Outsourced vs. In-House Lead Generation
Recent studies show that 7 out of 10 companies consider high quality leads as their top challenge. When you add to this the fact that outsourced lead generation gives 43% better results than in-house, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you start considering outsourced lead generation for you business. But to get a firmer grasp of why outsourced lead generation is more efficient than doing it in house, we need to take a look at some numbers and facts.
1. In-house lead generation – in most cases the in-house lead generation is a non-standard process, performed occasionally, lacking clear definition. Most of the times it’s everyone’s job, nobody is responsible for the result and it happens when sales teams don’t have enough customers to achieve targets. But let’s see what else can go wrong:
– lack of follow-up – most companies generate leads by running webinars, attending conferences, trade shows and other online or offline events where they can meet representatives of other companies. However, since there is no clearly defined lead nurture plan and process, most of the prospects don’t end with a sale or just go to waste;
– lack of feedback – as we’ve said before, most companies don’t have a lead generating team, so the whole work is done by different people from different departments, responsible for different parts of the lead generation. So, often there is a lack of communication between the departments which leads to valuable customer’s feedback ending with the wrong people and not with the ones that can act on it. For example – emails to the office can’t make it to a sales representative or comments from a potential prospect go somewhere else but the marketing department. This whole process can lead to a lot of missed opportunities;
– incorrect targeting – since in-house lead generation is often a job given to the least experienced employees (or for the new ones), they will stop their research when they contact anyone from the targeted company. Most of the time the person they contact will not have the needed jurisdiction to make a decision and act on their call. They will fail to realize that they are not speaking to a decision maker and stop pursuing the opportunity. Which is a giant waste of time and money;
2. Outsourced lead generation – outsourcing your lead generations to external company means giving the responsibility to professionals that have the right tools, knowledge and plan to deliver leads that have far greater chance to turn into contracts. Here is why it’s better:
– qualified leads – no more wasting of your time, companies like ours, for which lead generation is a core part of their business, will supply you with only high-quality leads. This means no more meeting with prospects that hasn’t expressed a clear need of your product or service or doesn’t have the needed budget to acquire them. You will only meet with people who understand what you are selling, need it and can afford it;
– multi-channel approach – the good B2B company uses a complex mix of lead generations channels – networking, online and offline communication, list building from many sources and is always on the watch for new and more effective channels to communicate with prospects. This approach can significantly reduce the risk of being associated with only one channel of lead generation;
– follow-up and feedback – all opportunities are nurtured until they become quality leads. Our teams use different channels and approaches to stay on top of things and follow through the whole process of setting a prospect to buying mode;
Bottom line is that outsourced lead generation provides more opportunities and is more efficient than in-house. Reducing costs and risk, greater Return of Investment, increasing your speed to market and your opportunities for business development. All that with 43% better results.
What do you think about outsourced lead generation? Contact us if you need help with the generation of quality leads.