Different mortgage lending institutions take a different approach to their mortgage leads. Some apply fish-in-a-barrel thinking, trying to get as many leads as possible into their pipeline. The hope is that with a large quantity, their loan officers will be able to lock at least a couple down. 

That way of doing things can lead to overwhelm for your team and a less-than-stellar experience for leads, though. We want to make an argument for the value of exclusive, quality mortgage leads.

To start, it helps to look at the drawbacks of leads you share with the competition. 

What non-exclusive leads often mean for lenders

If a lead is non-exclusive, their information goes out to other lending institutions at the same time it comes to yours. That usually means: 

A race that can burn out your team

Recent data says that more than half of consumers will go with the first company that responds to them, regardless of price. That means that your loan officers have a literal need for speed. With non-exclusive leads, your team needs to jump on new leads the second they hit your pipeline. You can deploy tools like AI texting to help bridge any time gap, but the pressure’s still on your loan officers.

Over time, the need to be hyperresponsive to any lead that comes through can burn them out. That’s doubly true because these leads may or may not be serious about getting a loan. Non-exclusive leads tend to come from sources that don’t spend time analyzing the lead. Since there’s no need to send that to a specific company based on their unique needs, why bother?

Bottom of the barrel pricing

If the lead does decide to evaluate options from multiple lenders, the non-exclusive nature pits you directly against your competitors. And what’s the one factor most potential borrowers care about? Price. Your team might be forced to nudge rates and fees downward to close the loan, limiting profitability on each deal. 

Overwhelmed leads

When someone’s information is distributed to multiple lenders, it usually means they suddenly get a barrage of calls, emails, and maybe even texts. What they thought was going to be an easy process — getting a few quotes — suddenly becomes overwhelming. 

It’s hard for your loan officers to cut through that noise to win over the lead. They don’t want to contribute to the din, but they don’t want to miss out if the lead decides to go with the lender that contacts them fastest. It’s a conundrum, but one that your team doesn’t need to face. 

What a quality lead means for your team

Now that we’ve looked at the status quo with non-exclusive leads, let’s look at the other side of the coin. Quality leads given exclusively to your team mean: 

Higher purchasing intent

When it comes to mortgage leads, “quality” often means they’ve been pre-vetted. Maybe they filled out a questionnaire or lead workflow online, or maybe they spoke with a customer service rep on the lead provider’s team. Either way, the fact that they put in that work usually means they’re genuinely interested in getting a loan. 

Additionally, since the lead provider chose your institution, it should mean that the borrower’s a good fit for your product offering and aligns with your underwriting requirements. That saves your loan officers from spending time on someone who can’t qualify or wants a loan product you can’t provide. 

Better engagement from your loan officers

A large volume of leads might seem like a loan officer’s dream, but it can quickly turn into a nightmare. With too many people in the pipeline, they’ll struggle to be responsive to everyone all the time. Worse yet, when they are available to leads, they’ll often be rushed. That means a dip in the quality of their pre-call/meeting prep and follow-up. 

Fewer leads to manage means your team members can allocate more time to each individual. That frees them up to offer better guidance and to better tailor loan options to that person. When presented with a good-fit option, people are more likely to head to the closing table. 

Better reputation for your lending institution

When your loan officers deliver quality service and personalized loan recommendations to borrowers, those people walk away feeling positively about your company. That helps to foster a good reputation both in the communities you serve and online. 

And we’re in an era where people increasingly look to online reviews. By one estimate, 98% of people read reviews before making a purchase. If that extends to lower-cost items like electronics and clothing, you better believe it comes into play for major financial decisions like getting a mortgage. 

Fortunately, when your team has fewer but higher quality leads to manage, they can deliver the level of care that helps burnish your reputation online. 

All of this means that quality leads given exclusively to your team almost always have higher ROI than non-exclusive ones. 

Where to get high-quality leads

If you’re convinced that exclusive, high-quality leads are your best path forward, the next step is finding a lead provider that can deliver those kinds of mortgage leads. 

You have lots of options here. We recently did some comparisons of some leading mortgage lead providers that might be helpful as you explore your choices:

• Bankrate vs. NerdWallet
• Mortgage Research Center vs. FreeRateUpdate
• LendingTree vs. ICanBuy

Once you decide on a mortgage lead source, make sure you track how it performs. We laid out some metrics you can track to get a feel for which lead sources are offering the best leads for your team. Deploy tactics like looking at reply behavior and using a standardized lead scoring mechanism. This way, you’ll know that the money you decide to allocate to buying leads is something on which you’ll see an ROI. 

If you want to talk to a team about which lead providers tend to offer the highest quality leads, we’re here. We have years of experience partnering with a variety of mortgage lenders, credit unions, and brokers. We’ve heard directly from various teams about their experience with a lot of the top lead providers. We’re happy to use our insights to help point you in the right direction. 

On top of that, we can provide tools to help you better capture those high-quality leads, nurture them, and move them toward close. By providing them with resources like personalized rate dashboards and calculators they can use, you create a positive experience for them — without extra work from your loan officers. To learn more, book a demo with us today.