Mortgage lead scoring – Do it the right way! 

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales hit their highest level in 15 years in 2021.  

Wow! It means the mortgage industry is booming, with more and more people looking for housing loans.  

But the concern is the inefficiency of grabbing the potential opportunity! 

This is why only 2-3% of mortgage leads conversion is seen.   

Inefficient mortgage lead scoring kills marketing professionals’ efforts to get quality leads.  

Worry not!  

This blog covers ways to improve your mortgage lead conversion chances. Plus, you’ll learn the secrets of successful mortgage lead scoring.

But firstly, let’s understand why the conversion of mortgage leads is drowning.  

Why are mortgage lead conversions drowning? 

There are a few critical factors leading to a low mortgage lead conversion. Let’s have a look at them. 

1. Rise in buying poor quality leads from vendors

Online advertising drives quick results, and lead vendors leverage these channels to generate leads for other businesses.

Thus, many mortgage lenders aiming to leap to success purchase leads from lead vendors.

Unfortunately, those leads are neither aware of the company’s values nor filtered according to its requirements.  

So, when a sales rep approaches these unqualified leads, there is hardly any chance of gaining the opportunity of conversion. 

2. Inefficient lead scoring process 

Lead scoring is vital to get qualified leads. But most businesses either follow the generalized or wrong lead scoring models, which results in no fruitful outcomes. 

So, with a lack of understanding of an effective lead scoring model, all the efforts are turned into wasted time and resources. 

3. Not using the right software for nurturing leads 

Connecting with the right leads at the right time with the right offer is extremely important.

And, if you don’t have the software that can support your mission, it gets tricky to stay on top of the lead’s mind.

A robust tool like marketing automation software can help you in targeting with personalized campaigns with an attractive offer they can’t resist! 

Also, your leads are getting offers from your competitors, so ensure you should be quick with building relationships. 

So, automate your mundane tasks to be more productive, aka deal closing front.

Skyrocketing success is achievable with an effective lead-scoring model specific to your mortgage business.

So, let’s understand mortgage lead scoring and how it can be a game changer in getting more opportunities with an example. 
 

Mortgage lead scoring with example in action 

Mortgage lead scoring is a first step towards qualifying leads based on their interest in taking a mortgage loan.  

Here the lead scoring system involves various attributes that indicate prospects’ intent towards taking a home loan. 

Qualifying criteria for effective mortgage lead scoring majorly includes…

• Source of leads 
• Demographics of the leads 
• Details regarding the financial status of the lead shared via the contact form or other communication channels 
• Website engagement via Chatbot/Live Chat 
• Actions performed on a website like submitting a Web Form, signing up for a newsletter etc. 
• Pain points/Challenges of the leads 
• Timeframe which they want to secure the financing  

Based on the above details shared by leads during the interaction, they are assigned scores which indicate their quality to become a potential customer. 

Let’s take an example of mortgage lead scoring to have an actual walk-through!   

Mr. John lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He’s searching for a 4-bedroom house and looking for a mortgage lender.

He is a tech firm manager with a good credit score of 700+ and even a proper DTI ratio.  

He talked with his friends and family regarding this. Then, he went on to search the internet for more information.  

Whilst browsing, Mr. John reviewed multiple websites with information about mortgages. 

And he filled out contact forms on websites that seemed relevant to his requirements.

He even went on to download one of the free e-books the website was offering for mortgages.   

Plus, he interacted via Live Chat/Chatbots on a few mortgage lenders’ websites. 

As Mr. John interacted with the website and the business, he fulfilled multiple qualification criteria.  

Such as:  

1. Interacting with multiple website pages.  
2. Downloading a free e-book of the mortgage.  
3. Filling out the contact form with his requirements.  
4. Having a good credit score.  
5. Maintaining DTI (Debt-to-Income) ratio.  
6. Performing multiple activities on your website that expressed his urgency of buying.

Now, for a mortgage company, web visitors like Mr. John, who is engaging in every possible way to initiate the conversation, are considered a hot lead.

So, on such grounds, the lead scoring system of the mortgage company will consider Mr. John a qualified lead.

Hope this was helpful!

The secret to successful mortgage lead scoring 

Most of the mortgage leads qualification depends on the financial stability of the leads. Here is the list of multiple attributes to improve your mortgage lead scoring system fully.   

1. Interaction with the digital fronts of your mortgage business 

If a visitor interacts with your website or social media platforms more than other visitors, the lead is probably intrigued to learn more about your business in the near future.

These are significant behaviors that you can opt to assign point values to those leads.

So, discover the time they spent on each page, which lead magnet they interacted with, no. of web pages explored, email responses, which CTA most spiked their interest, and more.  

2. Strong financial background 

In Web Forms or the chatbot system, you can include questions to discover financial data points like credit score or DTI (Debt-to-Income) ratio. 

With this, you can learn things like whether or not the lead has a credit score of 620+ (which is usually a sweet spot), has a good DTI, and is willing to pay the upfront fees.  

The must-have qualifying criteria for mortgage leads are…   

• Credit score  
• Annual income   
• Source of income   
• Debt  

These financial point values will help you discover the lead’s loan repayment capability.   

A prospect with a suitable financially stable background is more likely to consider a risk-free lead for your mortgage business.

3. Loan amount 

Certain factors define the amount of money a borrower can seek for a loan.

Consider the amount as a qualifying aspect for a mortgage lead and ensure to audit their status, like employment background, loan history, and debt, before qualifying them.

4. Property type and location 

Consider the type of property and its location when qualifying leads for mortgage loans. Ensure to assess if there is any dispute or risk associated with the property and the site.

Set up for assigning a negative score to mortgage leads associated with high-risk locations/properties. 

5. Consult loan officers 

You must consult your loan officers and managers to gain insights from their one-on-one interaction with mortgage leads.

Then, build an effective lead scoring model based on their on-the-ground knowledge.

6. More web actions indicate an urgency  

The urgency to take action is also one of the critical qualification factors that businesses can consider when assigning lead scoring criteria.   

It can be derived by evaluating how many actions the lead has performed, like whether the lead has downloaded any free resources or even signed up for a newsletter.

Doing so can assign a high score to the lead most willing to move forward with your business, resulting in better lead qualification.

Power up your mortgage lead scoring with Salesmate 

As discussed in the blog, purchasing leads from lead vendors is never a good idea because you can never identify the alignment of that lead with your brand’s offerings.

Your sales team will never have a shortage of quality leads with the support of Salesmate’s robust features.

Mortgage lead generation with Salesmate’s powerful lead generation tools:  

• Web Forms: Build personalized forms in minutes to find out if the lead has a good credit score or is from a good location etc.  
• Live Chat: To answer their queries related to financial aspects and capture details to qualify/disqualify them.  
• Chat Journeys: To collect valuable customer information 24X7. So, the lead generation process is always in motion even when you’re not.  
• Meeting Scheduler: To take advantage of every opportunity to connect with potential mortgage leads. So, share meeting links and get instant bookings! 

Also, you can easily manage your mortgage refinance leads with 360-degree contact management.

Next, Salesmate Score will help identify the best leads and prioritize them to pass to loan officers to move with necessary sales actions. 

Our lead scoring system analyzes the mortgage leads based on their behaviors and engagement with your business website, communication channels etc.  

Then will assign a score reflecting their interest and likeliness to convert.

With Salesmate, mortgage marketers and lenders can set their day-to-day tasks on autopilot! Know how.

• Generate quality leads automatically with powerful lead generation tools.  
• Build an automated lead scoring system specific to your business.  
• Identify the highest converting mortgage leads to prioritize them.  
• Segment and send qualified leads to the loan managers.  
• Set personalized campaigns to nurture your qualified mortgage leads to build strong relationships until it converts. 
• Boost conversion rate by speeding up the targeting with outreach and follow-up sequences.
• Save more time for selling by automating repetitive tasks like meeting scheduling, follow-ups, manual dialing, and whatnot!  

No credit card is required, start with an email 

Wrap up: Mortgage lead scoring

Mortgage lead scoring isn’t rocket science!

By assigning scores to each lead based on their likelihood to close, mortgage officers can focus on the most promising leads and improve the lead conversion rate.

While many factors influence a lead’s score, some of the most important factors to consider would be the lead’s creditworthiness, interaction with business, interest, and urgency. 

But increasing the lead conversion rate would require using a robust lead scoring software like Salesmate results in high efficiency.