Why many Online Marketers Struggle with Lead Generation Management?

Online Marketing professionals and businesses such as digital marketing agencies just getting into Lead Generation and Distribution business plan out their business strategies (i.e. lead generation and selling) very well. They are generally very good at picking the niches and lead verticals, lead generation sources and methods, affiliate and advertising tactics, etc. In other words, they get the “idea” part of it.

However one major area where they lack in planning is the executing the operations. This is where many startups and entrepreneurs in the lead business struggle and meet with significant difficulties. Though they are good in the “marketing” aspect, they struggle with the systems and processes. Unfortunately, in the leadgen industry unless you master the “operations” part of the business, there is no real business success.

Lead Generation Management

For example, you do not need to be a technology nerd to be a successful an online marketer. However, capturing, aggregating, distributing and delivering leads generated (on the internet) is a different ball game altogether. Every affiliate and lead supplier will demand a different specification for pushing leads; most buyers will also demand different delivery methods, systems and exception handling (for duplicate leads and other lead returns). For instance, using “ping” method for lead delivery means different things for different vendors and clients! While most systems and tasks can be outsourced, you should understand and differentiate different services, solutions and processes. If you are a large team, then you should have someone taking care of this serious stuff!

Though most lead distribution software providers will support HTTP Post, Real Time emails, SMS text messaging and SOAP / XML based delivery methods, these do not work by simple flipping of switches; it needs extensive assessment and technical support. Data transformation adds another level of complications and issues.

Wait, I am not suggesting that you have to go out and get a masters degree in database structures and computer science if you want to be successful in lead generation business! You need to pick and choose the right processes, people, software systems and tools.

Lead Distribution Software

Assessment and selection of Lead Distribution Software cannot be carried out with a checklist. As I mentioned earlier, most lead distribution systems will meet the criteria, at least on “feature list”. Hence, schedule some time with the prospective software providers and discuss in detail about your specific business requirements and ask them how (in detail) their solution can meet the same. Better yet, request them to show it to you after plugging in your lead data and distribution rules from a sample source.

If you cannot or not willing to spend time with lead system provider initially, then probably you will regret it later. Remember that the industry, technology and practices change so fast, there is not a single “perfect” solution. Similarly, if your perspective lead distribution technology vendor cannot spend time with you, in all likelihood, it will not be a suitable solution for your lead generation business.

Email Lead Distribution

I added this phrase in the topic title for simple reason that most business owners use “Email Leads Distribution” for capturing internet leads (from landing pages or emails) and delivering prospect information via real time email alerts. Unfortunately, email is the least dependable method from both your and your client’s perspective. Try to educate the clients and leverage other reliable delivery methods (such as HTTP/ SOAP / XML / CRM interfaces, SMS Texting, etc.); better yet, post the leads to your lead back office system and request them to access it online. Another advantage of using a back office system is that your clients can use the system as a their Lead Management (CRM) and Tracking solution with minimal incremental fee.

Note: If you are a SMB and looking for a lead distribution and management software system to assign sales leads within your inside sales or field sales organization (not to third parties or buyers), then try the sales lead tracking system version of LeadPro247 (i.e. LeadPro247 has 2 system versions catering to (1) lead distributors and (2) SMBs for lead tracking).

Here is a checklist with 10 signs that shows your business needs an automatic web lead distribution system. If you are new to the internet lead generation business or a recently established the lead company and you are not using a lead distribution software system, compare your lead gen and delivery operations with this checklist. You might be surprised what opportunities (that will help you in scaling up the business) are being missed.

If you are already using some sort of lead management system and you still some of the problems described in the checklist, then it may be good time to reevaluate your software solution and match with your business requirements.

#1 Too much time spent in emailing leads: Are you spending too much time in emailing the leads received from your lead generation websites? When you started the business, probably it was good idea to focus on lead gen and business development. You could have emailed the few leads received to a handful of lead buyers. But, if you are following the same process, then you are not growing your business.

#2 Leads fall through the cracks: Are you missing the leads and the captured leads never reach the intended customers? Every lead missed is money wasted – in terms of lead generation efforts and cost. When you go on vacation, what happens to the leads? Either you need to subordinate to take care or your customers might slip away from you.

#3 Wasting time in re-formatting Emails to Customers: Even if you are dealing in a specific vertical such as Education Leads or Insurance Leads, each of your customer may be needing the lead data emailed to them in a specific format. If you sign-up more customers, more pronounced will be this problem. Your lead distribution and management system will support multiple email layouts and format to meet each customer’s requirement.

#4 Have to ignore potential buyers since they need automated Lead Delivery: I am sure that every has to avoid signing up one or two clients for some important reason. However, ignoring customers for want of an automated lead delivery management system will fatal to the business. Sophisticated / savvy / large customers will demand more automation features.

#5 Have more than a handful of websites or leads generated: If you have a more than a few websites, then managing the capture and distribution process is tedious. Also, measuring the performance of each website is essential to optimize your leadgen efforts. Even if you have one or two lead capture websites, if the volume of leads generated is high, then you will face the same issues.

#6 Using Google / Yahoo / Bing PPC for leadgen: Are you using PPC (pay per click) programs with Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing and Bing AdCenter to drive web traffic and generate leads? If so, you cannot live without a solid lead management system to manage and analyze the leads captured on your PPC landing pages. Don’t waste your inbound marketing efforts without fully monetizing.

#7 Don’t find enough time for Lead Generation: Are you spending too much time on your operations management? You must be focusing on traffic generation strategies and activities. Another important aspect needing most of your time is the business development and enrolling more customers. Deployment of a lead company operations management system can take care of capture, delivery and tracking.

#8 Lead Buyers complain about delay in lead delivery: Have you heard any complaints from your lead clients that leads are not reaching them on time? If you promise real time leads, the leads should be delivered in real time. It means that the data should be delivered within a few minutes, not after 30 minutes. Remember, the first responders have the advantage of converting the prospect to a customer.

#9 Losing Revenue: Are you leaving money on the table? If you don’t automate the distribution process, you may not route the prospects to all buyers. If you are promising multiple quotes for the prospects, you need to deliver the lead info to multiple customers. For example, if you are generating insurance or mortgage leads and the routing is based on geography (zip code or state), imaging how error prone the delivery routing process will be.

#10 Spending time on analyzing leads: Do you know where the leads are coming from and how these are distributed? What is your profitable lead source? Unless you know answers for these questions you cannot optimize your investment and generate revenue. If you are not using a good lead distribution database system which will provide instant answers on questions such as these, you will be wasting time in trying to get a grip of the business operations.

If you think that even one or two signs are visible, then it is time to take an in-depth look at your business operations / practices and analyze if an automatic lead distribution system can help you.

There are tons of recent news items in the internet on online lead generation industry. Social media, coupled with web 2.0, revolution is increasing the decibel level. It is often difficult for newbies to select a niche and get into the web lead generation and distribution business.

Even experienced professionals and established businesses have to play catch up at times. Online scams and poor oversight bring in a lot of bad publicity for online lead vendors. However, invention and popularity of devices such as iPhone and iPad are bringing in more tech savvy consumers into the internet as potential online prospects. The number of areas of lead generation possibilities is growing rapidly. This provides new opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses in online marketing world.

Traditionally, online lead generation is restricted to very few verticals with large market sizes but ultra competitive environment. Newcomers may not even go near these business segments, unless they have deep pockets and business background. However, things are changing overnight and enormous new opportunities are opening up.

This is a good time to take stock of the industry scenario and review lead verticals, both old and new. Let us look at each one of these verticals (and possibly more) in the upcoming posts. Here is the list of vertical segments (or niches, as some would like to call these), both traditional and recent ones.

• Financial Services
  • • Mortgage leads
    • Insurance leads
    • New Credit Card leads
    • Pay Day Loan leads
    • Business / Commercial Loan leads
    • Loan Modification leads
    • Debt Settlement leads
• Franchise Opportunity Leads
• Biz Op / MLM leads
• Real Estate leads
• Education leads
• Satellite TV leads
• Time Share leads
• Auto Warranty Leads
• Home Warranty Leads
• Home / Improvement Services
  • • Windows and Siding leads
    • Basement Finishing leads
    • Remodeling leads
    • Pools and Supplies lead
    • Lawn Care leads
    • Painting leads
    • Solar leads
    • Home Security leads
• Home Care leads
• Home Care Medical Device leads
• Accounting Services / CPA leads
• Onsite Catering leads
• Auto Loan leads
• Automotive / Vehicle leads
• Medical Spa Service leads
• Dentistry Service leads
• Legal Service leads

If you are already in the lead generation business, you may be looking for expansion and diversification opportunities. If you are new to the industry, you must do in-depth research in the niche market you are planning to enter. Keep in mind that as a lead generation and distribution company, you need to find your customers as well as the leads for your customers.

Our LeadPro 24|7 Lead Distribution and Management Software System customers leverage the technology, internet industry knowledge and domain intelligence to succeed in their lead gen businesses. I am sure that everyone can succeed in their venture by applying the knowledge and right skills as there is enough space for growth. The industry will grow furiously in the coming years, although some niches may see growth fluctuations.

P.S. If you are an expert in a niche or vertical segment (whether listed above or not) or in the leadgen industry, please share your ideas and thoughts here.

Choosing a lead distribution software service provider is a critical decision to be made by lead generation companies. If you are new to the online lead generation industry, you may be facing a number of options while considering a decision in this regard. Especially, the fees charged by various software providers may be all over the place and zeroing in on a provider based on pricing alone will lead to issues and consequences in future. Once you have selected a system provider and invested significant efforts, switching to another system is a time taking process in terms of the learning curve.

Here are 5 key considerations that you should take into account while choosing a Lead Distribution Software Service for your business.

#1 Flexible Software System

The lead distribution software should be flexible to accommodate all your requirements. A large / complex system may not necessarily mean it is flexible. You should weigh your current requirements and needs in the near future. If you are new to the lead generation and distribution business, invest some time in understanding the systems in the marketplace, industry practices, and technology developments. Remember that online lead generation and distribution business is closely tied to the internet technology trends.

#2 Match your business requirements

As mentioned above, a ton of features in the lead system may not address your business specific requirements. Understand your verticals, do some research or consult with couple online lead generation and distribution consultants. Money spent on these aspects will be worth the investment in terms of risk avoidance and mitigation.

#3 Agile technical support and services

If the software service provider is a behemoth and you are small business organization, probably they may not match your speed. Success of internet lead generation and distribution is all about timing and great customer support. You cannot be waiting for days and weeks to address specific technical support requirements. Remember that the internet works 24X7 and consumer lead requests are generated 24X7. If someone says that “our implementation team lead is on vacation for couple of days and hence the lead posting integration has to wait until next week”, better watch out. You customers (lead buyers) can just opt for another lead provider in a matter of minutes.

#4 Full Service as an option – a must

While you may prefer to go with self service options in the initial phases of your lead business, full service option will be way to go once you establish yourself. You must focus on generating leads and signing up customers, not on day to day technical operations management, unless you are restricted to a small niche which will leave you with plenty of free time. Make sure that your lead distribution software provider has the full service option when you need it.

#5 Double as your Business Consultant

As I mentioned above, the internet industry and online lead generation practices undergo constant change. You might be often needing help in using the technology trends to your advantage. A good lead system service provider can help you leverage the technology in terms of lead generation as well as distribution and delivery improvements. Small customizations and tweaks to the processes would be able to bring in significant benefits and maximize profit. For example, if you are generating internet leads using Pay Per Click (PPC) method with Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc., managing the campaigns could be integrated with the real time lead delivery system, so  that you can save money when sufficient lead orders are not available. If your system can help in Tracking and managing the demand for real time leads, it will be a great help for you as a business owner / executive. You would be able to figure out other improvements and benefits by working with your service provider acting as a consultant.

While there are several other factors to be considered while choosing a lead distribution system, these five key considerations should be the top ones in your mind. Whether you are operating in one lead vertical or in multiple industry segments, you can leverage lead distribution the tool to grow your business.

Lead Distribution and Delivery software application helps the lead generation companies, internet lead sellers and service providers and lead buyers to capture sales leads from landing pages and signup forms, distribute the captured leads in real time using distribution rules and filters and provides reporting for tracking the leads.

Depending on your business needs, you can pick and choose the features to be used and leave the rest of the functions. Though web based lead distribution and delivery solutions such as LeadPro247 are easy to use, you should understand the underlying principles and concepts of lead generation and distribution, in order to maximize the benefits of deploying such software. The above chart shows a high level overview of the LeadPro247 lead distribution solution. This is applicable for any lead generation distribution software service.

Note that the lead generation is not the core function of a Lead Distribution system. However, it helps to integrate with the landing pages and registration forms and capture the leads. In other words, lead generation websites and the lead system have to work together. For more detailed discussion on Landing Page principles, design and deployment, please take a look at the other posts on the subject in this blog.

To summarize, the following are the functions of any lead generation capture and distribution system:

• Integrate with Lead Capture landing pages (used for lead generation)
• Interface with 3rd party lead vendors, affiliates and partners to capture / collect leads from their systems
• De-dupe, Srub, Validate, and Verify leads captured
• Maintain lead buyer / client profiles, including delivery methods and payment modes
• Maintain Sales Rep info and provide sales / commission statements
• Maintain lead order parameters and filters for each client’s orders
• Distribute exclusive / shared leads to lead buyers based on filters and conditions via the Lead Distribution Engine
• Deliver leads to lead clients via Email / SMS text messaging / API interfaces / HTTP posting / Fax / Back office Lead Retrieval System, etc. based on the buyers’ preferences
• Process payment via credit card gateways or accept manual payments
• Accept credit requests from buyers for bad / invalid / duplicate leads
• Process credit requests and provide substitute leads
• Provide lead capture, delivery and sales statistics for lead distributors / companies
• Back office access to view / manage / download leads delivered

As mentioned earlier, you may not be needing all the features and functions for your business. Also, some of the Lead Distribution and Delivery systems may miss some of the features and have more frills. You need to research and evaluate the software system before finalizing the deployment.

Online Lead Verification is the most valuable and intensive quality assessment and improvement process which comes to the aid of online lead generation companies and lead distributors. Lead Verification can be employed in both B2C and B2B scenarios, though it is most useful in consumer lead scenarios. You may take a look the primer / my earlier post on Lead Scrubbing, Validation and Verification processes.

Again, this is a post-lead-capture process and hence you can not prohibit the bad leads hitting your marketing / leads database. However, by deploying a suitable Online Lead Verification Service you can verify the lead parameters and then make a decision whether to pass on the lead to the lead buyer or your sales team.

The lead verification is carried out generally online and hence it can be used in real time lead generation and distribution situations. Once the lead information is received from the landing pages, the lead management system will subject the key data elements to dozens of tests and determine the quality of the lead.

Lead Verification Properties

The following lead profile parameters are used to verify the lead. Obviously, if the lead captured does not contain all these data elements, then the quality assessment results will be less accurate.

• First name
• Last name
• Email Address
• Address
• Phone Number
• Gender
• Date of Birth
• IP Address

Based on the input values, the verification process will return the corrected values as well as a set of useful quality parameters (which may vary from system to system).

Most of useful results from Lead Verification process will be:

• Overall Quality score
• Overall Quality Result
• Type / technology of telephone numbers

It may also provide alternate telephone number and address.

At the highest level, the Overall Lead Quality Score can be used to take an instant decision and treat the lead accordingly. For example, if the score is less than 50, probably the quality may not be very high and hence you may avoid selling it to your high value customers.

Benefits of Lead Verification

Adding a Lead Verification service feature in the lead capture and tracking system will be a great boon to those dealing with mortgage leads, debt settlement leads, financial services and other consumer (B2C) leads. There are several advantages and benefits of using an online lead verification process in your demand generation and distribution efforts. Here is a check list. These benefits are self explanatory. However we will revisit these in future posts.

• Increased Customer Satisfaction
• Increased Lead Conversion Rate
• Decrease in Wasted Time and Efforts by your Buyers / Sales Team
• Decrease in Lead Cost in the long term
• Identification of poor quality lead sources and providers
• Increased ROI
• Decrease on Price (for Lead Buyers)

Verification Services

Since Lead Verification involves comparision and mathcing with millions of public and proprietory database records, the verification services are generally provided as a per transaction fee based service. The typical cost per transaction varies from 25 cents to 35 cents based on volume of leads verified on monthly basis.

There are a number of verification service providers in the market place. The services include TargusInfo, ServiceObjects, LeadQC, and AccurateAppend among others. You may directly contact the data service provider and request your technical team to establish the interface for online verification.

On the other hand, Lead Distribution and Management service providers, such as LeadPro247, include Lead Verification as an optional service in their lead management and distribution platform. These services use one or more of the database service providers as their back-end partners and hence you can not only get the same benefit as going to the primary provider but better service and more choices. Choosing such a lead management platform might solve a lot of technical issues and maintenance efforts for your team. And your lead buyers and sales team will be happy that you addressing their pain points!

Okay, now you are all set to go. You have chosen a business segment or vertical, set up a lead generation and distribution business, signed with a few affiliates and even negotiated with a CPA network (such as Azoogle, Copeac, Hydra, etc.) to generate leads. Heck, you have even paid a handful of money in advance for implementation and training and signed up for a lead distribution software system. Obviously your focus would now turn to clients who buy leads from your lead company. It may not be too difficult to get a few clients, if you are in the industry for some time. Every business is looking for leads and trying to leverage the internet as a lead generation medium.

Satisfying the Clients with Lead Quality

First and foremost objective is to satisfy the client. There are several factor which influence the customer satisfaction in this scenario; prime among them are:

1. delivering leads on time, as promised
2. making sure that the leads are genuine (and not bogus)
3. ensuring that the lead information is correct and complete
4. pricing it optimally

As you would have noticed, the prime criteria for customer satisfaction turns out to be the Lead Quality (and not necessarily quantity). Using right affiliates / networks, genuine lead generation methods avoiding deception and incentives, scrubbing the leads (for incomplete information, duplicate leads, etc.) and adding lead verification techniques where necessary will lead to high quality leads and hence increased lead client satisfaction.

Lead Delivery via Emails

Another important factor that lead companies and sellers often overlook is the lead delivery process and back office systems. If you are selling leads to end users who are mostly small businesses without strong technical capabilities (which will be the case 70% of the time), you will be in for a big surprise. Even if your lead distribution software system supports multiple lead delivery methods, there is no guarantee that they would have evaluated all methods and finalized a suitable method to fit their specific scenario.

Most of the clients will go with email alert notifications in real time. While this is a required and essential process, at least 30% of the emails will not get into your client’s attention. Either the email will not land in their email inbox or fall into the junk mail / bulk mail folder. Or even the client may delete some lead alerts when trying to  sort out all the spammy looking stuff in their inbox.

Even if they receive your lead via email alert, it might slip through the crack and they will never follow up with the prospect for hours or even days. Ultimately, as the new emails keep piling up in the box, older emails will lose their relevance and visibility. Unfortunately, the client will conveniently put the blame on the quality of leads (in other word, you, the lead seller) and will stop placing repeat lead orders with you! In worst case scenario, you may not get your money for the leads already delivered, if you have provided a post payment caption. Keep in mind that none of this is in your control or your fault!

Leveraging Back Office Systems

You can leverage the back office system feature of lead distribution systems to increase customer satisfaction and contribute to increase your client’s business. Yes, there is an important role to be played by you as a lead generation company and lead seller in educating and encouraging your clients to adopt the to the usage and benefits of back office systems for thier own good.

Every major lead generation and distribution management software system comes with some sort of back office system access feature for the lead buyers. Using these system not only guarantee the delivery of the lead, but also will help the clients increase the lead conversion rates by using the lead retrieval, tracking and management functions.

Flavors of Lead Back Office Systems

Advanced lead distribution systems such as LeadPro247 will have mutiple flavors of back office systems in order to meet the requirements of various lead buyers. Either you may absorb the cost (which is generally low and affordable) of these systems or pass it on to your customers. Considering their total value, it may be useful if offer the back office system as an added benefit!

The following three versions / types /flavors are most commonly found in the lead company software systems such a LeadPro247:

1. Basic version: Lead Retrieval System
2. Medium level: Lead Tracking and Management System
3. Premium level: Lead Tracking and Marketing Automation System

Lead Retrieval System

When the leads are distributed, the clients can immediately access the leads in the lead retrieval system. They can also see the purchase orders placed by them and the status of the orders. This will provide a real time view of the leads delivered and pending quantity. Access to the lead retrieval system provides peace of mind to the buyers and helps you reduce your customer support and  hand holding efforts. You can focus on your business – generating and delivering quality leads!

Lead Tracking and Management System

This version of customer access goes one step further and help your clients manage and track their leads as they follow up with their end customers. In other words, your lead distribution system back office turns into a mini CRM (customer relationship management) system for your clients. The leads delivered by you can be assigned to one or more sales reps within their organization for follow up. The clients can also track customer conversions, follow-up and call back reminders, etc. A wealth of lead tracking reports will be available for your customers.

Lead Tracking and Marketing Automation System

This is the premier level of back office access that can be provided to your lead buyers. In addition to lead retrieval and tracking management, the system can be used a full fledged marketing automation system. Drip Email Marketing is used to follow-up and nurture the leads. Depending on your buyers’ requirements, they can opt for self-payment depending on their drip email campaign volume, survey response volume, etc. This back office system would be useful for your sophisticated and deserving customers who would like to use an online marketing automation system.

Conclusion

Finally, a word of caution. Many of your lead buyers may not be ready to go the full extent of leveraging the functions and features of your lead distribution back office systems. However, you should encourage the clients to use the Lead Retrieval system at the minimum, which will pay back in no time for both of your organizations.

If you are in Leadgen business, then you know the criticality and central nature of lead distribution rules and strategies for the success of the business. Crafting suitable strategies, pricing options and prioritizing customers are important facets of everyday life for a lead seller.

Determination of Priority Criteria

Lead Distribution can be carried out based on several priority criteria, such as:

• Pricing
• Volume
• Loyalty of the Customer
• Lead Availability (Demand and Supply)
• Lead Profile Filters (as such Geography, Demography, Services, Source, etc.)

When you are dealing with a number of customers and large volume of leads, it will not be easy to apply rules manually and determine the priority.

Lead Distribution Software

Employing a suitable Lead Distribution Software will help automating the lead distribution process to a great extent. However, note that it is not a panacea for all ills. Still considerable thoughts and efforts are to be invested in crafting the distribution rules and strategies.

For example, as a lead seller, you can assign a higher priority for a customer based on their loyalty and past business.

If you are in real time lead distribution business, it becomes all the more difficult. When a new lead comes in from a lead generation source, a decision has to be made in seconds. Obviously, price offered by a lead buyer alone may not be a suitable criterion. For example, a buyer who intends to purchase a small volume of leads might offer a high price; however your long term buyer may be offering a slightly lower price, but the volume may be much higher.

Lead Distribution Rules

Depending on your business and nature of operations, following rules can be used to distribute the leads:

• Based on Exclusivity:

• Exclusive Leads (Lead will be sold to ONE exclusive buyer)
• Semi-Exclusive Leads (Lead will be sold to TWO semi-exclusive buyers)
• Non-Exclusive Leads (Lead will be sold to multiple non-exclusive buyers, subject to Maximum Number of Times a Lead can be sold)
• None (Exclusivity not specified – Can be sold to one or more buyers based on the demand)

• Based on Round Robin Method
• Based on Price Offered (Highest Bidder)
• Based on Buyer Priority

The lead filters will be applied before determining the price, as the filters might impact the final price of the lead. If every other parameter remains equal for more than one lead buyer, then a round robin rule can be applied – in addition to other rules. Depending on your vertical and industry practice, combined with your specific scenario, you have to decide on the strategies to be employed such as round-robin, ping tree / auction /bidding, or buyer loyalty. Usage of a flexible lead distribution and sales tracking software solution helps you to apply these rules with ease.

Assuming that you are able to generate quality leads and sign-up buyers to purchase leads, the next critical issue that you will be confronting is the prompt delivery of leads and prospect information to the designated lead buyer contacts. If you are selling leads in real time, as the practice in industry verticals such as insurance, mortgage, debt services, etc. the prompt delivery of lead information to the buyer assumes great significance. Lead Delivery via time tested Fax and Text Messaging (SMS) is a viable alternative for lead distribution companies.

Lead Delivery Methods

The most widely used method for delivering lead information is the internet EMAIL. If your buyers are business savvy and more sophisticated, the web services based API or web form posting based interface and direct application access to your Lead Capture, Distribution and Management system are the fool-proof methods.

Real Time Lead Alerts

Even if you use direct interface with your buyers systems using the interface or provide login access to your lead database, the customer may still need real time alerts to get notified about the arrival of the new lead. This is where the real time email alerts get their star status. If the buyer contacts persons (such as insurance agents) are not fully office based but constantly on the move, email alerts are unavoidable. With the proliferation of Blackberrys and smartphones such as iPhones, email alerts have become very useful to reach the prospects within minutes of sign-up.

Email Delivery Issues

With the increasing spamming issues, delivery of internet email is becoming more problematic. In fact, none can gurantee the delivery of emails via internet, whatever their claim may be. Especially, many of the small lead buyers use the email addresses provided by the their ISPs. Encouraging them to use their corporate (private domain) emails will help improve the delivery rates.

Fax and SMS as additional Delivery Options

If your buyers have access to fax with an office based employee (even if the recipient is traveling), sending lead information via fax is a good add-on option. Many of the good lead distribution software solutions available in the market place will have fax delivery as an option. Please note that delivering lead information via fax involves per page cost. However the cost, around 15 cents per page, is not prohibitive considering the value addition.

Another option to deliver leads to your customer is using the Text Messaging option. Text messaging is also known as Short Messaging Service (SMS). However, you may not be able to  transmit the entire lead information, as the text message has to be less than 160 characters. Important information such prospect’s name, telephone and email address can be easily transmitted via SMS. Keep in mind that delivering lead details via SMS also involves additional cost to the buyer. And the buyer’s cell phone must be subscribed to and enabled to receive text messages. Generally, the lead management systems send the SMS messages as emails to the wireless carriers (ex. phonenumber@sprintpcs.com).

While these additional lead delivery options many not be for everyone, these may be certainly great tools for some of your deserving customers. As a lead seller, consult with your lead buyers, educate them the pros and cons of using Fax or SMS as lead delivery options, and let them decide if they want to leverage these tools.

If you are involved in selling or buying leads, utilizing lead filters functionality available in lead distribution management software solution is a key requirement. While it is up to the lead buyer to determine the filters applicable for them, as a lead provider organization you need to understand how filters could be used to optimally distribute the leads and maximize sales and profit potential.

The lead pricing can be a function of application of lead filters for certain lead types and industries. Various types of filter groups are displayed in the following filter selection step of lead order processing.

Applying Lead Distribution Order Filters

Depending on the nature of leads and the industry you are working in, application and usage of filters (also known as order criteria) vary. For example, if you are providing aged / old leads, then age of the lead will be critial filter. For real time lead orders, age of the lead is not applicable.

Similarly, in the Lead Profile group, geography is not the only filter. Any of the lead profile parameters could be used. For example, in the case of Life and Health Insurance leads segments, preexisting medical conditions and current policy information might be used as filters in order to maximize lead value.

Lead Volume is not a filter perse, but it is an important order criteria used for determining the lead price and discount applicability.

Let us revisit the lead order filter sets and criteria for order processing by lead generation and distribution firms in future posts.