Introduction

The term “lead generation expert” is a loosely defined job position where different people see it as a freelancer, others as a complete agency while yet others see it as a full-time employee. It helps to understand clearly what the lead generation expert’s position entails before engaging such services.

What a Lead Generation Expert Actually Does

A minimum standard would be that your lead generation professional is focused on creating and refining processes that deliver prospective customers to your pipeline. This usually involves:

• Finding out what channels (ads, SEO, outbound, referral, content) make sense for your particular organization and budget
• Developing and testing offers, landing pages, and forms for better conversion
• Setting up tracking to see your cost per lead and cost per closed deal by channel
• Maintaining campaigns and making changes according to performance
• Sometimes, qualifying leads before giving them to sales

Those who are good at their job think in terms of the whole funnel, traffic, conversions, and lead quality rather than simply leads generated by each campaign.

Freelancer vs. Agency vs. In-House Hire

Freelance Consultants

The best value for smaller companies requiring strategy and implementation rather than ongoing management are freelance consultants. Freelancers are appropriate if you know which channel needs fixing (for instance, your cost per lead on Google Ads is too expensive) rather than having an entire funnel to construct.

Best For

• Small businesses
• Strategy and campaign creation
• Marketing problems that need solving
• Frugal organizations

Agencies

Advertising agencies have more resources, writers, designers, marketers, and are better suited for organizations that launch campaigns across multiple channels. The downside is cost and, occasionally, reduced access to the individual who creates the work.

Benefits

• Availability of specialized teams
• Multiple channel experience
• Scalable campaign management
• Marketing support

In-House Hire

The need for in-house employees becomes evident once the number of leads generated and the budget reach a stage where having a dedicated resource who knows everything about your product and market makes sense. At this point in time, the company has become too big for a part-time or shared agency resource.

Advantages

• Product understanding
• Dedication of resources
• Long term strategies
• Ownership of lead generation process

What to Ask Before Hiring One

1. What’s Your Process for Figuring Out Which Channels to Prioritize?

An answer like “we do SEO and advertising for everybody” is a warning sign.

2. Can You Share Results from a Business Similar to Mine?

We talk about not only the cost per lead but cost per sale because an inexpensive lead that doesn’t convert into anything is bad.

3. How Do You Handle Lead Qualification?

When someone is completely obsessed with volume and has no strategy regarding quality, he is going to bring you low-quality leads which will waste your sales people’s time.

4. What Does Reporting Look Like, and How Often?

You have to get data and not just one presentation a month.

5. What’s Your Experience with My Specific Industry or Sales Cycle Length?

The B2B SaaS lead generation strategy is totally different from that of home services.

Red Flags to Watch For

• Promises to provide a certain quantity of leads without information about their quality and the competitiveness of your business market
• Hesitation to give genuine client testimonials and references
• A one-size-fits-all sales pitch that does not vary according to your field
• No plan for tracking or reporting prior to signing

What a Good Lead Generation Expert Should Deliver in the First 90 Days

• An understanding of which channels should be prioritized for your particular business
• Set-up of baseline (cost per lead, cost per opportunity, cost per sale)
• At least one channel working and giving you tangible results
• Understanding of reality of scale, most channels will need more than a month to prove themselves, especially SEO and content

When You Don’t Need an Expert Yet

When you are a young company with very few prospects, spending money on hiring a costly lead generation expert without understanding your customers or your proposition is futile. During the earliest phase, your founders should use their outreach methods and referrals in order to receive important feedback that will help in building your message and strategy, and give it to a lead gen expert.

Bottom Line

What you need in a lead generation specialist is not just somebody who can post advertisements, but somebody who knows your particular funnel inside out, monitors the KPIs that correlate with sales, and adjusts his strategy to your market niche and not vice versa. Keep in mind that when hiring one.