[aak723]

Hey guys:

For those of you that buy from lead sources, what are you guys averaging as per your cost of deal? We're right around 6.2 - 6.5% as far as a conversion/close rate with a few lead providers and I'm wondering if we're not hitting the phones hard enough or don't have the right processes in place.

For those of you that regularly do more than 25+ MCA/ACH deals per month, what are some of your experiences? PM me. I am happy to have a private dialogue where we can help each other fine tune our systems.

Thanks!

[Triton]

I'd be interested in seeing these numbers as well.

Would you mind if you guys kept the conversation on the forum so others can chime in as opposed to private messaging?

[aak723]

If enough reply, and I don't know who will, I'll go ahead and create a private forum.

[Zach]

Hey guys:

For those of you that buy from lead sources, what are you guys averaging as per your cost of deal? We're right around 6.2 - 6.5% as far as a conversion/close rate with a few lead providers and I'm wondering if we're not hitting the phones hard enough or don't have the right processes in place.

For those of you that regularly do more than 25+ MCA/ACH deals per month, what are some of your experiences? PM me. I am happy to have a private dialogue where we can help each other fine tune our systems.

Thanks!

I've found that purchasing leads is a tough road to go down. Generating your own through processes like cold-calling, mailers, radio, and PPC is the most efficient and effective method. Right now you are competing with every other company that has bought those exact same leads.

Buying aged lead databases and throwing it into Five9 or some other dialer is what everyone is doing right now. Hell, I've done it myself for a long time. There are definitely pros and cons to that type of data.

PROS:
Gain access to thousands of records of merchants who, at some point, inquired about financing
Get a mass email list from day 1
Clients have probably been exposed to the MCA product and desensitized to the cost

CONS:
These clients get several calls every day already
They likely have done their shopping and received many offers, many of which had little to no commission
The ones that are interested are likely to be unqualified

[aredmond]

Hey guys:

For those of you that buy from lead sources, what are you guys averaging as per your cost of deal? We're right around 6.2 - 6.5% as far as a conversion/close rate with a few lead providers and I'm wondering if we're not hitting the phones hard enough or don't have the right processes in place.

For those of you that regularly do more than 25+ MCA/ACH deals per month, what are some of your experiences? PM me. I am happy to have a private dialogue where we can help each other fine tune our systems.

Thanks!

Everyone tries to break down the numbers when it comes to leads and profitability. However it is very simple to understand the profitability of a lead source. Only one number truly matters, "cost per customer acquisition". In other words, when you add in fix costs, marketing spend, and employee salary/commission. How much did it cost to acquire that customer. If your average gross commission is higher then your cost of customer acquisition then you are profitable. Then take it step farther with lead sources. If you are using multiple sources for data, count up how many deals were funded through each source and how much you spent on each source that month. You will be able to get a cost of customer acquisition for each source. The lower the cost of customer acquisition, the better the source. Now one month is not enough data to judge on but 4-6 months will be.

[TheLeadsArentWeak]

Now one month is not enough data to judge on but 4-6 months will be.

Got to agree. It's aggravating when a customer wants a 100 record test file thinking that will paint the big picture. Also agreed on the CPA. That's what counts not the CPL.

[cujosdog]

Hmm CPA is not everything.. I prefer ROA in these cases.

[Karen37a]

I agree with Zach and I am a Dinosaur.. I do not use five9.

The conversion/close rate is going to vary greatly depending on the individual who is doing the conversion and the person who is doing the closing. (Sales and closing ability.)I am killing myself retraining guys who have been in the MCA industry for 1-2 years who call people on the phone and say "hi would you like another merchant cash advance ?" take me off your list ...fine.Then they complain...these leads suck.

Also in regards to the 100 test leads . I will never buy leads from someone ever , with out having a few test leads; and i always promise to dial them myself. If you don't give them, I am not buying. While I cant tell what is a true conversion/close ratio off of the leads from so few dials or connects.What I can tell is if you gave me people who never had nor was never interested in a Cash Advance, or people who applied for a credit card..personal not business or if the Lead broker thinks its a "trigger" because the merchant is now 1 year in business. Or all disconnects.
Even if you give me a "fantasy good batch" of 100 leads, doesn't mean you are not going to zonk me on the second order.So next order is the smallest order available....Ive met a few good lead brokers on here but my gosh, some of the lead brokers make the mean-backdooring merchant cash advance brokers look tame.

[MCNetwork]

I am killing myself retraining guys who have been in the MCA industry for 1-2 years who call people on the phone and say "hi would you like another merchant cash advance ?" take me off your list ...fine.Then they complain...these leads suck.

100% agree. Until not too long ago I was also using this approach but then my fingers got carpal tunnel syndrome from putting people on the DNC list. Nowadays you have to take a very soft, kid gloves approach and not ask if they're looking for capital until the 2nd or 3rd phone call. You need to be patient and not try to jump in bed with the merchant on the first date...

[LeadForensicsGuy]

I've found that purchasing leads is a tough road to go down. Generating your own through processes like cold-calling, mailers, radio, and PPC is the most efficient and effective method. Right now you are competing with every other company that has bought those exact same leads.

Buying aged lead databases and throwing it into Five9 or some other dialer is what everyone is doing right now. Hell, I've done it myself for a long time. There are definitely pros and cons to that type of data.

PROS:
Gain access to thousands of records of merchants who, at some point, inquired about financing
Get a mass email list from day 1
Clients have probably been exposed to the MCA product and desensitized to the cost

CONS:
These clients get several calls every day already
They likely have done their shopping and received many offers, many of which had little to no commission
The ones that are interested are likely to be unqualified

I know this is a bit older thread but I want to piggy back on what Zach said. I have been on both sides of the fence. I feel i could be the best ambassador on this subject. I once was in the industry for years cold calling for an ISO and now I am on the Lead Generation side of things and have been working in B2B Lead Generation for years . The best bang for your buck will be in this order.

#1 Cold Calling: When you pick up the phone and cold call it cost you nothing, But when you do close someone. that's all profit.
Now if you hire someone I would assume you would do your due diligence to hire someone who is OK with making pennies when you make thousands. LOL!! why I got out the game

#2 PPC:. Now this one can be a bit tricky. takes some skill you can't just go buy traffic and expect for it to convert. However if you get the formula down right. the sky is the limit.
Let me explain. if you have a keyword that cost lets say. $2.50 per click and you land a $20K MCA . I mean that's huge depending on what your factor rate is and whatever your lender
is paying as far as bonuses ( I don't even know if lenders do volume bonuses anymore) But Nevertheless the return is huge however you have to be careful because you can loos your shirt by paying for traffic that doesn't convert. I actually have a really cool success story I received from a Client last month I think I will share it in a separate post. Don't want to hijack your post my man.

#3 Email Marketing: Email marketing is great because you have direct access to the potential clients and you can market to them at the push of a button. The biggest problem with that is some don't have a huge email list to start with. The best secret I think I learned in the business was buying SOLO Ads. Those work awesome and you can get a good solid targeted email list with a good open rate if you do it correctly. and the cost for solo ads are kind of minimal depending own where you get it from. a few hundred dollars at most. Its really cool when you do email marketing.the right way the challenge in that is making sure you get the persons correct information. I did a post last week about how A client converted a "lying Borrow" into a nice prospect for some Equipment financing. I won't
go into it in detail. I will just post the link to it. Click here --> http://dailyfunder.com/showthread.ph...Check-this-out


In my humble opinion those are the top 3 most profitable ways to close more deals. But what makes these even more successful is being able to convert these leads that you generate on
high ..HIGH.. levels. being able to capture the information form a prospect from a PPC even if they don't opt in right away. or being able to capture all the contact information from someone you cold
called even if you never spoke to them or thy left you a message or being able to see what exact product or service your prospect is interested in after thy open your email even if they don't
respond, or reach out.


But if you guys have any questions about the subject just shoot me a PM or chime in under one of my post. Good luck to you.

[Karen37a]

Forensic ..Who is "pming" you on the subject?? lol

How many sales did you close last month? Why were you cold calling for an ISO and never made it past cold caller and never became an Iso yourself ? Because you were great at marketing?

You said "If you guys have questions on the subject" . Why would people who know more than you on a subject and have had and have more success than you come to you for advice?

You are not a good salesperson, you should have said "if anyone would like to discuss this further", semantics.

Bottom line

Your # 2 and # 3 suggestion doesn't work. You can not email people and have them respond to get a merchant cash advance loan on any type of volume basis, if you could the big Lenders would do email campaigns and we wouldn't get paid.

Another thing..cold callers are just that ...cold callers, they get paid what they are worth.If they hone their skills they make it up the ladder or they quit. I have people in my organization that get way more than their fair share of the commission, in fact I am the one being shorted because I try to help and coach them...most are never going to make it no matter what I do, and its not because I am cheating them or paying them pennies.