• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 17, 2012

Individuals with "very poor" credit are almost three times more likely to sign up for an insurance policy than those with "excellent" credit, according to a study on scoring leads.

The findings from lead management firm Leads360 are focused on improving lead quality in the insurance, the mortage and the education industries.

The study provides an analysis of assigning scores to leads that reflect the probability or the perceived possibility of leads becoming customers. It also suggests changes to the types of leads that companies should pursue, the type of data collected, and the best ways to manage leads.

For the insurance industry, the Leads360 study indicates that one of the more interesting criteria that marketers can use to score leads in insurance is a lead’s credit rating. Consumers who indicate they are unsure about their credit rating are the least likely to convert. If they are hesitant about providing personal information, they are often less ready to make purchases, enroll, or convert.

There's also a significant negative correlation between credit rating and probability of conversion. The better the reported credit rating, the less likely the person will convert.

Leads with some identified characteristics resulted in conversion rates as much as three times higher than the average, according to the study. For example, marketers in the higher education sector should know that married people are two times more likely to enroll in a higher education program than divorcees. Apple Mac users are 45% more likely to further their education than PC-users.

Marketers in the mortgage broker industry should look for the most financially stable consumers. Individuals with "excellent" or "very good" credit ratings converted almost 28 times more often than those with "poor" ratings. Workers with more than 10 years of employment converted more than two times better than those who joined the workforce more recently, according to the report.