Lead Quality: Finding the right mix between quality and volume

“How do other lead generation companies pro-actively improve their lead quality while still delivering on the growing volume demands of their clients?”

The aforementioned question is probably the most frequently asked one that I field from potential new clients. Most folks asking the question assume that improved lead quality equals fewer leads being sold. And in many cases, they are correct. But they also assume that improved lead quality will result in reduced revenue. This is where they are misguided. Let me give you an example.

Back in the spring, one of the top online education sites sent out a missive to its legion of lead providers. The email was urging them to improve their lead quality… or else. Two of their lead providers, Vendare Media and High Voltage Interactive, had shown significant improvements in lead quality for this client. The online EDU was hoping that other lead providers would follow suit. In the meantime, Vendare and High Voltage were rewarded with additional business as a result.

My understanding is that a good portion of that business was re-apportioned from other existing lead providers that had failed to meet the EDU’s lead quality guidelines. The other lead providers were fortunate to have at least been given a heads up that a crackdown was coming though. In many cases, lead generators get no such warning. They either flat out lose clients or they never win additional business from their existing clients.

The example above highlights the fact that a short term investment in better lead quality pays off — usually sooner rather than later. At the end of the day, no one buying leads cares who sent them the most leads. They care about knowing who sent them the best performing leads, so they can buy more from that party.

So, all that being said, let’s get back to actually answering the question at hand instead of just dissecting it. Unfortunately, there is no generic state of lead quality nirvana that everyone can fine tune their dials to. Instead, there is a cause and effect relationship whenever a lead generator tries to refine the process of deciding what a quality lead is. No process will ever be perfect — some bad leads will always still get through, and a smaller percentage of good leads may even be incorrectly rejected. Further, no two clients are likely to have the same quality thresholds.

The important thing is that both sides, the lead buyer and the lead seller, set expectations upfront about what constitutes a quality lead and what tradeoffs might be necessary in order to hit a specific cap in a short period of time. If the lead seller can meet and/or exceed these expectations, then they can expect to be rewarded just as Vendare and High Voltage were in the example above.