Attention: Brokers, Sales Managers and CAMs

[loudog]

If you are a broker, sales manager or CAM (or even if you are not), I would like to run something by you to get your opinion on the most effective way to handle a specific on-line lead management policy we have here in our office. I won't tell you what my opinion is and will do my best to present the policy without interjecting the way I think it should be.

Our System

We have, as most of you do, a lead management system that assigns web leads to agents on a rotational basis. The rotation consists only of agents that have been trained on the system and willing to do a minimum set of tasks that we as a company require to manage each lead.

What We Require

At a minimum, we require agents to do the following with each lead;

1. Upon assignment of the lead, accept and contact customer within 1 hour
2. Leave notes of the interaction
3. Set an assessment level for each customer

Of course we have several other follow up steps and strategies that agents can implement to increase the likelihood of lead conversion, but at the bare minimum, we require these three things in order for the agent to stay on the rotation and continue to get web leads.

The Policy Was . . .

If an agent was unable to preform at least these 3 tasks, we would remove the agent from the rotation, setup a meeting with the agent to discuss the reason why the requirements could not be met and return them to rotation if the matter could be resolved.

The New Policy . . .

The new policy is almost the same except instead of removing the agent from rotation at the failure of meeting the requirements, we KEEP the agent in the rotation (keep giving them leads), setup a meeting with the agent and THEN decide whether the agent should be removed from rotation.

Please Chime In

You read this far, so please tell me which of the policies you think to be best and explain why.

[Dallas Broker]

seems like a great system to have in place. I might change req. on contact to 20-30 minutes. It is essential to reach online leads within minutes of inquiry otherwise they are on to the next site that offers them instant gratification and an immediate response.

[loudog]

We are trying to get to 20-30 minutes, we shave the time down periodically.

Which of the versions of the new policy do you think is right. If an agent is unwilling to do what is required, do we stop the leads until we figure it out or do we keep the leads going to the agent while trying to figure out the problem?

[Dallas Broker]

i would immediately take agent off rotation until meeting to discuss reasons. Agents need to understand capital involved in generating leads and importance of timeframe in contacting.

I think step 1 and 2 carry most importance, you might move assessment requirement off until initial meeting when they can provide you with best feedback.

[EFS Webmaster]

how can agents commit to a 20 minute (much less a 1 hour) contact timeframe?

I would think that good agents would be 'in the field' / with clients frequently (vs. sitting in the office or at their PC waiting to receive a lead).

[OCTeam]

The old policy is clear. Do it our way or you're out.

The new policy leaves it up to a subjective decision that may be viewed on as playing favorites. In essence, if you convince me and I like you, you can stay in rotation. There may or may not be a penalty depending who you are.

So it is clear what the consequence is for breaking the policy, how about adding without exception:
1st offense, a 2-week ban from rotation.
2nd offense, a 30-day ban.
3rd strike, you're out and benched.

If these leads are typical of the Pru leads I have seen, you may not have many that even want the leads based on the time and reporting commitment. Almost no one in our office wants them based on the rules they must adhere to.

[Dallas Broker]

how can agents commit to a 20 minute (much less a 1 hour) contact timeframe?

I would think that good agents would be 'in the field' / with clients frequently (vs. sitting in the office or at their PC waiting to receive a lead).

either spend a day in office taking leads and setting up appts for week or take a laptop/pda with you and logon between appts

[SLP-NYCT]

how can agents commit to a 20 minute (much less a 1 hour) contact timeframe?

I would think that good agents would be 'in the field' / with clients frequently (vs. sitting in the office or at their PC waiting to receive a lead).

Are you serious??? Cell Phones, PDA's, Call Forwarding, E-mail Forwarding! If you are not embracing any one of these let alone all...You are in the wrong business!

Great Agents already know the importance of Instant Communication. I can't wait to start getting my e-mail on my In Car Nav system and be able to do a VR reply. (A guy can dream )

My vote is on the Old Rule. It's Clear and easy to impliment. Subjective Punishment is unclear and causes bad blood.

By the way, this is the same policy the CBRB had years ago, only if you did not pick up and reply to the message (which was converted to a voice message directed to your cell phone) with in 30 minutes, It was reassigned automatically.

[DenaDavis]

Kick them off the rotation. These leads cost too much money to the owners of the company to let an agent who is not going to follow up as required keep getting them.

Otherwise why net just let eveyone do thier own thing.

We handle it this way-- instead of a rotation. We assign leads by appointed time. We have a smaller team -- a 2 person buyer rep team -- so its odd days and even days. That makes it easy.

As the team expands we will mix up days of the month. But you could also calender out 1/2 days.

IF you dont do it this way-- then how can the agent get to the lead witin 30 minutes? They have appointments. etc. If you do it our way -- then the agent is in front of the computer when the lead comes in.

I have a question-- what CRM system do you use to track the lead? That is where we have issues.

What to do with the lead once it is in the systems? Do you drip on them though an organized drip campaign? Is every agent working thier own program with the lead. etc.


Good post

[loudog]

WOW, I must have missed the email on the first comment. Thank you so much for all the feedback.

@EFS Webmaster and Larry

Our system actually texts the agent's cell phone as soon as the lead is assigned. If they are in the field, they will call in and have it reassigned or let it lag. Moving the time to 20 minutes actually makes consideration of agents in the field, if that agent can't take it, the customer shouldn't have to wait more than 20 minutes to be serviced.

Quick note about texting: The frequency used to transmit a text message is much lower than that of a cell phone call. Therefore, the likelihood of the agent receiving a text message is much higher (that's why doctors still wear pagers). Some cell phones offer the option of paging a subscriber in addition to leaving a message for exactly that reason.

Good comments all of you!