The number one mistake you can make when you try to outsource lead generation is to outsource lead generation as a whole instead of in parts. Of course, that is assuming you are talking about outsourced people to do lead generation and not a company that has a complete system for lead generation.
Here is what I mean. If you are hiring a person to do lead development of any kind, you cannot hire them and say “go generate leads for me.”
What you need to do is build a system to generate leads. It could be an online lead generation system like Buzzoodle that used Inbound Marketing techniques to attract leads to you, or it could be reseaching people and calling or emailing them. The lead generation system is up to you. The real key is that you design the system and test it before you outsource the work.
If you build a good system and then you use outsourced lead generation techniques to get the work done better, faster, cheaper – great. If the system fails to produce leads you are then in a much better place. You need to ask yourself honestly what is not working.
- Is the lead generation system a failure?
- Is the outsourced lead generation contractor not working out?
- Was training for the lead generation system good enough that the outsourced lead generation person could succeed?
Those really are the three areas it can fail. The only other thing that could go wrong is that you are in a line of business that does not make sense – and I do see that occasionally. But most likely you need to ask yourself those three questions and keep refining your lead generation strategy with outsourced lead generation contractors and get the system down to a fine tuned instrument of success.