Have you been burnt by lead generation in the past? Nearly 1 in 3 of our clients have, and we have actually sat in front of potential clients who have ended up scrapping the idea of working with lead generation partners all together, given the degree of poor service they have received from supposed professionals in our industry.
So how do you know what to look out for, in a quality lead generation partner?
First and foremost – do your research
Checking out your potential lead generation partners website, review online and social media pages is only a small part of this – really grill them on whether they have worked in your industry before, if so – who with? Do they have case studies and testimonials? Better yet – which of their existing clients can you speak to and obtain a reference? If there is ANY pushback on this whatsoever, continue with caution.
Their confidence in their ability
We speak with dozens of clients and potential clients every year, most of which have their own understanding of how lead generation should work best for them. Whilst lead generation is certainly a partnership, any GOOD lead generation company should follow a process, which is tailored to each client, the best lead generation companies will push back on your ideas of what work best – because they’re the experts, they have the track record in achieving results – and that’s exactly why you approached them. Remember that if they are just sat agreeing to everything you ask of them – you may as well have done it yourself!
Expectations
It has come to light recently, through some competitor analysis, that expectations when it comes to lead generation can be drastically different depending on who you work with… some class lead generation as merely setting up the opportunity for a brochure drop, others may class a good lead as a Luke warm conversation with a prospect who has an interest in “hearing more”. We class lead generation as an appointment, with a decision maker, who has budget to spend and a need for the product / services that our clients provide, and they are looking at implementing this product / service within a set timescale – every lead generation company is different, so it is important that you are clear on what you want from your lead generation partner, and that the business you have chosen to work with, can deliver on your expectations.
Get amongst it
There is no doubt that the people who know your business, your products and your services – is you! That’s why we ask ALL of our clients, to carry out training directly with our account management and telemarketing team, a couple of weeks in to the campaign, this way – the team will have a good enough list of objections for you to assist them in overcoming, and an array of buying signals that again – you can help them capitalise on… this is a partnership and by working together and getting each of the teams in front of our clients we create accountability, trust and an expert knowledge of the products, services and company we are selling and representing.
Communication
Absolutely crucial in any service based relationship, without this all manner of things can go wrong – wrong people being contacted, wrong messages being delivered to prospects, meetings set up with no real agenda or need – all of which will result in the waste of the most precious commodity – TIME! We have a catch up meeting each and every week, for 15-30 minutes to check progress on a campaign and to see if there is anything we can be doing differently, areas we can improve and check in on our clients success from the appointments we have organised for them – we have heard some of our clients say that they have started with a lead generation company, and literally not heard from them in 6 weeks! Always make sure you set out expectations on communication from the outset.
So have you been burnt by lead generation? Had your time wasted?
What would your expectations be from your lead generation partner?
If you’d like to have a chat about how we can get you qualified appointments, simply reply to this email, call us on 01386 298 042 or click here to choose a convenient time in our diary that works for you.
