Are you getting pressure from the boss and feeling the strain of bringing leads into your company? Maybe you or someone in your team has tried every marketing trick you know of but are not bringing in enough leads, or perhaps they are not of the quality that is required? If this is the case, then the time may be right to outsource your lead generation to a third-party.
But how do you convince your boss that outsourcing your lead generation is the right move? It’s not an easy task, particularly if your company has had a bad experience with an outside agency before, but it is possible to convince even the most cynical company head that outsourced lead generation is the way to go.
Firstly, we’ll help you decide whether outsourcing is right for you, and then look at how you can go about convincing your boss to sign off on getting started.
Should you outsource your lead generation?
Whatever sector you operate in, a steady stream of leads is likely to be the lifeblood of your business. Achieving this can be time-consuming and there isn’t always a guarantee that the leads that are brought in will actually convert well.
Making a decision on whether to outsource will in part be based on how you currently generate leads and what the success rate is in converting these. If you currently have a marketing department, do you need to train or hire someone new to focus on improving the quantity and quality of your leads?
For many businesses faced with the dilemma of whether doing it themselves is a better option than trusting someone else to handle their lead generation, it is often cost that is the main consideration. Yet, outsourcing can often be a more cost-effective and timely way of getting leads when you need them.
Understanding the capabilities and capacity of your current marketing team to boost your lead generation will help you understand whether you should outsource your marketing and lead generation efforts.
Outsourcing may not always be the right option
We’ll not make out that outsourced lead generation is always the best solution. There are circumstances when keeping things in-house could work for you.
If you’ve got the team with the experience to make it work, then ramping up your own in-house activity could be the right option. With the right blend of marketing skills, including those that excel at content and PPC, you could make your lead generation deliver the right results.
You need to be sure that you have the required skills within your team in abundance, and if not, see how quickly they can be acquired and at what cost.
Budgetary concerns
A reluctance to outsource often comes because of budgetary concerns. But is keeping your lead generation in-house actually cost-effective?
An in-house team, whether that consists of one or several staff, brings with it regular costs in terms of salaries. Plus there’s the cost of any required training and this can take significant time before your staff member is ready to step up to the lead generation task.
If your need for leads is almost immediate, then hoping for the best from someone who is in-house, and hasn’t so far been delivering the lead you need, is likely to be something of a forlorn hope.
So why outsource your lead generation? What are the benefits?
Ok, you may be edging towards outsourcing as the preferred option, but need the ammunition to convince your boss that it is the right way forward. There are many benefits of trusting your lead generation to an outside agency, so add some of these following points to your armoury when going in to argue the case…
Allows your sales teams focus on selling
Sales teams usually excel at selling, not marketing, so it’s not a good use of their time for them to be trying to generate leads rather than converting them. Prospecting for new leads can eat into the sales team’s time so they spend far less time in their day actually selling. Free up your sales team so they can focus on what they are best at.
Quicker route to results
If you want results and you don’t really have time to wait for your own staff to get up to speed, outsourcing can be the quickest route to getting results. Outsourced lead generation makes sense for companies that simply don’t have the skills and resources to staff their marketing activity and are unable to turn that tap on when they need a new channel of leads for their sales teams.
Growth without having to increase your headcount
For many businesses, a requirement to only grow teams when sales are on the up presents difficulties, as how can leads be increased without investing in team members to generate them? The solution lies in outsourcing whereby you can test the waters and see the benefits that trusting your lead generation to an outside agency will bring.
Allows you to test before bringing in-house
Outsourcing can give you the opportunity to test whether certain lead generation channels actually work, especially if they are areas you haven’t operated in before. Using the expertise of a lead generation company can help you ascertain the viability of methods like paid ads and PPC. You just need to be sure that you have the expertise for when you are ready to bring the lead gen in-house so that you are able to transition without any disruption.
Better quality leads at lower costs
While not absolutely guaranteed, your costs per lead are likely to be lower when you entrust your lead generation to a skilled company. Through their own tried and trusted methods and expertise in your sector, the lead generators will be able to refine their methods to bring you the best bang for your buck with better quality leads, often at a much lower cost.
Less stress
Who wants the continual stress of generating leads? Constantly monitoring and refining your campaign for optimum results is time consuming, and you can’t just throw a few hours a week at it and hope for the best. If you are not getting the leads you require through your own in-house methods, the buck has to stop with someone within your organisation and that can create unnecessary stress.
Return on investment
With the right lead gen company, you will almost certainly experience an improvement in the volume and quality of leads you receive. This will almost inevitably lead to a boost in conversions, and ultimately your sales, which will satisfy the overall concern of your boss that there is a genuine ROI to be had from outsourcing your lead generation.
Your next steps
Armed with the above list, you are now in a position to argue the case with your boss that outsourced lead generation is a smart move for your company.
It’s a fact that not many sales staff relish the prospect of finding leads, preferring instead to focus on converting those leads into actual sales. Any move to relieve your team of the time-consuming task of lead generation will almost universally be welcomed if you outsource.
Effective lead generation requires specific skills and experience which are not always readily available in-house, and entrusting this to an outside agency is nearly always going to bring you better results and be more cost-effective.
Your choice of lead generation company is going to be key. You need to consider whether they have worked in your particular sector before and what sort of payment model they offer.
Some companies may operate in such a way that they are making money, even if you are not. That is where Pronto is different. We offer a unique revenue share model which means that we only make money if you do. This means it is in our interests to make lead generation work for you and provide you with a stream of quality leads that you are able to convert.
We prefer to look at working with you more like a partnership. By setting up your campaigns and constantly monitoring and refining them, we can help you get the best possible results that will mean that you want to work with us long-term to continue to mine this success.
Contact us today to find out how we can help you and take the pressure of generating leads off your teams.
