The difference between winning big and striking out in your business often comes down to one thing: your ability to consistently generate high-quality leads.
While there are many ways to generate leads — from cold calling to local advertising — you only have so much time in your day for this activity. For that reason, you must have a strategy for securing leads as quickly and efficiently as possible.
And that’s why you should take the time to find a lead provider.
With this approach, there’s no more (or not as much) marketing and advertising in hopes of generating leads. Instead, you set a budget to directly purchase leads that align with your business goals. At that point, the sales cycle is in your hands.
With more businesses than ever buying leads, lead providers are popping up all over the place. That can make it difficult to choose the right partner.
Below, we outline five things you must look for in a lead provider that can help you get the best results.
1. Quality, Quality, and More Quality
You can buy as many leads as you want, but if they’re low quality you won’t be happy in the end.
Think about it like this: would you rather buy 50 low-quality leads per day or 10 high-quality leads that will actualize in sales?
It’s simple. If you’re going to spend money on leads, make sure you do so with the word quality in mind. This will help boost your conversion rate and return on investment (ROI).
2. Experience
Lead providers come and go. You want to partner with a company that has a long track record of success providing people with high-quality, affordable leads.
Take these steps to better understand how much experience a lead provider brings to the table:
- Review their website with an eye toward company history
- Read online reviews from other industry professionals
- Check their credentials
- Contact the company to ask targeted questions
This isn’t to say that new lead providers have nothing to offer. However, if you want to take the risk out of the equation, it’s best to do business with an experienced and knowledgeable provider.
3. Convenience and Attention
It’s one thing to buy leads. It’s another thing entirely to retrieve them in a timely, easy-to-understand manner.
Gone are the days of receiving leads hours after placing an order. Think twice before you do business with a lead provider that relies only on antiquated and slow technology.
Today, the top lead providers have a dashboard for instantly retrieving leads. Place your order and within seconds the leads are presented on your dashboard and formatted for easy understanding.
A good lead provider can also help you dig deeper into available leads and provide you with a custom list, with a blend of technology and hands-on experience.
4. Lead Type
There’s a good chance that you’re looking for more than one type of lead — such as if you’re an insurance agent.
In this case, the best lead providers are able to meet your needs across many insurance lines, including but not limited to:
- Annuity
- Auto insurance
- Health insurance
- Homeowner insurance
- Life insurance
- Medicare supplement
Begin your search with an idea of the types of leads you’re interested in buying. This will help you find a provider that can meet all of your needs.
5. How the Provider Sources its Leads
This point is easy to overlook if you’re not careful. You can get so caught up in other details — such as pricing and delivery — that you forget about this.
Every lead generation company will tell you that they can generate as many highly-targeted leads as you need. However, this isn’t always the truth.
Some providers, especially those that are new to the business, will secure leads from nothing more than a mailing list. This will quickly take you down the wrong path, causing you to lose both time and money.
You want to do business with a provider that sources leads in the following ways:
- Quote requests from real-time lead aggregators
- Lead generators
- Publishers
- Lead brokers
The most successful providers are those that have a relationship with vendors that generate leads through email marketing, search engines, and online advertising.
Questions to Answer
When buying leads, especially for the first time, you’re likely to have a variety of questions. Rather than hide from these and hope for the best, address them head on.
Here are 15 questions that are likely to come to light as you search for a lead provider:
- How much money should I spend on leads every day, week, or month?
- What’s the best way to compare lead providers?
- What happens if I receive a bad lead? Can I request a replacement or refund?
- Are there any discounts for purchasing leads in bulk?
- What types of filters are available?
- How many leads am I able to purchase at one time?
- What payment methods are available?
- How are leads formatted and delivered?
- What fields are included with each lead?
- How long are the leads accessible?
- Is it possible to search for leads by zip code?
- Does the lead provider’s system integrate with others, such as Velocify?
- Is it possible to print out leads?
- Is it easy to share with others, such as team members?
- What happens if I receive a lead that’s already a customer?
As you can imagine, the answers to these questions vary from one lead provider to the next. Furthermore, the way you approach your business won’t be exactly the same as the next person.
By addressing these questions — among any others that come to mind — you’re in a better position to take immediate action.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know what to look for in a lead provider, you should feel more confident in your ability to form a professional relationship that will benefit your business for years to come.
If you have questions about buying leads — such as those related to cost and delivery — contact Aged Lead Store for additional information. We’re here to make the process as simple as possible!
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash.
