his company. By making the blog separate, he connects to other people who would not have heard of him, or had any reason to look for his name.

This strategy reflects his overall advertising technique in Dallas. Advertise everywhere available. His name pops up on Google as the first choice when you search directly for him, but not when you search under “technology.” He has created a new way for other people, worldwide, to know him and access his accomplishments by creating a blog. People, who have no reason to look up LASIK eye-care can see his name simply by looking under “technology” on technorati.

Of course, does all this work? I don’t know; I used Dr. George Joseph.
http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2007/03/28/should_small_companies_blog.html

Sub-Prime Mortage Turmoil

2007-03-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

As the discussion of embattled Sub-Prime mortgage lenders heats up, we are often asked about how Leads360 is affected by the market as a whole. Thankfully, our Lead Management software is increasingly valuable as competition heats up amongst lenders. Lead Manager software is what successful lenders are using to maintain their effectiveness in the increasingly tight business climate.

When Your Customers Use Leads360, Everyone Wins!.

2007-03-08T21:05:00.000-08:00

We value our partners as much as our clients. When your customers use Leads360 they increase contact ratios and close more deals. Ultimately your customers purchase more leads or services, and remain customers for longer. Quite simply, that means more money in your pocket. Click here to learn about our program or go directly to the referral form.

Heartland Home Finance Deters Lead Theft with LeadGuardian

2007-03-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

New Software Solution Also Serves as Valuable Training Tool

Challenge:
• Wanted a reliable method to prevent loan officers from stealing leads
• Wanted a method to monitor loan officers’ phone and email communication with leads
• Needed a system that would provide insight into activities at multiple loan offices

Solution:
• Implemented Leads360’s LeadGuardian® software to reveal if lead theft is occurring.
• Alerts are emailed to company management to see if employees are contacting leads legitimately
• Recording of outgoing emails and voice mail messages scrutinizes whether loan officers are correctly following company policy
• Improved performance of new employees, who use previously recorded interactions between employees and clients as a sales training tool

Results:
• Lead theft reduced
• Management now has a valuable deterrent against losing leads when loan officers depart.

As a result of implementing Leads360’s LeadGuardian® software, we began to see a lot of missed opportunities to close sales. Through the system I was able to peer into a specific branch office right down to the loan officer level to see what they were doing on a daily basis. Most small companies don’t have the technology to be able to do this. Leads360 made it very cost-effective to have this advantage. Now even smaller companies can achieve security and high performance like a much larger company.

Jay Dunsing, President, Heartland Home Finance

After more than 20 years in the mortgage business, Jay Dunsing knows what works and what doesn’t. As president of Heartland Home Finance, he’s been very active in his company’s development, and relies on Leads360 to keep Heartland at the forefront of technology and customer service.

“I am a huge Leads360 fan. Their products have really changed my company for the better, and their ability to listen to my needs and address them is by far the best of any vendor I’ve dealt with,” Dunsing said. “They are absolutely fantastic.”

So it wasn’t surprising that Dunsing would turn to Leads360 to address a chronic problem in the mortgage business – the loss of company-acquired leads through employee theft.

“In my business turnover is rampant,” Dunsing reported. “Our company has 200% turnover every year at the loan officer level. Some of our loan officers leave and join other mortgage companies and steal all the leads I developed for them, and close them at another company. My goal was to detect that theft by integrating fake leads into the system, which would hopefully deter other employees from attempting the same pilfering. “

Leads360 created LeadGuardian®, a module of Leads360’s LeadManager® lead management software application. The new software, which operates seamlessly with a mortgage company’s lead database, randomly places “check” leads within the database that are integrated with an e-mail and voicemail system that records messages and caller information. Alerts are emailed to company management who can hear mp3 files or read emails to see if their employees are contacting leads legitimately or if lead theft is occurring.

“The counterfeit leads are very easy to create, and each one has a unique email address and a unique 10 digit phone number. There’s no way my loan officers can detect that it’s a fake lead,” Dunsing said. “I then assign it directly to one of my loan officers; they make the call, which goes into a voicemail that is digitally recorded. That process has already shown me that I have a problem with how people leave voicemail messages, when they leave them at all.” Dunsing responded by creating a focus on proper phone procedure, to avoid any further missed opportunities.

“My fabricated client then calls back to that loan officer, and their conversation is recorded, so I can find out if they are they handling the conversation in a way that conforms to what corporate wants them to do.” LeadGuardian® also records all email communication, allowing Dunsing an opportunity to discover whether his employees are sending out automatic emails, or responding with an email that is specifically related to that customer’s circumstances.

“ LeadGuardian® will have a significant impact as a training tool for our loan officers,” Dunsing said. “When I bring a new officer on board, they’ll be able to hear prior conversations other officers have had with clients so they know what to expect when they get on the phone.”

The addition of LeadGuardian® to Heartland Home Finance’s LeadManager® software application has proven “invaluable,” according to Dunsing. “To try to determine ROI on the overall concept is impossible, but for us, we couldn’t function without it. I have 30 branches around the country, and this is the only way I can understand what’s going on in all of them. I can’t be in two places at once, much less 30 places, but I can with Leads360.”

We came. We saw. We conquered. We moved.

2007-03-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Leads360 is happy to announce that we have moved into a new building! We are thrilled with our new space and we look forward to being able to host our customers.

1265 S. Cochran Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90019

Americash Improves Productivity and Efficiency

2007-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Drip Marketing feature among many attributes of Leads360’s Lead Management Solutions

“The key to successful conversion of Internet leads is to be the first company on the phone with the customer. With Leads360 we have the tools and capabilities to rotate and distribute leads more efficiently through a fully automated process, while tracking employee performance. The drip marketing feature allows for the creation of email marketing campaigns specific to the status of each lead.”

— Chad Church, Sales Manager, Americash

Americash is a Southern California-based originator of residential mortgage loans. Licensed as a direct lender in 19 states, the company’s objective is to provide low cost, competitively priced mortgage products, backed by outstanding service. But Sales Manager Chad Church recognized the need for a better distribution engine for getting leads to their loan officers. Americash had been using Lending Tree’s Apex, which limited the company’s ability to rotate a lead, and required manual supervision. Church wanted an automated system with an improved trackability and accountability program that would eliminate a situation where “playing favorites” with leads was possible.

“That’s what we achieved by utilizing Leads360’s LeadManager™ application. Over the years we’ve used different products and different software programs, but none of them had as dramatic an impact on our overall contact ratio as Leads360,” Church said. “Now we have a much better understanding of who’s calling leads and who isn’t, and we’re better able to get those leads in the hands of a loan officer that is ready to execute them.”

Church cited Leads360’s familiarity with Apex software as a critical deciding factor. “The Leads360 software was Lending Tree Apex on steroids. It provides much-improved capabilities in lead management, but it was also something that was already familiar to us, so a tremendous amount of modification wasn’t necessary to fit our specific needs. Even with our new hires it’s a very user-friendly product. I can take somebody who has never worked on lead software and within a week have them doing automated emails, exporting to an XL format, and downloading to a mail merge. It’s not difficult to master.

“One of the most positive benefits has been the reporting tools that allow us to review any transaction history. From a tracking standpoint it’s kept us a lot more on target with our leads and improved the overall efficiency of our operation. When a customer calls I can pull up the file, review the conversation log, and know exactly what’s going on,” Church added.

The use of drip marketing, a strategy that involves sending out several promotional pieces over a period of time to a subset of sales leads, has allowed Americash to improve the consistency of its marketing campaigns, and to more effectively nurture current and potential clients. “We’ve been doing it for a long time and it’s been very successful for us. With LeadManager™ we’ve been able to expand our capabilities in following up with leads via customized emails specific to their situation,” Church said.

Productivity has increased “across the board” thanks to the real-time delivery of Leads360. Lead conversions have increased 2-3%, sometimes more. The entire Americash operation now runs at a more rapid pace. If an agent doesn’t act upon a lead within ten minutes it automatically transfers to the next agent. “If a guy goes to lunch and forgets to log out, a lead is not sitting for an hour waiting for him to get back,” said Church, who describes the impact of Leads360 this way: “picture a 500 pound guy trimming down to 180 pounds. That’s what the transformation feels like with LeadManager™ from Leads 360. It’s a fantastic product.”

Customer support via telephone and online chat has been outstanding. “I appreciate knowing that calls aren’t routed to some call center and to people who don’t know what’s going on. I’m always able to reach someone who’s knowledgeable about the product and that speaks my language.”

Was LeadManager worth the investment? “No question about it,” Church affirms. “You save one deal and you’ve justified the cost of the product for a month.”

Leading the way on Ajax

2007-02-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

Jeff Solomon was recently interviewed for this story about our implementation of Ajax. Continually updating our software, as new technology is available, is something which we look forward to. Change requires a big financial commitment and a lot of time, but in the end we are committed helping our customers make more money in less time.

Moving

2007-02-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

While we can't spill all the beans just yet, we are very happy to announce that Leads360 is moving to a new location. Upgrading the office is an exciting challenge for us and will allow us all to coexist under one big roof. We have had the distinct pleasure of learning about the intricacies of commercial real estate, wiring, plumbing, and a host of other things which we did not know much about. Watch this space for the full details.

Lead Managment Is Heating Up

2007-02-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

Leads360 is thrilled to congratulate LeadsROI for being acquired by Root Markets Inc.

Lead Management is being increasingly recognized as an important factor in the success of mortgage companies. The increasing visibility of Lead Management is great news for us and for the health of the mortgage industry as a whole.

Will 2007 be the year that Lead Management hits big?

Helping Clients Help Themselves

2007-02-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

At Leads360 we spend a lot of time working with our clients because at the end of the day our business is built on the success of their business.

One of the many challenges we face is helping our clients understand their own business. Sometimes businesses come to us asking for solutions without properly identifying the problems that they are trying to solve.

"Do I need Lead Management or CRM?" is a question which we hear everyday from prospective clients. However, that is the wrong question to ask because it is confusing two separate problems: managing customers and managing leads. To help the industry better understand the difference between customer management solutions and Lead Management solutions (such as Leads360) we are proud to announce the launch of NO-CRM.

Lead ROI, What Does That Mean

2006-12-17T23:02:00.000-08:00

You might say it is the name of one our competitors. That’s true, but this post isn’t about them, see my post on embracing your competition. This is about return on investment (ROI) on leads and lead management software. One of the common sales tactics you hear in selling software is “benefits, not features.” Unfortunately features are more common than benefits. The #1 benefit of lead management should be ROI on your leads and the use of the software. In 2007 Leads360 is focusing significantly more attention to this part of the business. Our goal is to demonstrate significant lead ROI in your first 3 months; including the first month!

Over the past 2 ½ years we have helped thousands of customers get significant return on their investment in Leads360. We’re experts at it and we can do it for you. Check out our new ROI calculator on our website and speak to one of our sales associates to get a full ROI analysis using our compressive ROI calculator.

The Right Partnerships at the Right Time

2006-11-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

Recently we announced a partnership with HouseValues (read the press release). It’s pretty exciting for us because we have an opportunity to really jump start our sales via their team of 35 sales people. What’s really cool, and the reason they are so fired up about the relationship, is that we’re doing as much for them as they’re doing for us. It’s a true win/win situation. We’re looking to expand our brand awareness and increase user base and they’re looking for a way to improve their value proposition. For HouseValues, being a one stop shop for great leads, solid coaching and best practices enforced via Leads360’s LeadManager, is the path to customer success. For Leads360, being as important as the telephone to mortgage companies is priority #1. This deal brings us one step closer to that goal.

Technology as a Tool in the Mortgage Space

2006-11-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

Technology adoption within the mortgage industry is undoubtedly growing; small and middle market brokerages are engineering methods to compete for profits alongside industry leaders by utilizing similar tools. Be it an LOS, Document Management System or Appraisal Pricing Engine, technology tools, specifically software, levels the playing field. As this cycle matures however, companies are rightfully questioning the tenants of technology adoption: What tools do I need? How do I get the most out of them? And most importantly, how should I measure technology ROI?

First and foremost, technology alone is not a solution; it’s simply one tool among many in your toolbox for success. When considering using a new tool in your business, it’s critical that it be combined with proven best practices, a thought-out adoption strategy, benchmarking and regular evaluations of its effectiveness. Much of this process will be somewhat organic; you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t throughout the lifecycle of adoption, but you must measure and correct. As our parents harped that there is no free lunch, there’s certainly no positive technology ROI without considerable hard-work, regardless of how pretty the tool looks and how many wiz-bang features it employs.

Ok, I need technology, which tool do I pick?
To provide some tangible answers, let’s base our discussion around Lead Management software, a technology tool rapidly adopted over the last few years. To use an analogy, the software business is akin to a Cold War era arms race; each company constantly building features for their tool that will outshine their competition. It is a fact that every tool provider, or vendor, will have something others don’t. How then do you pick a vendor, you ask? You have to look beyond the tool to a company that is not a technology vendor, rather a partner.

Vendors have customers; partners have clients. Vendors want to sell you a product; partners want to grow a value-based relationship. Rule #1 when choosing a Lead Management software provider is finding a partner that not only has a tool that you like to look at, but also one that has the experience to guide you through the long-term organic lifecycle of that technology within your organization.

I picked a partner, how do I get the most out of the technology and the relationship?
Technology adoption is about achieving business goals. In that regard, Lead Management software is the technology and increased profit is our goal.

Step #1:
Understand where you are today. Do you have a solution in place already? Where is it failing? Where is my business at this absolute point in time? This may be the most critical step in the process, as you can’t measure performance without realistic benchmarks. These may be hard to measure, undoubtedly because you’re looking for a tool to aid you in this, but you must have some handle on the present day to measure future performance.

Step #2:
Set realistic goals. There’s no point in setting a goal to increase your close ratio by 80% unless you truly believe it can happen and know deep down you have the spirit to improve your business. Goals should be short, medium and long term; they need constant review and dogged perseverance in their achievement. This is a great opportunity to leverage the expertise of your new technology partner, as they’ve most certainly gone through goal setting with many companies like yours. Use their knowledge, figure out what your competitors are achieving, and manage expectations. Your partner is going to have considerable input on how you should be using the software in order to achieve these business goals; that’s their job! Make them work for it.

Step #3:
Create an adoption plan. There’s no single killer of adoption like your employees. These people are your greatest asset, yet they are a delicate force that must be guided strategically. Business processes don’t change overnight; you have to sell the value proposition for adoption for any tool that will disrupt the way they go about their business. In the case of Lead Management, loan officers are used to having paper around, it’s a security blanket. Moving to a Web-based Lead Management system like Leads360 scares some people because they can’t touch it. It’s ok though, society can adapt to technology advancements, so can your employees, but there must be a payoff. Again, here is where you can leverage your technology partner. In the case of Lead Management, your partner should have proven best practices that you can implement for your specific business needs. Your partner can help sell the value proposition, as they already sold you on themselves.

What’s my ROI?
To understand technology ROI, let’s take a closer look at the inputs and outputs of our formula. The investment component is obviously more than just monetary. With regards to Lead Management, your monetary costs are the license fees, which depending on the company can range considerably. More importantly though is your investment in time, the disruption in your business and opportunity cost created by the need for you to seek out, deploy and adopt your new tool. Based on my experience, this is the least recognized and scrutinized investment aspect, yet it’s a business killer. This plays directly into your adoption plan, and you must have full commitment from yourself and your employees to complete this investment. Your return is more than profit margin; its improved efficiencies, attitude, confidence and refined business processes. ROI has to be about more than just dollars, it has to involve a belief that by adopting technology, you’re making yourself and your employees better at what you do, which will have significant tangential benefits.

As I’ve said before, technology is only a tool. Without proper planning, technology is not going to add value your company. Used properly though, in partnership with the right team of professionals and experts, technology can transform your business, I see it everyday with our clients.

Do You Know Your Contact Ratio?

2006-09-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

If you’re buying or generating leads, you know how important it is to make first contact with them. Statistics show the company who contacts a lead first is 70% more likely to close that lead. Recognizing that contact ratio is import is one thing; but do you actually know your contact ratio, or how quick your sales people are contacting leads? Leads360’s lead tracking software can give you visibility over your sales force and get valuable insight into your contact ratio. Contact Leads360 today and learn how we can help you increase your contact ratio by more than 20% in the first month. Call 1-888-508-4462 for a free demo or visit www.leads360.com

First Across the Finish Line: The Secret to Beating Your Competition

2006-08-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

The housing boom of the previous five years sprung unprecedented business for the mortgage lending business. And while the industry enjoyed this prosperity, it also triggered a false sense of security for long-term success. This lead to more relaxed business practices and less reliance on diligence, persistence and detail. While it didn’t impact mortgage lenders then, those practices are going to dramatically decrease the number of lenders in business over the next five years. How can you keep your company out of danger and continue to close a successful number of loans? The answer is simple: you have to beat your competition in the follow up race.

The Quick and the Dead

In the mortgage lending business, the successful companies will be those who know their prospects and quickly establish relationships. That means you have to be able to instantly distribute leads, quickly make the initial contact, communicate consistently and personally with prospects, and track and manage the progress of every lead from initial contact through closing. If you’re still doing this with a paper trail, you’re company is going to die. Your process is simply too slow.If you make one investment in your business this year it should be Lead Management Software. LMS allows you to automate the entire follow up process and dramatically reduce the time it takes you to move leads through the sales cycle. This means faster response times and higher close rates. While your competitors are still faxing out leads to loan officers, you’ll already be sending a second or third communication to your prospects. You’re halfway to closing before other lenders even acknowledge the lead!

Western Capital Mortgage, a mortgage lender in Southern California, knew that their lead processing operations were slowing them down. Wanting to make a change, they invested many hours reviewing 20 different LMS applications to find the one that would work the best for their company and their 100 agents. Since adopting the LMS, they’ve noticed a huge change in their business.“The speed of this system enables our agents to talk to customers within minutes of receiving the lead,” Aaron Leffler from Western Capital Mortgage explained. “It also holds everyone accountable because we know who is working on what and how they are doing. It gives us flexibility to make adjustments in how we run our business by enabling us to evaluate our strengths and areas of improvement.

Maximizing Your Marketing Investment

In addition to speed, LMS also gives you the marketing tools you need to professionally and personally communicate with your prospects and turn them into borrowers. One of the most exciting innovations of technology is what it has done for communication. You can send 1,000 personalized emails in less time that it takes you to put a stamp on an envelope. And we’re not talking about SPAM.With automated marketing, you can determine your campaign and let the software manage and track the implementation. Without even thinking about it, you can engage your prospects with consistent follow up, build relationships and close more loans. Plus, you’ll be able to determine what messages generated the greatest return. LMS helps you to make smarter marketing decisions and refine your messaging to each prospect. For example, you could automatically send an email from your loan officers to your prospects immediately after the first conversation. The email could introduce the loan officer, tell a little about their qualifications and experience and make sure the prospect has their contact information. The next email would be educational about the borrowing process or a series of FAQs to make them feel more comfortable. Whatever messaging you implement, the key is that your campaign is consistent, ongoing and personalized.

These automated marketing tools also give you what you need to maximize your investment in leads. Heartland Financial, one of the nation’s largest independent brokerage firms, realized that they didn’t have a definitive way to track the return and effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. When the company adopted a LMS, they instantly had tools to track the leads generated. “We’re spending $150,000 per month in advertising and we needed to make sure our leads weren’t falling through the cracks,” said Jay Dunsing from Heartland Financial. “We now receive custom reports that allow us to see exactly what is happening with each of our leads.”

Outpacing the Competition

The key to speeding ahead of your competition is efficiency. Nothing gives your mortgage company efficiency like the technology of Lead Management Software. And while LMS is finding its way into hundreds of mortgage firms each month, there is still time to be among the early adopters and secure your success. Automated marketing is the lifeline that will keep your mortgage company thriving, regardless of market conditions.

Adopting LMS now will make sure that your company stays at the front of the pack. The ones in the back will not only lose, they won’t even finish the race.

Leads360 Company Ideology; Why We Do What We Do.

2006-05-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking about what Leads360 is all about; what our philosophy is. I wanted to get something down on paper since we’ve never really done that. Here is what I came up with.
“Our goal as a company is to provide useful and productive tools in the form of software for our clients; and foster a creative and inspiring work environment for our employees. We aim to make the workplace stimulating and enjoyable, while relieving stress and frustration. Our software products are designed to make work feel like play, and we encourage play in the workplace.”