Why Do You Need Lead Generation Specialists?
Despite the amount of tools, technologies, and information available to companies about lead generation, it remains a top challenge for most. Companies know lead gen is important, but they often don’t have the time, resources, or expertise to develop and execute the type of full scale strategy they need. That’s why many choose to hire lead generation specialists.
Lead generation specialists have the experience and resources to execute a strategy that keeps your pipeline full, wins you new business, and allows you to refocus on other activities that help your company grow — like developing new offerings and engaging your current customers.
In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about hiring a lead-gen specialist, including what they do and 5 powerful business benefits they can deliver.
Quick Takeaways
- Lead generation specialists are experts in a variety of tactics like cold email outreach, SEO, email marketing, video prospecting, online events and more.
- They execute lead scoring and qualification to ensure your leads are high-quality and fit your target audience.
- Other services often offered by lead gen specialists include lead nurturing and appointment setting.
- Important benefits of hiring a lead gen specialist are time and cost savings, scalability, higher conversion rates, and data-driven performance reporting.
What do lead generation specialists do?
Lead generation specialists help organizations generate consistent, high-volume, best-fit leads to grow their sales pipelines year-round. They use industry best practices and top lead-gen tools that enable targeted execution at scale.
Some of the specific services lead generation specialists offer include:
Cold Prospecting Outreach
Cold outreach gets a bad rap, and to some extent we understand why — cold calling is dead, and that’s what most people think of when they think about this tactic. But today’s technology means cold outreach isn’t like it used to be in the past, when marketing teams had to cast the widest net possible and hope to earn results.
Today, cold sales prospecting can be data-driven and targeted to the specific audiences and buyers that need your solutions. Lead generation specialists are experts at doing this. They use tactics such as:
- Cold email outreach
- Video prospecting
- Content marketing
- Online events
- Targeted display ads
These are just a few examples. The point is, you can reach so-called “cold” audiences in ways that resonate with them and make them likely to actually pay attention (vs. declining your phone calls).
Lead Scoring and Qualification
As any marketing and sales professional knows, not all leads are created equal. To prioritize the leads most likely to convert and earn more sales and revenue, you need a way to consistently identify and pursue the best leads in your pipeline. There are two key ways this happens: lead scoring and lead qualification.
Lead scoring means assigning value to leads as they enter your pipeline based on specific traits and behaviors (as you can see in the example lead scoring template below). Typically, leads are assigned points for each criteria they meet. Points can be added and/or taken away from leads throughout the buyer journey.
When implemented using tools like your CRM, sales reps can view a lead scorecard, so to speak, that indicates where they stand in relation to making a final purchase decision.
Lead qualification evaluates leads against your best-fit customer descriptions, namely your ideal customer profiles (ICPs) and buyer personas. It also considers intent and readiness to purchase, determining where they belong in your pipeline at any given time — for example, if they should be funneled to a lead nurturing email campaign or if they’re ready for sales outreach.
There are three primary lead qualification stages:
- Marketing qualified lead (MQL) — Leads that meet initial marketing criteria based on ideal customer profiles and buyer personas
- Sales accepted lead (SAL) — Leads deemed to show sales readiness and accepted by the sales team for official handoff from marketing
- Sales qualified lead (SQL) — Leads with high purchase intent and readiness for the later stages of the sales process
Lead generation specialists help to automate and standardize both of the lead scoring and lead qualification processes to enable more efficient lead management and a seamless, buyer-aligned purchase journey.
Marketing Automation Technology
Marketing automation is powering lead gen at every turn — from lead data collection to email campaigns to targeted display ads to lead scoring and qualification to performance reporting and more, it increases efficiency and yields greater results in the forms of conversions and sales.
In fact, lead generation and lead nurturing were identified by marketers as the top two benefits automation delivers for businesses.
When you hire a lead generation specialist, you gain access to their proven automation strategies as well as the tools they use to implement it effectively for clients.
Lead Nurturing Campaigns
Lead generation specialists work beyond the initial moment a lead shows interest in your brand — they also help to implement effective lead nurturing campaigns that keep prospects engaged and ensure they move to the next stage of your pipeline.
This is a critical piece to the lead-gen puzzle — companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost.
Lead nurturing comes in many forms. Most common are lead nurturing email campaigns, which can be automated and triggered by particular lead behaviors, but it can also include phone calls, event engagement, or special product/service offers.
Lead-gen specialists can help you strategize around which tactics work best for your business and offerings, then help you develop an execution plan to put them into action.
Appointment Setting
Booking appointments with your new leads is one of the key ways to convert them at the top of the funnel — but it takes time, experience, and the right tools and approaches. Lead generation specialists often take care of the entire process by offering appointment setting services as part of their offerings.
These services typically include:
- Answering questions from potential leads
- Conducting initial outreach
- Collecting data for lead scoring and qualification
- Setting appointments
- Managing calendars and sending reminders
One of the most powerful benefits of appointment setting services is that they serve as a bridge between marketing and sales, creating greater alignment and a more seamless buyer experience.
5 Business Benefits of Hiring a Lead Generation Specialist
Time and Cost Savings
The top-rated benefit of outsourcing across the board is cost savings — 70% of companies say it’s their number one reason for choosing to outsource. When you hire a lead generation specialist, you eliminate the overhead costs associated with hiring additional full-time staff as well as the tools and technologies you’d need to execute your lead generation strategy.
By outsourcing lead gen, you also save significant time that you’d spend managing the top of your funnel. In business, saved time of course translates to saved money. Even better, you’ll be able to increase focus on other important activities that help your business grow — without worrying that your pipeline will suffer as a result.
Higher Conversion Rates
Lead generation specialists don’t just fill your pipeline, they keep it full of best-fit leads with a high likelihood to convert. Because they use top tools and technologies and also help you execute effective top-of-the-funnel engagement, you can expect your lead conversion rate to jump when you outsource lead-gen, and your sales numbers to also benefit as a result.
Scalable Execution
Things like seasonality, budget changes, and special initiatives (like a new product launch, for example), mean the volume and amount of resources you’re putting toward lead-gen won’t be the same all the time.
Hiring a lead generation specialist makes it easier to scale your lead-gen efforts up and down as needed for more flexible operating, optimized costs, and a lead-gen strategy that’s more aligned with your larger business goals.
Data-Driven Performance Reporting
Third-party vendors prove their value through data-driven performance reporting that shows exactly how their work is earning your business real results. Lead generation specialists are no exception. When you outsource, you’ll see frequent reporting and have greater access to data insights that can inform strategy decisions.
Reliable Sales Pipeline
The ultimate goal of a lead gen specialist is to keep your pipeline healthy at all times. When you hire a third-party specialist to support your lead generation strategy, you can operate the rest of your business with full confidence that you’ll always have new leads coming in.
Making the Decision to Outsource
Making the decision to outsource is a big step. Even though the benefits are powerful for driving growth and saving time and money, it can feel counterintuitive. Ultimately, you know your customers and business better than anyone else. It’s natural to wonder if an external agency can really represent your brand authentically.
But a great lead generation specialist will act as a real partner to your business, getting to know your unique audience and target customers, learning your goals and needs, and developing a strategy that delivers for your unique business.
Revboss’s outbound email software and lead generation services are custom-built for startups, consultancies, marketing agencies, and other B2B organizations.
Schedule a quick call with us and find out how we can help you win more clients.