Mortgage Lead Scoring: How To Qualify Your Mortgage Leads

Loan Pipeline Management
Loan Pipeline Management

Mortgage Lead Scoring: How To Qualify Your Mortgage Leads

mortgage crm lead scoring

Mortgage Lead Scoring: How To Qualify Your Mortgage Leads

Consistently filling your pipeline with mortgage leads will keep you busy and may pave the way for your success. But, experienced mortgage professionals know that all leads are not created equal.

Systematically identifying quality mortgage leads and ranking them according to where they are in the sales process can help you and your sales team focus your efforts and close more deals. The following guide provides an overview of the mortgage lead scoring process and provides simple steps you can use to get started today.

mortgage crm lead scoring

What is Mortgage Lead Scoring?

Lead scoring is a process that allows you to rank prospects and mortgage leads based on the likelihood that they will convert into paying customers. A higher lead score means a greater chance of mortgage lead conversion in the near future.

By systematically identifying your highest-converting mortgage leads, you can ensure your top salespeople connect with them right away. Since today’s consumers are accustomed to instant gratification, this is a critical step in ensuring high-scoring leads don’t take their business to your competitors.

What Are the Benefits of Mortgage Lead Scoring?

With a pipeline of qualified mortgage leads and an accurate scoring system, you can feel confident that you and your team are consistently focusing your efforts on the actions most likely to lead to a closed deal. When implemented correctly, mortgage lending lead scoring processes will improve time management for your sales team. You can also use lead scoring to increase the ROI on your marketing efforts and create a higher and more consistent revenue stream for your company.

Mortgage lead scoring will help you close “hot prospects” faster, but it can also allow you to nurture prospects that aren’t quite ready to commit. Leads with a lower score may still be interested in taking out a mortgage loan but are more likely to be in the early stages of the sales funnel, where they’re still learning about their options and considering their needs.

These leads may eventually convert, but having a salesperson reach out too soon could backfire. Instead, you may consider adding them to an email marketing campaign to help answer their questions, address common objections, and build their trust. By doing so, you’ll increase the chances that they will reach out to you when they’re ready to make their move.

How to Create Your Mortgage Lead Scoring Criteria

While it’s clear that there’s significant value in scoring your mortgage leads, the process can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. Creating a simple “points” system will allow you to score your leads based on multiple attributes that help indicate their readiness to close.

Some of the factors you might consider while creating your points system include:

  • Demographics – is there a specific geographic location, age range, household income, or other common characteristics among leads that convert at a higher rate?
  • Financials – are you able to assess the lead’s credit score, credit history, debt, income, and/or cash assets on hand, and if so, are they likely to qualify for a loan?
  • Email engagement – if the lead has opted into your emails, what are their open and click-through rates?
  • Online behavior – has the lead interacted with your website? Have they downloaded content offers, completed an information form, or interacted with your loan calculators?
  • Social engagement – has the lead been interacting with your brand on social networks? Have they clicked through, liked, commented on, or shared your posts?
  • Spam leads – has the lead completed actions or filled out forms in ways that could indicate bots or spam? If so, you may want to deduct points for spam potential.

How to Create a Mortgage Lead Score

Once you’ve evaluated the criteria above, it’s time to calculate your mortgage lead score. This will require you to look back at your past sales numbers and use the information to make future predictions.

Step 1 – Calculate all of your leads’ lead-to-close conversion rates (also known as the pull-through rate).

To do this, divide the total number of loans that have been closed and funded by the lender by the total number of completed applications. Then, multiply your results by 100 to convert them to a percentage rate.

Step 2 – Analyze the attributes of your highest-quality leads and look for commonalities.

Some factors to consider may include the individual’s demographics, financial status, and/or whether they were pre-approved. During this step, you may also identify higher-converting mortgage lead sources, such as mortgage referrals from realtors or mortgage leads from Zillow.

Step 3 – Calculate the close rates of each identified attribute individually.

Some factors will be a stronger conversion indicator than others. Assessing each one individually will allow you to create a more accurate scoring system.

Step 4 – Compare the close rates of the individual attributes with your overall close rates and assign point values accordingly. 

Once you have completed this step, you will be able to begin testing your scoring system. You may find that you need to repeat the steps above several times to reach a satisfactory level of accuracy.

Classify Your Mortgage Leads into MQLs and SQLs

MQLs and SQLs are more than just mortgage lingo. These acronyms are also an essential part of your mortgage marketing strategy. If you’re not already familiar, a marketing-qualified lead (MQL) is a lead who has engaged with your company in some way and could become a customer if adequately nurtured. Generally, MQL leads will have a lower lead score.

A Sales-qualified lead (SQL) has been researched and vetted by your marketing team and deemed ready to speak to a sales representative. A high lead score moves a lead from being categorized as an MQL to a SQL. Properly identifying and classifying your leads helps ensure that your sales team is spending their time talking to the right people at the right time.

Automate Lead Capture & Management with Jungo’s Mortgage CRM

If the thought of doing all this research, scoring, and calculating makes your head spin, you’re not alone. The good news is that the right mortgage CRM system can automate your lead scoring and give you immediate access to critical information like lead behavior, demographics, credit scores, and more.

Collecting and scoring mortgage leads is just the beginning. It’s what you do with them that matters. Jungo’s mortgage CRM can improve your lead management, allow you to find high-quality qualified leads quickly, and organize your business sales team so you can consistently follow up in the right ways.

Let us show you how we can help your business make informed decisions and nurture your leads from initial interest to closing. Reach out to us today to schedule your personalized demo!