We look at 5 important risks to consider before you buy leads and provide tips on how to avoid them.

2. Introduction

3. Many companies lack the resources to bring in a high
volume of qualified leads on their own.

4. Maybe they don’t have an
established web
presence, or a dedicated
teledemand team, or they
lack the experience to
orchestrate multi-channel
marketing initiatives.

5. Maybe they don’t have an
established web
presence, or a dedicated
teledemand team, or they
lack the experience to
orchestrate multi-channel
marketing initiatives.
So they partner with a
third-party lead
generation service.

6. Even companies that do run successful demand
generation programs often partner with an outside
agency to increase their marketing reach.
This partnership lets B2B companies tap a new
audience through the lead provider’s tools and
marketing channels.

7. But if you aren’t careful who you partner with and what
kind of contract you sign, you can end up paying a lot
of money for leads that don’t convert.

8. Executive Summary

9. There are plenty of
opportunities for
outsourced demand
generation to fail.
Being cautious and
exercising due diligence
are critical steps, especially
if you’re considering a lead
generation company you
haven’t worked with
before.

10. We’ll look at five important risks to consider before you
buy leads and provide tips on how to avoid them.
These risks are based on the inherent pitfalls of lead
buying and real concerns expressed by some of our
clients.

11. Key Takeaways

12. • 60 percent of B2B marketers list “generating more
leads” as their top challenge; 58 percent say
“improving lead quality.”
60% 58%

13. • 60 percent of B2B marketers list “generating more
leads” as their top challenge; 58 percent say
“improving lead quality.”
• Through outsourced demand generation, businesses
can increase quantity and quality of leads without
exhausting their own resources
60% 58%

14. • 73 percent of all B2B
leads are not sales-ready,
so clearly define your
targeting requirements
and only accept leads
that match.
73%

15. • 73 percent of all B2B
leads are not sales-ready,
so clearly define your
targeting requirements
and only accept leads
that match.
• 40 percent of all
generated leads have
“poor data quality.”
73%
40%

16. • Make sure lead provider follows best practices for
lead accuracy, including well-trained agents,
verification standards, deduplication tools, and a
simple return process.

17. • Make sure lead provider follows best practices for
lead accuracy, including well-trained agents,
verification standards, deduplication tools, and a
simple return process.
• A lead generation company that does all work in-
house will offer the most affordable costs per lead
and be least likely to outsource.

18. The Risk of
Unqualified Leads
1

19. Working with an outside
lead gen company
inevitably means ceding
some control over process,
but it shouldn’t mean you
have to give up your
targeting requirements.

20. Considering 73 percent of all B2B leads are not sales-
ready, it’s important to clearly define your targeting
requirements up front and only accept leads that
match those requirements:
73%

21. • BANT qualification: Budget, authority, need, and
timeline compatible with your product or service.

22. • BANT qualification: Budget, authority, need, and
timeline compatible with your product or service.
• Opt-in: Companies seeking leads further down the
funnel may ask for an opt-in mechanism that
ensures each lead is ready to talk.

23. • BANT qualification: Budget, authority, need, and
timeline compatible with your product or service.
• Opt-in: Companies seeking leads further down the
funnel may ask for an opt-in mechanism that
ensures each lead is ready to talk.
• Content syndication: Ask to only see leads that have
downloaded a specific content asset (e.g.
whitepaper, e-book, case study).

24. The Risk of Poor
Quality Data
2

25. Forty percent of all generated leads have “poor data
quality,” signified by duplicate data, invalid entries,
failed email/address validation, and empty form fields.
40%

26. When you select a lead generation service, make sure
they have best practices in place to prevent careless
data errors. This includes:

27. When you select a lead generation service, make sure
they have best practices in place to prevent careless
data errors. This includes:
• A staff of well trained agents

28. When you select a lead generation service, make sure
they have best practices in place to prevent careless
data errors. This includes:
• A staff of well trained agents
• A system for verifying deliverability of contact
information

29. When you select a lead generation service, make sure
they have best practices in place to prevent careless
data errors. This includes:
• A staff of well trained agents
• A system for verifying deliverability of contact
information
• A mechanism for reconciling duplicate records
(referred to as “deduplication”)

30. Ask about a lead return
policy; this will give you the
ability to send duplicate,
inaccurate, or otherwise
unacceptable leads back to
the provider for a per-lead
refund.

31. The Risk of
Inflated Cost
3

32. In an industry where pricing is often arbitrary, it’s
difficult to know how much you should pay for leads.
Price gouging can happen a couple of ways:

33. • The lead provider charges too much per lead.

34. • The lead provider charges too much per lead.
• The lead provider offers a discounted per-lead
cost, but then forces you to buy a high volume of
leads or commit to a contract.

35. It’s almost always more affordable to work with a
service that does their lead gen work (inbound, email,
teledemand) in-house.
Companies with proprietary programs can not only
offer you a better rate, but they also have better insight
and control over the lead generation process.

36. The Risk of
Unethical
Sourcing
4

37. Just as smart consumers want to know where their
purchased goods come from, most B2B companies
want to know where their leads come from.

38. No lead source is intrinsically “unethical.”
Unethical sourcing occurs when a company requests
leads from or not from a particular source and the
provider agrees, but doesn't abide:

39. • The provider is dishonest: they promise to deliver
leads from a specified source, but generate them
through whatever channels they please.

40. • The provider is dishonest: they promise to deliver
leads from a specified source, but generate them
through whatever channels they please.
• The provider outsources to another agency, who
collects the leads from the wrong source.

41. To protect yourself from
unethical sourcing, you
need to choose a lead
provider with professional
integrity, and if possible, a
provider who manages all
of their own programs.

42. The Risk of an
Unestablished
Lead Provider
5

43. The final risk of outsourced demand generation is
choosing a provider that doesn’t have a well-
established brand.
The B2B lead generation industry is still fairly young, so
there are a lot of new players on the field with minimal
experience and an even smaller market reach.

44. Here are a few factors to look for that indicate strong
market presence and brand credibility:

45. • An high-traffic inbound site that is regularly
maintained

46. • An high-traffic inbound site that is regularly
maintained
• A strong social media presence

47. • An high-traffic inbound site that is regularly
maintained
• A strong social media presence
• High-quality content that’s written in-house (blog
posts, research studies, product comparisons,
etc.)

48. • A multichannel marketing strategy that covers
email, social, web, PPC, and outbound

49. • A multichannel marketing strategy that covers
email, social, web, PPC, and outbound
• A collection of subsidiary brands/micro-sites used
to engage niche audiences (TechnologyAdvice, for
example, owns CFO Advice, CMO Advice, CTO
Advice, HR Advice, ManagementAdvice,
CustomerAdvice, and SecurityAdvice).

50. How to Choose a Lead
Generation Company
You Won’t Regret

51. Despite these inherent and reported risks of lead-
buying, it is possible to partner with a lead provider
that delivers consistent value and helps your sales
team close more deals.

52. • Find a company whose brand aligns with your
products and services.

53. • Find a company whose brand aligns with your
products and services.
• Research the company’s past projects to see what
kind of results they’ve delivered to other clients.

54. • Find a company whose brand aligns with your
products and services.
• Research the company’s past projects to see what
kind of results they’ve delivered to other clients.
• Make sure the company is willing and able to
honor your lead targeting requirements.

55. What We Offer

56. Unlike other demand generation services, we don't
limit your program's success by selling you individual
marketing methods like content syndication,
teledemand or email marketing.

57. Instead, we work with you
to determine the ideal
persona for your
connections, including
where in the buying process
you'd like them to be.
Once these facts are in
order, it's our job to figure
out which marketing
methods produce the best
results.

58. We can target audiences by
industry, vertical, company
size, job title, and more.
This allows us to connect
you to any audience with
precision.

59. TechnologyAdvice
Leads

60. Our lead information is verified and confirmed to be
100 percent accurate by a Technology Advisor; email
addresses are confirmed deliverable, and phone
number is confirmed to connect.

61. We also verify that every lead matches your targeting
requirements, or you can send it back for a refund.
When you’re ready for qualified B2B leads, we’re ready
to supply them.

62. Visit: www.TechnologyAdvice.com/vendors/get-in-touch
877.720.3289
Have Questions?
Our team of experts is ready to help!
877.720.3289
Have Questions?
Our team of experts is ready to help!

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Generation-Poses-Biggest-Challenge-B2Bs/1009829
2. “Measuring the Impact of Lead Nurturing on the Sales Pipeline.” Gleanster. Accessed August 7, 2015. http://www.gleanster.com/report/
measuring-the-impact-of-lead-nurturing-on-the-sales-pipeline
3. “The Complex Sale: Lead Scoring Effort Increases Conversion 79%.” MarketingSherpa. Last modified January 25, 2012. http://
www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/lead-scoring-effort-increases-conversion#
4. Jones, Kelsey. “Report: Poor Data Quality Impacting B2B Lead Generation.” Komarketing. Last modified February 3, 2015. http://
www.komarketingassociates.com/industry-news/report-poor-data-quality-impacting-b2b-lead-generation-1912/
5. Adamson, Georgina. “The Well-Oiled Data Machine.” Experian. Last modified February 3, 2014. http://www.marketingsherpa.com/
article/case-study/lead-scoring-effort-increases-conversion#
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