Lead Management Software

Immediately after implementing Leads360's sales lead management software, Residential Finance Corporation has attained an 80 percent increase on Internet sales and a 100 percent increase within six months after implementation.

To tailor its lead distribution functionality based on the skill set of its agents, RFC employed Leads360's cutting-edge technology. RFC was also recognized in the industry as the Sales Department of the Year, having won the 2009 Stevie Award.

Founded in 1997, RFC, specializes in FHA mortgage refinance, and has multiple regional offices serving 29 states. It employs 120 highly-trained home loan officers and offers refinancing borrowers the security and great rates of government-insured home mortgage loans and works with borrowers to help them find the right home mortgage loan options to meet their unique needs.

RFC, in order to keep up with the changing mortgage industry and newfound demands placed upon it, takes great care to continually re-evaluate its processes to ensure its agents are well-trained, efficient and reactive to customers' needs. In this process it utilizes Leads360’s lead management software, which is designed to manage and streamline the sales process and make mortgage professionals more successful.

To maximize origination volumes in a controlled and manageable way, Leads360 provides an environment for lenders. Leads360offers solutions specifically designed to address the needs of the mortgage industry, with which Leads360 has been working since 2004.

Leads360, being a valued partner and trusted resource for more than five years, provides RFC with lead management software to easily track and manage the high volume of leads they receive on a regular basis. To optimize its lead distribution functionality achieve this goal, RFC has worked closely with Leads360.

RFC, to put into place a skills-based lead distribution system in early 2009, overhauled their lead distribution and lead management processes. Loan officers, prior to the overhaul, were assigned leads irrespective of ability and owned their leads for life. After the overhaul, loan officers with higher conversion ratios received higher quality and a greater quantity of leads. Owing to this, agents were driven to maximize contacts and retain leads based on time-bound rules designed to shorten the sales cycle and capitalize on motivated consumers. This resulted in an immediate 80 percent increase in conversion rates for Internet leads and in February, 26 percent of RFC's sales came from aged leads with two or more prior owners.

According to Jessica Manna, chief marketing officer and vice president of RFC, "Lead management is treated like any other marketing process -- optimized for continuous improvement to maximize the return on investment of our marketing spend. Our two top priorities are exceptional customer service and maximizing marketing return on investment -- both are directly impacted by the design, measurement and control of the lead management process."

Adds Manna, "Sales teams implementing a lead management solution like Leads360's should not just look at the solution as a technology implementation. This is business process management. In short, focus on how to leverage technology to solve loan officers' problems enabling them to reach new levels of success. The technology behind the software supports a business objective, but the bottom line is that sales managers have to see a return for their agents' time."

There are tremendous opportunities for mortgage companies that are well-prepared and able to positively differentiate themselves from the competition, amidst the current uncertainty in the mortgage industry.

To be present in the market, it is crucial for mortgage agents to be highly efficient, customer service-focused and to react quickly to opportunities that arise.

"As a software provider, it's important that the solution we provide is customizable and flexible to meet the needs of our customers," Jeff Solomon, Leads360 co-founder and senior vice president of product and marketing, said. "Residential Finance is a perfect example of how lead management software can be implemented in a business with great success."

In related news, in an effort to streamline the sales process and make independent insurance agents more successful, Leads360, the industry leader in sales lead management software, has partnered with Allied Strategy's SEMCAT quoting solution.