Typed versus checked
Every form asks the enquirer questions. Loan purpose, rough amount, employment, timing. What the enquirer types is useful, and it is also just what they typed. A supplier that calls a form fill qualified because the person picked options from a menu has checked nothing.
The question to ask is simple. Which fields on this record were checked by someone or something other than the enquirer? The gap between that list and the full record is the work you will be doing on the phone.
The two numbers behind the finance screen
We publish two figures from our own traffic. Among high income property enquirers, 51.8% fail on finance. Among enquiries cleared through PrimeProof, fewer than 5% fail. These are our measurements, not industry statistics, and we label them that way.
The point of the first number is that intent and income together are not enough. People who look right on paper still fail when the numbers come back. The point of the second is that a screen run before delivery removes most of them from your diary.
What the checks include
Before a record reaches your CRM it has passed through the following. Each step is written down, so you can pick any lead and say what it passed and when.
- Phone verification by SMS, so the mobile is live and answered by the person on the form
- Duplicate checking against records already sent to you
- The PrimeProof finance screen, run against the answers and the data behind them
- The record itself: loan purpose, amount, employment type, property status, state and postcode, timing, and the consent record
What qualified does not mean
It does not mean approved. A broker or a lender decides that, with documents in hand. It does not mean the loan will settle, and it does not mean the person will pick up on the first ring. Our job is to keep the clear non starters off your calendar. The rest is still a sales conversation, and it is still yours.
Comparing qualified leads from two suppliers
Put the same four questions to both and compare the answers side by side. They apply to every lead type, from first home buyer leads to low doc home loan leads.
- Which fields were independently checked, and which were self reported?
- Was the phone verified, or typed into a form and left there?
- What did the finance check look at, and what did it skip?
- How is the record delivered, and how fast?
If a lead fails anyway
Some will. Invalid leads are reviewed within five business days, and confirmed invalid leads are replaced or credited. The price is a fixed cost per lead agreed up front, with no retainer and no lock in; the checks described here are one of the things that set what a mortgage lead costs. Every record is also one of our exclusive mortgage leads: it goes to you and to nobody else.