A lead generation agency searches for prospects who are a good fit for your product and makes initial contact with them on your behalf.
In other words, the agency serves you with pre-qualified leads, so you can focus on strengthening the new business and closing deals.
In this blog, we will tell you how to generate leads for small businesses
How to Choose the Right Lead Generation Agency for Your Business?
To choose the right lead generation agency, you must go through their services to get them to know better. Follow the steps below to get the best results.
Do Thorough Research
You can start your search for an agency from Google, but we recommend you browse through Clutch. co because it gathers all the essential info in one place. Plus, there are rankings of top lead generation services according to review rating and clutch rank.
Check which agencies specialize in your niche and how much experience they have in generating leads in your industry. These ones will know best where to look for new prospects and how to approach them.
Ask About Their Prospect Base Source and Quality
This information is important because the quality of a prospect list equals the quality of leads you get. If a prospect list is of poor quality, the conversion rate will be low and your money will go to waste.
Not to mention possible problems on the way, such as a high spam complaint resulting in your domain getting blacklisted.
To minimize this risk, ask an agency whether they buy ready-made prospect lists or build them from scratch in-house based on reliable and legal sources.
Buying a ready-made list is never a good option, because it may contain outdated information and spam traps. Sending a campaign to such contacts may put your domain on a blacklist.
Make Sure They Comply with Data Protection laws
Since sending emails can’t be possible without processing personal data (email addresses are regarded as such) the agency you choose should be compliant with laws that regulate email sending applicable in the countries where the prospects are from.
Ask the agency about the steps they take to keep the outreach in accordance with the law. Also, ensure that your company’s data is processed lawfully and the agency takes all the necessary steps to protect it.
Discuss The Details
Be clear about your expectations and make sure the agency can deliver the results you hope for. Transparency is important for both sides. Determine the conditions of your cooperation, including the definition of a “lead” and what they charge for.
Some agencies count a lead as every new contact they make, while for others a prospect turns into a lead when a meeting is set up. Make it clear before signing a contract.
Questions to Ask a Lead Generation Agency
So to sum up, questions you should ask an outbound lead generation agency include:
Do they have experience in your industry? Do they specialize in your niche?
How do they get leads? Do they buy prospect lists or build them from scratch in-house?
How do they ensure high-quality leads?
Do they comply with data protection laws?
What’s their definition of a lead?
How much and when do they charge for their service?
Do they use your mailbox for outreach?
We hope the above tips help you pick the right agency for your business needs. Let’s see now what preparations you should make before your work with an agency kicks off.
How to Get Ready to Start a Cooperation with a Lead Generation Agency?
The success of lead generation services doesn’t depend solely on the agency’s work but lies also on your side. There are a couple of things you should take care of beforehand that will set the lead generation wheel in motion quicker and make it more effective.
Audit your website
Your website is your virtual business card. That’s the first place people will check out to learn more about your company.
A visit to your page will shape your prospective clients’ impression of who you are, what you do, and whether they can trust you.
So try to get into your prospect’s shoes and take a look at your website from their perspective.
What would they look for if they wanted to learn more about your business and your product or service? Is this info easy to find, clear, and up-to-date?
What if they were looking for some social proof that your product or service actually works for a company like theirs? Do you have testimonials featured on your website?
Are they still relevant? Find out how to follow up with your happy customers to get new testimonials:
Prepare Marketing Materials
Prospects may prefer to familiarize themselves with more details about your product and the benefits it brings before they decide to have a meeting with you.
A good idea is to send them a link to a personalized explanatory video or presentation focused on their business niche and use case. Ask your digital marketing team to create such materials in consultation with an agency.
They will advise you on what kind of content works best with your particular target group.
Set Up a Separate Domain for Outbound
Why would you do that? Mainly for safety reasons. There’s always a risk that a domain may get blacklisted due to spam complaints. If that happened to your business domain, it would be a total disaster.
That’s why it’s better to be safe than sorry and create a domain dedicated solely to outreach.
When choosing the name of a new domain, make sure it corresponds with your main one. This way your prospects won’t get confused.
There’s one more thing. Your new domain needs a warm-up before it can be used for outbound. Young domains with no sending history are treated suspiciously by spam filters. They are on probation period so to say.
Have your Ideal Customer Profile Defined
We believe this is the cornerstone of successful lead generation services and the homework you have to do largely on your own.
Sure, the agency can advise you on who would be the best target, but you know your product and your product users best.
Gather representatives from every team in your company, just like we did, and do a brainstorming session. Together try to come up with an idea of a buying persona profile who is an ideal fit for your product.
Once you have it, discuss it further with a lead generation agency. They may give you some additional ideas backed by their experience of generating leads in your industry.
Share Your Calendar with an Agency
If you travel to business events or conferences where you can meet your prospects, share your calendar with an agency. That’s an important piece of information, which they can use doing the outreach both as an ice-breaker and a meeting opportunity.
Time to Begin Fruitful Cooperation with XDimension
We hope that after reading this article you’ll be able to choose the best lead generation agency according to your business needs and start your work together on the right foot.
Keep in mind that the success of lead generation services depends also on your team and not just the agency. Take care of your website, and your brand image, and keep your ICP up to date to give the agency a base for their part of the job.
Call us Now and contact the lead generation expert for the best results and best digital solutions.