Kyle Beetle launched X5 Home Loans in January of 2020 after several years as a Loan Officer and Branch Manager for another company. As Broker and Owner of the company, Kyle has grown X5 Home Loans to a team of 9 people and is dominating the Portsmouth, NH market.
X5 has 120+ 5-star reviews on its Google Business page and is #1 in the Google Local Pack. When potential clients search for lending options in the area they find page after page of reviews attesting to positive experiences. X5 is set up to win the Zero Moment of Truth (when a potential client researches you and your competitors before deciding who to call.)
A leadpops Client From Day One
Kyle has been a leadpops client since he started, and we want to share some of his story and insights, and how leadpops delivers value to his growing business.
In this spotlight, Kyle shares with us how he’s succeeded with leadpops and the importance of:
• Online reputation management and business listing
• Ensuring all of your marketing works together
• Following up with every lead
• Realtor referral networks
• Optimizing every marketing channel to generate leads
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Where Do Kyle’s Clients Come From?
Kyle’s clients come from a variety of sources, and he continues to expand and diversify in a changing market. “Much of our business comes from referrals and our database of previous clients,” says Kyle.
“We have started to supplement that with online lead generation, which we’ve done through leadPops. We are doing that to be a better business partner to the real estate agents we work with and refer more business back in their direction.”
Winning The Reputation Battle
Whether potential clients come from a referral or online advertising, Kyle and his team know the importance of ensuring that their reputation convinces people to take the next step with X5.
“Online reputation is key to success in this industry. [Buying a home] is an important transaction, so people are going to look for social proof to ensure that they’re going to the right place,” explains Kyle.
“A lot of times people are recommended to us by a real estate agent. So before they reach out to us, they’re going to look us up and see the reviews that we have, see what our website looks like, and see if they feel comfortable working with us.”
This is where Kyle and X5 win The Zero Moment of Truth.
Where does Kyle focus his efforts for those reviews?
“We’ve focused on building Google reviews. Working with leadPops, we’ve focused on appearing in the top of the Local Pack results.” (Note: X5 is #1 in their Local Pack!)
When asked how an emphasis on reviews and online reputation affects the team, Kyle has this to say. “It’s been great to get all those reviews and it’s really satisfying for our team to see that as they come through.
“Basic human nature tells us that a large majority of our clients are looking at our reviews. So [reviews are] a great tool for us to point people to when they first get in contact with us.
“Maybe it’s an online lead that we just spoke with. We can send an email and say, ‘hey, check out our reviews, because you don’t just have to take our word for it. Here’s a bunch of other real people that have expressed positive opinions.’”
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Connecting The Dots: Marketing Tools That Work Together
Winning the battle to be found and establishing trust is the first step. Being able to capture leads from reviews and website visits is key to capitalizing on your reputation. That’s where Kyle’s leadpops ConversionPro Website sets him apart. He knows that everything works together to optimize his ability to create leads.
“Everything has to go in line together. So that’s where having a well-put-together and optimized website that leadpops has put together for us takes us to the next level,” says Kyle.
“We’ve used it since day one. Having everything cohesive between our social media pages, our Google page, and our website gives people the confidence that even though we’re a small company, we’re legitimate.”
Follow-Up: Turning Leads Into Clients
Kyle and his team are positioned to be found, win the reputation battle, and capture leads from visitors to their website, social media channels, and more. The next step is where his success and growth are truly made: following up with every lead.
“Follow-up is key, and it’s something that we’ve prioritized,” explains Kyle.
“We’ve built out a customized program for phone calls, text messages, and emails that clients will get, depending on their status and their level of intent.
“It takes resources to dedicate to that, particularly in an environment like this where you need to do more follow-up for fewer closings; we know that it’s worthwhile long term.”
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A Personal Touch
While X5 uses follow-up software to ensure that every lead is contacted, they also make sure that there is a personal touch.
“Having a team approach is beneficial. You can have the best software platform in the world, but if you have a lot of clients to follow up with and it’s just one person, you’re not going to be able to do it.
“And I’ve seen plenty of examples myself, where that lack of follow-up loses you transactions because you just ran out of contact with someone for too long.”
Following Up With Every Lead
We asked Kyle if he has a follow-up plan and process for every type of lead.
“Yes. Every lead does get some type of follow-up. We have a process that we’ve refined over time specific to the type of client.
“If they’re working on their credit because they don’t currently qualify, then we know they’re planning for a future purchase, but they’re not ready yet. If they’re pre-approved and searching for a home at that time, we’re in more contact.
“Different clients are going to want to hear from you in different cadences. And what we’ve found is that when you’re consistent in executing on the follow-up, that cadence was slower than I initially thought.
“At the start you think, ‘Okay, I’ll call people actively searching for a house once a week.’ And if you do that, after six weeks, a lot of those people are like, ‘Dude, why are you calling? Yeah, I’m still searching for a house.’
“That weekly call sounds like a good idea. But when you put it into execution it’s actually too much. So a lot of what we’ve done is to scale back the amount of follow-up to find a point where it’s not intrusive, but it’s appreciated.”
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Follow-Up Must Provide Value
“One thing that stood out to me a long time ago was someone making the point that as a salesperson, you want a relationship. But the customer is not looking for a relationship. Customers have family and friends and lots happening.
“We need to have valuable information and a reason to be in touch with people.
“We use HomeBot as a tool to really empower them financially. That’s something we can use as a reference with them that can be beneficial. And then we try to be creative with connecting.”
When asked what creative ways he’s connected with clients, Kyle offered this example:
“We sent out direct mail and email blasts offering a free pie to our clients around Thanksgiving. A small percentage, relative to our entire database, took us up on it. But a lot of people replied and appreciated it; it stood out as something different. And then a bunch of people actually did come and pick up a pie.
“I think those people are a lot more likely to come back to us. They have that feeling of goodwill – they picked up an apple pie and ate it with their family. So there’s a stronger connection by doing something creative.”
Building Strong Referral Networks
Not only does X5 provide value to clients in every step of their follow-up, they do the same with their real estate referral network. Kyle and his team have taken the leadpops approach of “Flipping The Script” to heart.
This means actively bringing new leads to real estate professionals and not waiting for referrals to come to them. X5 utilizes their leadpops Funnels to create leads that they share with their partners, delivering value and building strong and loyal relationships.
X5 also looks for new ways to stand out as a partner for all local Realtors®. “If a past client has had their credit pulled or they’ve listed their property for sale we try to reconnect with realtors. Those are things that help us and also help the real estate agents that we work with who are at the core of our business.”
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Diversifying The Lead Pipeline
While referrals are a core part of Kyle’s business, he knows that creating and sustaining a diverse source of leads is key to being able to adapt to market changes.
As part of Kyle’s leadpops Local Growth Bundle, X5 sees a steady stream of high-intent leads coming from the local Google ads that leadpops manages. These leads behave differently than a traditional referral lead. But with a solution to win leads with their sterling reputation and provide value in their follow-up, that part of the pipeline has become vital.
“With our Google Ads we’ve seen higher intent, even from fewer leads. That better supports what we’re aiming to do – it’s been a good match for us,” says Kyle.
“We’re seeing people that are searching for certain keywords and are a little further along in the process to a point where they are looking for the guidance we can provide.”
As for the process of closing leads from Google Ads versus a referral:
“It’s a longer timeframe for an online lead coming through search, typically, than someone coming from a realtor. Usually, someone speaking with a realtor is ready to actually start looking at houses.
“But the challenge of getting them under contract is the same regardless of where they initially came from. That means we need to really be diligent with our follow-up systems. And we need to have realistic expectations for the time it will take to convert into a closed loan.
“You’re not going to see the same closing ratio from ads in the beginning of any lead generation process. So we’re measuring it more based on how many people we are connecting with and how many applications we are taking; we know that that’s going to drive closings down the road.”
Setting Realistic Expectations
Setting realistic expectations for each type of lead is key for Kyle to assess and measure the various leads in his pipeline. Once the process is moving it is easier to build a model and forecast how those leads will grow business over time.
“I would expect you’d see the first loan closings [from search ads] somewhere around four to six months from their start. You have to factor in the timeframe to get pre-approved, to search for a house, and to get under contract. So that’s kind of our expectation.”
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Everything Is Optimized To Convert
Kyle has been a leadpops client since he started X5, and we’re always excited to hear from him and what he’s learning. We asked why he continues to use our solutions.
“There are several things that leadpops does that I was initially attracted to, and those things have been delivered on, which is why I’m still a customer.
“The website design looks really modern, and the ability to make some custom changes makes it something that represents our company – that was appealing.
“Beyond that, the focus on the Funnels and converting traffic into action.
“I think leadpops is spot-on with the approach of needing to actually convert that eyeball into something more tangible that we can take action on. So the fact that that is built in from the beginning is appealing.
“I knew that we could build off of that, which we have. We’ve been doing more to drive people to those Funnels and convert that traffic.
Premiere Customer Service
“And the customer service throughout has been solid, which I think is important. I think it’s an area where a lot of times with other companies it can be pretty terrible – you’re clicking to ask for support and you’re not hearing back for a really long period of time.
“The quality of your client service is something that has kept our relationship strong.”
Next Step: See How Your Marketing Measures Up
To learn more about how leadpops can help you grow your business like we have with Kyle, schedule a FREE Digital Marketing Assessment.
We’ll review your current online presence and the tools you use to get found, win the reputation battle, and convert eyeballs into leads that you can turn into closed loans.
