5 Vital Tips for Buying Sales Leads: The Beginner's Guide to Prospecting for Customers

What Are Leads?

Leads refer to potential customers who have the ability to purchase a product, service, or business opportunity. For home business owners, the more leads they have the greater their chances of success. Some business owners get stumped on where to find leads, and their sales go down. At that point many home business owners simply give up on their business; thereby throwing away the money and time they have already invested.

What Is a Lead Vendor?

One of the most popular ways of finding leads when prospecting for customers is to buy leads from a Lead Vendor. You will find all kinds of lead vendors on the internet. These vendors specialize in selling lists of leads to entrepreneurs involved in multi-level marketing. Your goal is to buy good leads from a reputable vendor at a reasonable price.

Done properly, it can lead to success without going broke. You should know how to shop for a good lead vendor. When we were buying our first leads and prospecting for customers, we didn't know how to shop for a lead vendor and learned some expensive and valuable lessons that I want to share with you.

Here are my 5 Vital Tips When Buying Leads.

1. Can You Communicate With The Vendor?

The first critical factor you need to consider is whether you can talk to the vendor on the telephone or send an email? Questions deserve answers in a timely manner. Many vendors don't have the staff to answer telephones or respond to emails, so I would not go with them.

2. Are the Prices of Their Leads Reasonable?

You should always compare pricing of equivalent leads. Shop around for the best price on the same type of leads. Do your homework by checking out the customer ratings or feedback of the vendors you are considering. Choose a vendor that has been in business for a long time.

Some vendors offer flat rate packages, and others charge per lead. The cheaper leads are not as new and may have already been sold 2 or 3 times. There may be generic leads that do not apply to your business. The newly acquired and most targeted leads for your particular market are the best leads to buy. They are also the most expensive.

3. Is There A Replacement Policy?

The usual data that accompanies leads are: full name, address, telephone number, and email address. A good vendor should offer a replacement on "bad" leads. One reason for a replacement would be a telephone number that doesn't work. Another reason can be that the person you are calling does not live there. Finally, if you bought custom designed lead, your prospect should know what you are calling about and respond well to your call.

4. How Do You Evaluate the Lead You Have Purchased?

Every lead vender can occasionally have a "bad" batch of leads. A rule of thumb is to purchase at least 3 batches of leads before you decide if the leads were good. Make sure to evaluate your own performance before blaming the leads that you bought. Ask yourself if you were able to reach all of your leads and whether they were receptive to your phone calls. Keep track of your success rate.

5. Do They Offer Other Services?

Most lead vendors offer leads and other services as well. Consider a lead vender that offers an entire eMarketing program. If they are involved with generating leads, they should have an extensive knowledge of Internet Marketing and might be willing to offer those services as well.

Most home business owners have a budget that they need to stick to. Your budget could determine what type of leads you can afford to buy when prospecting for customers. The cheaper leads can still lead to sales but you will just have to purchase more leads and call more people in order to make a sale.

If you would like to know more about prospecting for customers click here Prospecting for Customers. Annie E Cook is the President of a home based business and an expert author of many articles related to home business success and internet marketing. Annie is also part of a team of successful business people who are willing to train new entrepreneurs. If you would like to know more about Annie E Cook click hereHome Business Success.

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