Lead Generation Done Right: Why Marketing Partners Need a Proactive Approach

Too many marketing partners are stuck in an unpredictable business development cycle, passively waiting, chin on hand, on referrals, and inbound contact. 

We get it – daydreaming about wishlists won’t magically fill your pipeline. You might hope for a mention of your great service at the next networking event, but often, it’s a lot of stress and an empty pipeline. Instead of dealing with the constant unpredictability, why not take control? That’s where a solid lead generation strategy can turn your trickling pipeline into a steady, reliable stream of high-quality leads.

Why Marketing partners Shouldn’t Leave Lead Quality Up to Chance

Although “drumming up business” sounds promising, it isn’t the same as generating the leads your partner needs to thrive. While general, untargeted business generation could eventually bring a gem of a prospect, qualified lead generation focuses on attracting client-worthy prospects day in and day out.

Beyond that, leaving lead quality up to chance is a blazing red flag for several reasons. 

Wasted Time. Lots of It. 

When lead quality is left to chance, your team spends unnecessary amounts of time chasing leads that aren’t interested anyway. All those hours spent on research, outreach, and follow-ups are essentially dumped on prospects who either don’t need the product or aren’t able to make a purchase. 

Seemingly Never-Ending Sales Cycles

Engaging with unqualified leads can significantly drag out the sales cycle. Salespeople may spend weeks or months nurturing a lead only to discover that they aren’t a good fit. This wasted effort could have been better spent on leads that genuinely need the product and are closer to making a buying decision.

Reduced Morale and Motivation

Consistent failure to convert leads can demoralize every salesperson in your team. When efforts don’t result in sales, it can lead to frustration, decreased motivation, and eventually burnout. Sales teams thrive on wins and progress. High-quality leads provide those opportunities for success and keep morale high.

Inefficient Use of Resources (Often Already Scarce)

Your budget is likely already limited. Unknowingly, blowing it on the wrong leads affects the entire partner. Marketing efforts and sales tools are all wasted on leads that aren’t going to generate revenue, much less put in a good word for you. 

Poor Customer Experience. Lower Conversion Rates. And Everything You’re Running Away From

Uninterested leads tend to have lower conversion rates. That’s a given. But it doesn’t stop there: the experience for the prospect can be poor. They may feel hassled or pressured about a product they’re not interested in. This damages your team’s reputation and can harm the partner’s overall image. 

Why Marketing Partners Should Consider Lead Generation Services

Broader Reach of Contacts and Consistent Communication

Balancing the demands of client work, campaign creation, and manual tasks leaves little room for intensive prospecting and follow-up. Without bespoke lead generation support, it’s easy for valuable contacts to fall through and for communications to become inconsistent or impersonal. 

If you invest in the right tools and processes to automate the entire sales journey, you can keep those contacts informed and engaged while your sales reps focus on the opportunities most likely to drive partner growth.

More Time for Yesses

As mentioned in our Repeatable Sales Process article, non-selling time-wasters are some of the main reasons marketing partners (or any business, for that matter) struggle with growth. 

Here’s a refresher: salespeople often spend more time on admin tasks, lead research, and other non-selling activities than on actual selling. According to a survey with 721 sales reps, they spend 35.2% of their time selling and 65% on everything else but not selling. 

Could lead generation be considered “everything else”? When it isn’t focused on the right prospects, absolutely. That 65% (or more) should be spent on pitching the partner’s services, creating and presenting proposals for promising leads, conducting (not scheduling!) meetings and demos, and negotiating contracts. Essentially: any high-impact sales activity that involves direct interaction with the most profitable people. 

Meeting Prospects Where They Are

Your dream clients are anywhere and everywhere at the same time – on social media, in their email inboxes, browsing search engines, attending webinars…you name it. Meeting them where they are calls for a multifaceted, multichannel approach to lead generation. This can be overwhelming for an in-house team that already has its hands full.

Lead generation services specialize in reaching prospects across their preferred channels. They use a combination of strategies such as content marketing, social media outreach, email marketing, and sometimes search engine optimization (SEO) to attract and engage potential leads. 

A Healthy Lead Pipeline

A steady flow of leads is the precursor to a consistent revenue stream. When one deal is closed, the sales team can immediately focus on the next set of qualified leads without significant downtime.

Additionally, uncontrollable factors such as economic downturns, market volatility, supply chain disruptions, or sudden changes in consumer behavior can impact your operations. This consistency helps stabilize cash flow and supports ongoing business operations. It acts as a “cushion,” giving you the time and resources to adapt their strategies without panic.

Are All Lead Generation Services the Same?

No. In fact, you can count on your fingers how many of them are honest – especially in the lead generation world. 

We don’t mean they can’t do great work. Some of them can. But they focus so much on trying to push ROI that their greatness often goes unnoticed. 

But the worst part is: that they often guarantee things that shouldn’t be guaranteed, like the number of leads they generate or the ROI a client can expect by working with them. News flash: that return isn’t always attainable. But clients don’t always know that. And the person telling you this, however experienced, doesn’t know you well enough to make this promise.

Not to mention, lead generation includes so many variables you have zero control over, such as market trends, competitor actions, and changing customer preferences. Any service should be open about this, but very few are. 

The lead generation specialists in RevBoss can lift the weight while also being completely honest about your possibilities. We use automated lead generation to dig deep into the brands and organizations on your new client wishlist, helping you find the contacts worth your resources.  

Bonus: Marketing Partners In Particular Need Personalized, Account-Based Campaigns

Account-based sales prospecting campaigns are built specifically for one client. Instead of casting a wide net and hoping to catch a few interested fish, account-based campaigns zero in on specific companies you want to work with.

For example, “traditional” industry or job-title-based campaigns target broad groups, like everyone in a specific industry or anyone with a certain job title. Talk about a mile wide but an inch deep. There’s more to people than that. 

On the other hand, account-based campaigns have a much more focused approach that resonates with specific decision-makers. That means you get access to highly personalized messages that address each target account’s needs and pain points. You’ll move from a generic “Hey, we’re great because of XYZ” pitch to a genuinely bespoke message.

This precision makes your outreach more relevant and significantly boosts your chances of getting a positive response. So, while traditional campaigns might throw spaghetti at the proverbial wall to see what sticks, account-based prospecting increases your chances of “right-time, right-place” interactions.

Over to You

Are you caught in the would’ve, could’ve, and should’ve cycle that’s all too common in marketing partners?

RevBoss can help you unify lead generation and business development into continuous, data-driven, and ROI-focused processes. Yes, we aim to make outbound a long-term, sustainable channel for you. But, if we don’t think we can do it, we’ll let you know if you’re supposed to invest your marketing bucks elsewhere – be it inbound, referrals, or a more profitable strategy. 

Our outbound lead gen services are custom-built for startups, consultancies, marketing partners, and other B2B organizations. Schedule a quick call with us and find out how we can help you win more clients.