6 Things to Keep In Mind When Hiring a Lead Generation Specialist

SEO strategies can help increase organic traffic to your website, but it can take months for interested customers to find you. Quality leads can increase your brand awareness and customer base within a few weeks.

Over half of businesses report that lead generation is one of their biggest challenges. If your only method for finding leads involves cold calling, it's time to try something new.

Hiring a lead generation specialist can make a massive difference in the growth of your business. First, you need to know what to look for.

Read on as we discuss six things to keep in mind when you're on the hunt for the perfect lead generation specialist.

What Is a Lead Generation Specialist?

A lead generation specialist is an expert in collecting and evaluating contacts that could lead to potential sales. They rely on their knowledge of the region or industry you work in to determine who your next clients may be.

Whether you're operating a new business or expanding your current business, it is often helpful to outsource lead generation to a professional. This can allow your current sales team to focus on their existing clients and create winning pitches for new clients. A lead generation specialist can become a valuable long-term partner to businesses of all sizes.

What to Consider When Hiring a Lead Generation Specialist

Now that you understand what a lead generation specialist is and how they can help, it's time to talk about how to find one. We're here to share the six most important considerations to make when looking to secure this long-term marketing partnership. Read on for more.

1. Lead Generation Goals

Before you start looking for a lead generation specialist, you should take the time to consider your personal goals. Leads can be used for a number of things, from raising brand awareness to increasing sales and expanding your client list. The more informed you are about what you want from your lead generation services, the better you can prepare your specialist to meet your goals.

If your business is on the newer side, brand awareness is an important place to start. By using leads to build brand awareness, you can increase your potential for sales and get a clearer sense of who your target market is by determining who is most likely to buy your products or services. If you have strong brand awareness already, lead generation should cut straight to increasing sales and securing new, long-term clients.

When you're considering your lead generation goals, take into consideration the resources you have to handle new leads. If you're not yet ready to offer your products or services to a large number of clients, you should limit the scope of your lead generation campaign. The last thing you want to do is expand too quickly and lose future clients in the process.  

2. Outbound Marketing Budget

Before you start reaching out to lead generation specialists, you should consider your current budget. Lead generation should be one of the main focuses of your marketing budget, so take into account how much you're spending on other marketing strategies. Keep in mind that investing in lead generation can help you to lower the amount you spend on things like social media marketing and paid ad campaigns.

It is also important to note that quality lead generation does come with an ROI. In other words, you can expect to make back at least some of what you spend on your lead generation specialist. We offer an ROI calculating tool so that you can get an ROI estimate before you sign up for our services. 

If you're considering multiple lead generation agencies, ask for pricing estimates, as well. This will allow you to determine which agency can best meet your budget—although low prices should not be the only thing that determines your final choice. You should also take into account each agency's ability to meet your specific needs and experience with your niche.

3. Lead Generation Methods

Different lead generation specialists may rely on different lead generation methods. Some lead generation agencies compile a large database of contacts that may have an interest in your industry and send you the entire list in exchange for your payment. While it can seem like a boon to gain access to all of those contacts at once, this method can leave you making cold calls or emails to businesses that have already fulfilled their relevant needs.

At SmithDigital, we want to make sure that every lead we give you is actually promising. We use reverse IP lookups and Buyer Intent data to find potential clients that have already shown an interest in your business or whose online activity shows that they're on the hunt for products and services like yours. That way, you're not reaching out to a bunch of dead ends.

We also take the next steps in deploying a multi-channel outreach and initiating contact before we turn things over to you. In other words, we'll do all of the cold-calling, emailing, direct mailing, and social media messaging to figure out which leads are actively viable. By the time we send them your way, they're waiting to hear from you.

4. Reputation

As we mentioned earlier, budget isn't the only thing you should take into account when you're making your final choice and hiring a lead generation specialist. It is also helpful to know that your lead generation specialist has a strong track record. There are a few ways that you can learn more about a lead generation agency before you hire them.

The first is to look for online reviews. If previous clients have left reviews of a lead generation agency, you can review them to learn more about the agency's:

customer service, communication style, and response times
ability to customize lead generation services to a business's unique needs
overall success in pairing businesses with quality leads
You can also ask the agency for referrals to get in contact with previous or current clients, directly. Some specialists may also produce portfolios and show you the numbers on their past lead generation campaigns. Finally, you can enquire about the specialist's experience and what makes them best suited to take on your company's outbound marketing needs.

5. Industry Specialization

If you have never hired a lead generation specialist before, you may not realize that industry specialization is just as important as lead generation experience. Each industry is unique and the B2B relationships vary. Working with someone who has generated leads for businesses like yours is inevitably going to produce better results.

At SmithDigital, we specialize in software and professional services, business brokerages, and commercial real estate. If you work in any of these industries, we are the right fit for you. We know what kinds of businesses are looking for your products or services and how to find them.

Should you work with an agency that claims to specialize in all industries? While you may get a few useful leads, it's more likely that you'll get contacts for clients that aren't a great fit. Like offering up a database of contacts, the all-industry approach tends to cast a wide net without the precision that will make the most of your budget and your time.

6. Additional Marketing Services

Chances are, lead generation services aren't the only thing you're searching for. Finding leads can secure immediate growth in sales, but a wider approach to marketing is necessary to create long-term success. Why hire a separate marketing expert for all of your needs when you can create a partnership with one firm?

At SmithDigital, we offer both outbound and inbound marketing services. Our inbound marketing services pair perfectly with our lead generation services, improving your Google ranking and preparing you for the influx of quality leads.

We also stay on the cutting edge of the latest SEO trends to make sure that none of our clients fall behind in the changing landscape of search engine algorithms. No matter the size of your business, SEO is an important part of your sustainability and scalability, increasing your brand awareness, making your business more competitive, and increasing organic traffic to your website.

Looking for a Lead Generation Specialist? We've Got You

Are you struggling to scale your business? Are your current lead generation methods falling flat? Does your sales team need more time and energy to focus on existing clients to spend time making cold calls and sending out emails?

If so, it's time to hire a lead generation specialist. Let SmithDigital take over lead management so that you can focus on day-to-day operations that make your business scalable, to begin with.

Ready to learn more? Contact us today.