There's something almost magical about the system: you sign up with a mortgage leads generation company, and they periodically produce a list of potential borrowers for you to follow up with. You question how they come up with those names, and how does that affect your success rate. In reality, there's nothing magical about it. Most companies use either website forms or mortgage leads telemarketing in order to generate their leads. Both methods are not created equal, though. The method your lead generation company uses can directly affect the success of the leads they give you.

Most consumers have heard of sites like LowerMyBills.com and LendingTree.com. These services are actually lead generation companies. They provide their clients with the names of potential customers. They are also perfect examples of the most common way that these companies generate their leads: with forms that users fill out online.

Online forms may seem like a fantastic idea. After all, they provide a quick and easy way of getting a lead, not to mention permission to solicit your services to a potential customer. However, these attributes of the Internet, that it's quick and easy, are exactly why online forms are not the best way to generate leads.

To illustrate the point, let us ask how many times have you filled out a website form just to see what the company might have to offer. Or requested information on something that you were merely considering, perhaps not even that seriously. Because getting information on the Internet is fast, easy, and relatively anonymous, it also requires no real level of commitment. In other words, a great many "leads" gathered by website forms may be dead ends. Internet users who were simply curious, or who hadn't thought the matter through and later changed their minds fill in these online forms.

Another problem with leads gathered via website forms is the lack of information required to fill out the form. Most lead generation sites ask for very little information. Their way of thinking is that the easier it is to fill out the form, the more users will complete it, and the more leads they will have to sell. But to the companies purchasing these leads, the opposite is true: the less information is requested, the less the user has invested, and the less likely the lead will be successful.

Most of these lead generation companies would argue quantity over quality, and it is true that they have a distinct advantage with companies who prefer more leads. Generating leads via online forms is as fast and easy for them as it is for their users. However, for mortgage companies who prefer success over a large number of leads, there is a better way.

With the advent of the Internet, most companies consider telemarketing to be archaic. Even so, almost everyone can think of at least one example where the "old way" is still better than anything modern technology can offer. The same is true with mortgage leads from telemarketing. While other lead generation companies are accumulating hundreds of thousands of dead-end leads online, a few companies have rediscovered the power of a personal telephone call.

Mortgage leads telemarketing requires something that no online form can: a significant commitment of time and information. Whereas being faced with nothing but a computer screen at 3:00 AM distances the user from the product, communicating with a live person keeps the consumer in the loop, so to speak. Fewer uninterested or vaguely interested consumers will be willing to have that conversation.

Another advantage of mortgage leads telemarketing is that it allows for more personal, in-depth information gathering. No matter how well programmed, a computer can never substitute for the intuition of a live person. Also, many people feel uneasy about giving out sensitive information over the Internet, requiring that online forms leave out the questions most crucial to the leads-gathering process. On the other hand, a live phone conversation allows the telemarketer to spend more time with the consumer, making him or her comfortable and gathering the information needed to ensure a successful lead.

In order to get the most out of your leads, you need to decide which is more important for you: quantity or quality. If you prefer getting as many leads as possible in the hopes of securing a certain percentage of them as borrowers, a company that gathers leads via an online form is probably best for you. However, if you want to spend your time on fewer leads that offer a higher success rate, you'll want to look for a company that offers mortgage leads via telemarketing. With your own unique needs in mind, you'll have a better chance of finding a leads generation service that works for you.