Introduction

When you search for “lead generation company,” the internet brings you many choices, huge corporations, little specialized companies, and some very poor quality lead generators. This is how to navigate through this space and find the right lead generator for your business.

The Main Categories of Lead Generation Companies

Full-Service Marketing Agencies

Such organizations handle lead generation as a whole aspect of their marketing campaign where SEO, paid advertising, content creation, and emails form a whole marketing network. These tend to be relatively expensive but highly sophisticated.

Key Benefits

• Full marketing strategy
• Multichannel campaigns
• Good integration between marketing activities
• Strategic thinking

Specialized Lead Gen Agencies

This is highly specialized to lead generation and delivery, usually for a certain market (legal, home services, real estate, SaaS), and normally comes with its own playbook and sometimes even traffic sources within that particular market.

Advantages

• Expertise specific to the industry
• Effective processes for lead generation
• Sources for niche traffic
• Targeted lead campaigns

Lead Brokers/Marketplaces

These businesses produce leads on a large scale (through their ad budgets or owned media) and then sell these leads. The price per lead is low, but so is the quality of the lead.

Characteristics

• Less expensive per lead
• Large number of leads
• Lead sharing is typical
• Less exclusive on average

Freelancers and Independent Consultants

A consultant is a cost-effective and personalized choice for companies with smaller budgets, especially those that need assistance with only one or two channels rather than an entire program managed by an agency.

Benefits

• Less expensive
• Personalization
• Flexible engagement options
• Best choice for channel focus

How to Evaluate a Lead Generation Company

1. Ask for Case Studies or References

Request for case studies and examples from companies similar to your own in terms of size and industry. Absence or lack of information is a clear red flag.

2. Clarify Exclusivity

Share leads convert less often and usually involve competing with others to be the first to receive a call back.

3. Understand Pricing Structure

Whether it is a pay-per-lead model, retainer model, or performance-based one, it will carry different risks for you as well as the vendor.

4. Get Specifics on Channels Used

The term “digital marketing” could be anything. It is best to ask specifically which media will actually be utilized.

5. Check for a Qualification Process

A company that sends you all submissions, without consideration for how well each fits, will be a huge time drain on your staff.

6. Review Contract Terms

Always go with companies who offer you a trial period or monthly billing rather than locked-in contracts, especially with an unproven provider.

Industry-Specific Providers vs. Generalists

This is because the approaches taken, the content used, and even the legal issues vary from one sector to another. It follows that a specialist who knows the ropes within your particular sector will do a better job than an agency operating with the same approach in other sectors.

Red Flags to Watch For

• Lead numbers guaranteed without recognition of quality or marketability
• Sales pitches using high-pressure tactics to ensure a quick signing of the contract
• Refusal to disclose actual results with clients or take calls for reference
• Reporting that reveals lead volumes without providing any insight on the costs per lead and the quality of lead

Testing a Provider Before Committing Long-Term

A small but fixed budget trial for 30-60 days will give you some concrete information before you make a larger commitment. You can track leads using your company’s CRM through to the bookings or closing of the deal, rather than the number of leads reported by your company, which is the important statistic to look at.

Pricing Expectations

There is a tremendous disparity between the cost per lead among industries and exclusivity of the lead; a non-exclusive home service lead may cost $20 to $50, but a B2B or legal lead which is not exclusive may go as high as hundreds of dollars. Instead of benchmarking cost per lead from different types of businesses, benchmark it against your numbers.

When In-House Makes More Sense Than a Company

However, at a certain level, some businesses opt for setting up an internal department instead of outsourcing, which is reasonable only when the volume of leads becomes sufficient to justify having one person whose job would be to understand the products and the markets, which cannot be done by any external company.

Bottom Line

The lead generation firm that suits you best will depend very much on your industry, budget, and whether you prefer having control over strategy rather than lead quantity. Be sure to investigate properly, ask for references, discuss exclusivity and qualification procedures, and never commit to anything until testing on a smaller scale.