Lead generation has been proven to work and there are hundreds – if not thousands – of active buyers up and down the country generating a healthy return on investment from buying leads.
The most successful lead buyers are the ones who have realistic expectations of what lead generation can achieve for their business. It is up to the lead providers to set that expectation level, and as long as they are open with their customers, then the lead buyers themselves can make an informed decision as to whether lead generation is likely to work for them.
At the same time, to really be successful, lead buyers need to make that leap of faith and adhere to the best practice information from the lead providers.
It is important to remember that reputable lead providers will have hundreds of customers buying thousands of leads a week, so they will have unparalleled insight into what does and does not work for lead buyers.
Every lead provider will have a different view on lead generation but there are a few fundamental issues all lead buyers should be aware of before they start buying leads.
Issues
Lead generation is an effective way to source new business, but to achieve a healthy return on investment, lead buyers need to know how to go from agreeing an order for leads to converting them into business.
It is important to remember that a lead is just a consumer filling in a form online requesting to be contacted about a product or service. The mistake lead buyers often make is they treat leads in the same way that they would treat a consumer walking into their office – but the two could not be more different.
A consumer filling in a form online is a much more anonymous and impersonal experience in terms of the initial contact. As a lead buyer, those first few seconds of the conversation with the consumer are vital for determining whether the lead is likely to result in success or failure.
Lead buyers have to capture consumer interest over the phone in a matter of seconds or the consumer will go elsewhere. These consumers have no loyalty to the lead buyer as they do not yet have a relationship with them and they will just as easily go and fill in another form elsewhere if they cannot be helped.
Lead buyers should spend some time thinking about how they are going to talk to these consumers and be prepared to experiment to find out which types of opening conversations are more likely to result in a positive outcome. This also means that lead buyers need to accept that there will always be a period of optimisation when they first start buying leads while they refine these types of processes to get them right.
This highlights another important consideration for lead buyers which is the reality that consumers fill in more than one form online – some may fill in ten or more.
Although most of the reputable lead providers sell leads on an exclusive basis, in reality there is no such thing as an exclusive lead. Lead providers can only guarantee that leads are sold exclusively through their platform, which means if they have relationships with 50 suppliers but the consumer fills in a form on the website of the 51st supplier, the same lead could be sold effectively more than once through different providers.
It is rare in reality, but you could buy the same lead twice if you work with two different providers. The reality is that consumers fill in multiple forms, which means if you do not follow up the lead immediately, the consumer may have been contacted by another lead buyer. This is the nature of lead generation and is a trend that is likely to continue as consumers go online more often looking for information and advice.
Lead buyers need to be aware of this as they need to make sure they have the right processes in place to follow up the leads quickly but also the right answers to give consumers who may have filled in multiple forms online.
Process
Many of these issues can be – and are – mitigated by good systems and processes for working and managing leads and it is these things that often have the most impact on lead performance, but what often happens is that lead buyers get hung up on price.
It is human nature for lead buyers to want a good deal, but really a good deal for lead buyers is one that results in the highest possible return on investment.
For example, if life insurance leads cost £35 and on average 20% convert, lead buyers will generate a good return on investment.
Lead buyers should concentrate on maximising their chances of hitting these conversion rates rather than saving a few pounds per lead. In the example above, if a lead buyer bought 100 life insurance leads, the value of one extra conversion is much greater than saving £1 per lead. Lower lead costs will not have any effect on conversion rates and it is conversion rates that generate the return on investment.
The focus for any lead buyer should always be generating a return on investment and if lead buyers are aware of all the possible variables that can impact this then they will be more likely to put the processes and systems in place to minimise the impact of these variables and make a good return from lead generation. n
Justin Rees is UK Head of Marketing at LeadPoint
