Lead Liaison

QuestSoft Triples Clickthrough Rates & Improves Website Engagement with Lead Liaison

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Logo_QuestSoftALLEN, TX – Mortgage lending compliance software company QuestSoft recently spoke about their success using Lead Liaison.

QuestSoft is the nation’s leading provider of automated mortgage compliance software. The company’s solutions help more than 2,200 mortgage lenders simplify and speed the collection, analysis, compilation and reporting of key lending regulatory report data. QuestSoft is known as a profitable, highly innovative company that has won more than 20 awards in the past four years, including being named a Top Workplace by a prominent local paper, the Orange County Register, for three of the past four years. QuestSoft has also been recognized with outstanding service awards from leading industry publications, such as HousingWire’s 2016 HW Vanguard Award, Mortgage Professional America 2016 Hot 100 Listing and PROGRESS In Lending’s 2017 Innovation Award. In addition, QuestSoft has been listed as the 12th best small business to work for in Orange County, along with a recent award highlighting the company as one of the Top 50 workplaces nationwide for women in the mortgage industry to work.

The main reason QuestSoft chose Lead Liaison for their marketing automation needs is because they provide everything from visitor tracking to marketing automation, and even a free CRM – all in one place. The balance between that, the customer service, and the price made it an easy choice.

Originally, QuestSoft wanted to focus on email campaigns and monitor website engagement. They were very interested in watching who was visiting their website in real time. Specifically, they wanted to know which pages were most interesting to their website visitors. “You make certain assumptions about where [visitors] go after the homepage,” says Scott Mortenson, Director of Marketing at QuestSoft. “We thought we knew, and as it turns out we were spot on. It really helps us understand what people are most interested in.

What’s even more noteworthy is the company’s increase in email open and clickthrough rates. Lead Liaison can do much more than just monitor website activity and engagement. QuestSoft needed a platform to execute all of their marketing initiatives. “We tested some emails and they did quite well, then we tested a few others and they failed. We went back to the original formula and we’ve been watching it grow with each campaign. Being able to have those numbers – those statistics – has been invaluable,” says Mortenson. With a professional, easy-to-use platform, Mortenson’s team was able to build communication that had a consistent message, consistent graphics and consistent value. They saw the numbers start to climb.

QuestSoft is also utilizing another popular feature of Lead Liaison, Tracking URLs. They created a unique URL that they placed into advertisements. They are now able to track those ads, whereas before they were blindly sending people to a webpage without knowing if a lead was generated from this link. Tracking URLs gives QuestSoft the ability to measure the impact of their advertising dollars.

QuestSoft will be attending a conference in Florida in the coming weeks, and they are focusing a nurture campaign geared towards their trade show audience. They have a list of expected attendees, and their goal is to drive traffic to their website leading up to the event, as well as increase traffic to their booth. They’re confident they can drive website activity with strong email campaign performance produced from Lead Liaison. Before using Lead Liaison, they saw email open rates of about 10%. Since implementing Lead Liaison, they have seen email open rates increase to 18%. In addition, they have tripled their average click-through rates in the last six months, seeing recent click-throughs as high as 10%. Average CTRs in the technology industry are closer to 2.5%, making this a significant achievement. Marketing with Lead Liaison has resulted in increased appointments at their trade show booth. They expect nothing but the same for their upcoming event in Florida.

QuestSoft’s use of Lead Liaison’s Lead Management Automation (LMA)™ has provided relief for the company, because they no longer have to fret over tedious tasks. They are now able to use that time to focus on building their programs and campaigns, brainstorming with their team, and increasing revenue.

About QuestSoft

Laguna Hills, Calif.-based QuestSoft is a leading provider of comprehensive compliance software and services for the mortgage, banking and credit union industries. QuestSoft combines 20+ years of mortgage regulatory, CRA and Fair Lending compliance analytics, data management and software design expertise with best-in-class customer service to consistently improve client compliance accuracy and facilitate smoother regulatory audits. QuestSoft products, interfaced with over 40 LOS providers, enable more than 2,200 clients to simplify and speed the collection, analysis, compilation and reporting of key lending regulatory report data. For more information, call 800-575-4632, ext 1, or visit www.questsoft.com.

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that helps businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of marketing automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and additional website engagement tools to boost sales effectiveness. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible business model, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality, all specifically tailored for mid-sized businesses, into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Allen, Texas, near Dallas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237).

Lead Liaison

How to Qualify Opportunities with Lead Scoring

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Lead ScoreAll businesses need leads, but one of the primary problems is the pressure to generate qualified leads and route the right ones to sales. Perhaps your inbound marketing strategy has helped generate a database full of leads, through varying campaigns. You have a bevy of potential customers interested in your products or services, but are they ready to make a purchase?

It is certainly obvious that not all of your new leads are a the same stage in the buying process. Some will need convincing to move over to the next level. The best way to meet these leads with relevant and appropriate messaging is through lead scoring. This is a technique of segmentation to ensure you send a message that truly interests each lead.

Don’t qualify leads manually

You can’t judge new leads based on a gut method or hit-and-miss. Otherwise, sales and marketing would be quite frustrated. Not to mention, this method is highly unreliable. The reason why manual processes are set up for failure is because humans eventually make mistakes.

If you’re sorting through a large list of mixed-quality leads, you can quickly feel exhausted and demotivated. Soon, you find yourself making snap judgements as you run out of time. What happens is you risk overlooking many leads that might have made a purchase if someone was there to give the lead attention.

In addition, manual lead qualification usually accounts for leads that may be ready to buy in a few months. If a salesperson gets the impression that a lead is disinterested, they might throw that lead a way. Yet, if the lead was nurtured for a few months, they might end up making a large purchase.

Start with marketing automation

In order to quickly and efficiently process leads, you need to deploy marketing automation. This way, you can scale campaigns through a lead scoring model. Moreover, you can integrate your campaigns with your inbound efforts. Marketing automation helps to eliminate human error. You can also use marketing automation to qualify leads based on their online behavior. Of course, it is important to develop a successful lead scoring model.

Think of how you attract leads

What does the marketing department do to attract leads? Online advertising? Social media? Webinars? Blogs? All of the above and more? How can you tell when a lead is ready to purchase? Have they visited your pricing page more than once and watched an in-depth demo? Now think of a lead who is in the researching stage; perhaps they’ve downloaded a webinar two weeks ago.

On a scale of 1-100, how would you score each of those leads? Which lead would you spend the most time with? What types of messaging would you send each lead? This is the basis of lead scoring. You assign a number to a lead based on the types of actions they have taken in terms of buying from your company. A lead that has watched a webinar, downloaded an eBook and looked at your pricing page might be sales ready.

On the other hand, a lead that has opened an email and browsed your site may be ready in a few months if nurtured properly. Your marketing automation tool can assign a score based on prospects’ behaviors and assign numbers based on the parameters you set. Then, leads can be automatically routed to sales when they are close to making a purchase.

Setting up your lead scoring system

You want to formulate your company’s scoring system by having marketing and sales work together. When you set up a scoring system, it would be similar to adding rules. You can also add as many parameters as you like. In fact, the more rules you set up, the smarter your automation system will be. The objective is to set rules that specify a behavior and award a positive or negative number. When a lead takes this specific action, he or she is awarded points or they are deducted. Some rules might include:

  • Email clickthrough
  • Facebook ad clicks
  • Price page visit
  • Downloaded eBook
  • Viewed webinar
  • Twitter clicks
  • LinkedIn click
  • Blog click
  • Phone call
  • Requested information

Then what?

Once leads are rated, targeted marketing techniques can be applied. Also, each lead can be cultivated more accurately. A lead with a lower score might feel overwhelmed if you schedule a one-hour online demo. In contrast, a sales-ready lead would appreciate an in-depth online demo. Yet, you won’t know their level of interest without lead scoring.

Learn as you go

Lead scoring and nurturing takes time and practice to nail down. Although, keep in mind that the wrong message at the wrong time can ruin what could have been a successful conversion. You don’t want your sales team contacting leads who have not shown much interest in your product.

Instead of selling to them right away, nurture leads by educating and leading them through your conversion funnel. Sales should only be involved when their score says they are ready. Sometimes, a lead may disappear for a few months then suddenly pop back in at a different stage. Lead scoring can help you keep a handle on how inclined they have been to buy over the past few months.

Interested in gearing up for Lead Scoring? Request a personalized demonstration, and we’ll show you that capability of our software, plus so much more!

Author Bio

Katrina Manning is a content marketing specialist who has penned thousands of articles on business, tech, lifestyle and digital marketing for a wide variety of global B2B clients. She mostly writes for Leadpath.com  and she is also the author of three books and is currently working on her fourth. In her free time, she enjoys fundraising for charitable causes, playing with her cat and baking.

Lead Liaison

Tools of the Trade: Screencast-O-Matic

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In the busy world we live in, we all have our secrets to being more productive and more organized. Technology lends itself to creating more solutions. Lead Liaison is one of those solutions, and we have clients all over the globe that agree! But we didn’t get here by using outdated resources. Here at Lead Liaison, we’ve got several “tools of the trade” that help us be the best that we can be. In this series, we will talk about some of the tools that we use to be more effective in our day. In today’s post, we’ll talk about Screencast-O-Matic.

Screencast-O-Matic 1

What is Screencast-O-Matic?

Screencast-O-Matic is a simple screen recorder for Windows and Mac. It allows users to easily record, upload, and share recordings strait from their desktop or laptop. Screencast-O-Matic can be used for video tutorials, support-related videos, and more. This tool is used by businesses, educators, and gamers. Their free version allows up to 15 minutes of recording, which is plenty of time for a quick “how-to” video. Their Pro version offers longer recording limits, the ability to record your computer audio (in addition to your audio input), and editing tools.

Features

Screencast-O-Matic is really easy to operate. It’s got a simple interface that isn’t cluttered with excessive features. Once you’ve downloaded it to your computer, hit “Record” to record your screen, webcam, or both. The application collects audio, as well. While recording, you can draw on your screen, zoom, and add objects (like an arrow). Once you are finished recording, you will be prompted to rename it, make it searchable to others, and upload/save it.

The final recording can be uploaded to Screencast-O-Matic.com, YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, or just saved as a video file on your computer. If you choose to upload your recording to Screencast-O-Matic.com, you are provided a link. When someone else clicks that link, an internet browser tab containing only that video opens on their computer.

How Do We Use It?

Here at Lead Liaison, we use this tool a LOT. I’m not even on the Support Team, and I use it at least once a day. I’m not very good at explaining things, or giving direction, so I rely on Screencast-O-Matic to communicate simple instructions that would otherwise be botched in translation. Being a company that specializes in SaaS, we are often asked to help a customer (sometimes across the world) complete a task in our software. Rather than type out the step-by-step instructions, or schedule a GoToMeeting when both parties are available, I am able to record a short video instead. It takes less time on my part, translates better for our customer, and is more convenient for everyone.

Cost

The company offers a free version that has a few limitations, but it’s worth a try. There is an option to upgrade. Their Pro version is $15/year or $29/3 years (that’s one year free!). The Pro version is so reasonably priced that any business would be amiss not to add this to their toolbox.

 

Lead Liaison

Data is More Secure Than Ever with Lead Liaison’s Participation in the Privacy Shield

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Lead LiaisonAllen, TX – Sales and marketing software firm, Lead Liaison, solidifies inclusion in EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks to increase data security for international clients.

The Privacy Shield Framework complies with European Union and Swiss data protection requirements when transferring personal data in and out of the United States. In order to comply, US-based organizations must certify themselves with the Department of Commerce, as well as publicly commit to comply with the Privacy Shield Program’s requirements. Once this public commitment has been made, it becomes enforceable under US law, under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

The Department of Commerce released this Fact Sheet, which covers the protections provided and how the program works.

This is important for Lead Liaison’s international clients because the Privacy Shield replaces the European Union’s Safe Harbor Decision, which asserted that the US provide adequate privacy protections to meet EU’s standards. This accomplishment demonstrates that Lead Liaison cares greatly about their clients, and that their clients’ privacy is a high priority.

Lead Liaison’s business in Europe is growing at an all-time high. It was a necessary step to help protect European customers and further increase their confidence in Lead Liaison’s ability to manage their important sales and marketing data.

Jen Worsham, Director of Client Relations, said this about the compliance, “We understand that Europe is a fast-growing market for our company and respect that EU businesses must adhere to strict standards. We are working together to manage data in the safest manner possible.”

Lead Liaison has updated their Privacy Policy, found at http://www.leadliaison.com/about/privacy-policy/, to reflect participation in the Privacy Shield Frameworks.

About the Privacy Shield Agreement Model

The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission and Swiss Administration to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce.

About Lead Liaison
Lead Liaison provides cloud-based sales and marketing automation solutions that helps businesses accelerate revenue by attracting, converting, closing and retaining more prospects. Filling a void in the small pool of marketing automation providers that focus on marketing-centric functionality, Lead Liaison gives equal focus to sales providing sophisticated visitor tracking and additional website engagement tools to boost sales effectiveness. Lead Liaison blends ease-of-use, a flexible business model, deep external integration, marketing across social, web, mobile, email and offline channels and powerful functionality, all specifically tailored for mid-sized businesses, into a single platform, called Revenue Generation Software®. Lead Liaison is headquartered in Allen, Texas, near Dallas. For more information, visit http://www.leadliaison.com or call 1-800-89-LEADS (895-3237).

Lead Liaison

How to Get Through the Gatekeeper & Raise Brand Awareness Using Marketing Automation

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envelope-1803662_1920Sometimes the easiest way to not only get through the gatekeeper, but to get your prospect’s attention is to deliver the “WOW” factor. See, most gatekeepers see the same emails. They get the same phone calls. You are just one of many, and most are boring.

If you were in their position, what would happen if you received something super personal? Well, I can tell you that almost every FedEx package is opened. Likewise, hand-written notes also receive special attention. They show the recipient that the sender has taken a specific interest and investment in making a contact. When Lead Liaison added the ability to send hand-written notes, many of our clients began to report instant success in reaching audiences that previously ignored them. Success rates went through the roof where competitive environments existed.

Think about it: “Thank you” emails have become so ubiquitous that many people have stopped sending them all together. However, a physical note sits on a desk for hours…days…even weeks! It makes a physical impression, and raises brand awareness, which leads to the one thing you need most in your sale: trust. They’re thinking, “Hey, it’s a real person that cares about my business!”

Unfortunately, legacy Marketing Automation platforms think in solely digital terms and have become email dinosaurs. If you are not already thinking outside of email with your automation strategy, I would highly encourage you to look at an advanced system like Lead Liaison in order to grow some ideas on how you can improve your sell-through rates.

Read more about Lead Liaison’s Handwritten Letter feature here. Request a personal, one-on-one demonstration of this feature and many others here.

Ryan Schefke

Make Sure Your Marketing Agency Has Options

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Marketing Agencies Need OptionsI work for Lead Liaison as a solutions specialist. I travel with our sales team on occasion to conduct trainings and have deeper level discussions with clients. On one of my trips, something caught my eye. I’m not quite an HVAC expert, but I’m familiar with the big name brands that are out there after owning a few homes and having HVAC units in my own house. You learn a lot when you have to foot those thousand dollar bills to repair air conditioners ;-). As I entered a parking lot after my meeting, I noticed two large commercial HVAC units, from two different and respectable brands, Trane and York.

In my mind, I liken this to a marketing agency – don’t ask me why I thought of this! HubSpot is a software platform that marketing agencies often buy. It’s a good brand name, and companies are buying it just because of the name. The reality is, just like the HVAC units, that not one size fits all. That there’s room for more than one solution, as each serves it’s purpose. With the AC units, the York might have cost less, had more functionality in a certain area, had better support – every situation is unique, but in this case, there’s a reason they didn’t buy a second Trane and put the two together. Of course I’m a bit biased here, but marketing agencies can benefit from having both solutions to present to their clients. After all, it’s what is best for the client that matters.

There are many differences between HubSpot and Lead Liaison. Feature set, price, support, approach, and more. The experience is totally different with each. Public company vs. private company. I certainly would never bash HubSpot, they’re creating great excitement and buzz in the marketplace. We fully believe in our platform and it’s ability to help agencies and clients. We win many of our deals vs. HubSpot, but also know our benefit and fit in the market.

As an agency, don’t put all of your eggs into one basket. Make sure you can offer your clients different options. Let them make the decision, but highlight to them the differences between the two offerings. Find the best fit for their company based on their needs. Don’t force a solution down their throat because you make the most money off of it or want to maintain your partnership status. Have options, don’t think selfishly, think about the buyer and what’s best for them – don’t close the door on anything.

If you’re an agency and want to hear more about how we work with agencies and what options you have to complement your current offerings, we’re ready to talk. A qualified partner representative would love to hear from you! Request a demonstration today.