Successful Lead Generation Part 3 – On-boarding Your Best-of-Breed B2B Lead Generation Vendor

It is one thing finding the perfect lead generation solution provider to enter into a partnership with, and completely another making the partnership work, such that it is fruitful to both parties, or rather all parties involved. The same is true with hiring a lead generation vendor to generate business for you.

The first and foremost thing you need to remember about B2B lead generation is to start on the right foot; you must know exactly what it is you are looking for in your potential lead generation vendor. Only then will you be able to shortlist the best of the best.

Even so, it is advised you choose a minimum of two potential B2B Lead Generation Agencies (as I discussed in my previous blog). However, once you have had your pick, how do you go about actually culminating your thoughts into action?

Getting Your Lead Generation Vendor On-board in 3 Steps

You have gone through the process of studying profiles and shortlisting the most promising lead generation company to create an efficient outreach program using compelling marketing materials. Now, it’s time to ensure there is a meeting of the minds between you and your vendor, before your lead generation campaign takes off the ground. While it may sound like a mammoth task, it comes down to three main things. Take care of these, and the rest will follow.

1. A one-pager Statement of Work is a good place to start the process. Most work equations go kaput because what A needs from B is never ever clearly put down together in black and white. So thwart out your aim and objectives, translate these into clear actionable goals, and literally put them down on (electronic) paper. For your lead gen vendor, this includes –

• Defining the criteria and quantity of qualifying leads
• Defining the time-frame within which this is to be achieved
• Defining a metric with which to measure ‘success’, as compared to the set target

Contact the good folks at the TechConnectr Marketplace for a complimentary copy of their best-of-breed Statement of Work.

2. Next important step would be providing the lead gen vendor with everything they need to be able to serve you the best they can; in other words a hand-off of the assets, scripts, and lists. This may seem trivial, but unless your vendor has complete access to assets like calling scripts, email messaging suppression lists, ABM lists, and so on, he may not be able to exploit all three channels of the marketing campaign, viz. email marketing, telemarketing and social media marketing.

3. Finally, regular follow-ups will ensure everyone involved is moving in the same direction and is always on the same page. This one is important so as to work efficiently, without wasting either resource, be it time, money, or anything else. You want to intercept in a timely manner, if your vendor is going in an unfavourable direction. Touch-base meetings will also help assess whether the course of action you have chosen is the wisest or not, and will give you enough time to rejig the process, especially if the results are not up to the mark (or what you expected them to be).

This is a broad guide that will apply to most businesses and their potential lead gen vendors. However, with every premise comes its own set of considerations. To get a clearer understanding of the on-boarding process so as to orchestrate smooth and scrupulous on-boarding of your lead gen vendor, schedule time with me here.

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