As a business owner, you'll need to continually find and nurture new sales leads if you want to keep growing. There are many ways to generate leads organically, such as search engine optimization and sales funnels, but purchasing a sales lead list can give your business that extra boost it needs to get to the next level.
A sales lead list provides you with contact information of potential customers within your target market. These leads are individuals or organizations that might not normally discover your business through your own marketing efforts, so a list like this can help you quickly and effectively expand your reach.
Some marketers say buying lists is a poor practice because you don’t know the quality of the list until you receive it. However, if you consider the reputation of your sources to get quality leads, purchasing lists can be a good option for businesses of all sizes. Here are a few basic rules for finding a high-quality sales lead list.
Where to purchase a sales lead list
There are a couple of different places to begin your search for the right sales lead list:
Business organizations
Local business organizations are one of the best places to source sales lists because they provide highly qualified leads. Members within business organizations or associations are often more receptive to an in-network sales pitch because they know the information is relevant to their needs.
These organizations typically provide their lists as a "membership perk," rather than selling it outright. For example, a small business that partners with a local restaurant association may get the opportunity to advertise in that association's magazine or on their website, get discounts on networking events and access membership lists.
Sales intelligence platforms
Sales intelligence platforms and lead prospecting tools rely on technology to pull leads with real-time verified emails, so you know the lists you're getting are accurate. A few of these platforms include:
- D&B Lead Builder: This platform manages the volume and velocity of data that flows in and across organizations. It offers comprehensive and structured global commercial data and insights that are analytically derived.
- FindEmails.com: This company claims a 98% accuracy rate in finding and verifying email addresses.
- Lusha: Companies like Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, Google and Intel all trust this lead prospecting service. You can connect with leads via social media, the web and Salesforce through an API.
- Salesfully: With Salesfully, you can get quality data from a versatile platform that lets you seamlessly build a custom list of business or consumer prospects.
- UpLead: This prospecting tool provides instant access to millions of verified B2B business contacts.
[Read: 6 Tips for Generating Sales Leads]
Look for lists with customers that match your ideal prospect's characteristics.
Tips for buying sales leads
Whether you use one of the sales intelligence platforms above or another lead source, the following tips from B2B Lead Blog can help you make the best investment decision:
- Know your audience. Look for lists with customers that match your ideal prospect's characteristics.
- Look beyond the price tag. The cheapest list isn't always the best one. It’s great to get a deal, but if you start reaching out to unqualified leads from a bad list, it can hurt your business's reputation.
- Test your lists.Not every lead on your list is truly qualified, and some of the contact information may be out of date. By testing out a small list from a particular provider, you’ll be able to determine if it includes prospects who will have a genuine interest in your business before you commit to buying a full list of contacts.
If you choose to buy a sales lead list for your business, remember that there is a wide range of sellers out there, and not all of them will provide high-quality lists. Be sure to do your research, understand your target market and test your list properly before you start leveraging your newly purchased contact information.
[Read: 7 Tips for Converting Leads Into Sales]
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