Surveys show 85% of B2B marketers point to lead generation as their biggest challenge (source). This is concerning because leads are the lifeblood of a business. Without new leads coming in, there are no new sales. That’s why hiring a top B2B lead generation company is crucial.

That being said, how do you find the right company for your business? You’re about to discover a simple guideline to help you do that.

Know Your Goals

Before approaching any B2B lead generation company, you need a clearly defined goal. Setting goals is like putting in your destination on your GPS. Without it, the B2B lead generation company won’t be able to know how they can help you.

Savvy business owners and managers use SMART goals to keep their campaigns on track. If you’re not familiar with it, SMART goals are:

• Specific – Instead of setting a goal of generating leads, insert a specific number. For example, 30 new leads per month.
• Measurable – This is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that is important to you when it comes to measuring the success of the campaign.
• Attainable – Goals shouldn’t be easy, but they must be attainable. Let’s say your typical sales cycle is 6 months. Even the best B2B lead generation company can’t bring you new sales within 3 months of working together.
• Relevant – Your goals should be in line with your bigger business goals. For any business, clearly getting a predictable stream of leads is congruent with your goals of increasing sales.
• Timely – SMART goals have a specific timeline attached to it.

Plan Your Lead Acquisition Budget

Marketing campaigns to generate leads is an investment for your business. This is fine as long as you’re making a return on your investment (ROI). Here are some calculations that will help you plan your budget

• How many new leads do you need to hit your revenue target?
• What is the average cost per lead for your industry?
• What is your leads-to-sale conversion rate?
• What is your customer lifetime value? Customer lifetime value = average customer lifespan x average annual customer value

These questions will help you understand your business better. And it will make discussing with lead generation agencies easier.

You will find that the top B2B lead generation companies will charge more compared to less reputable ones. They typically have a proven marketing strategy to generate leads for you.

That’s why it’s essential that you know your numbers first. You’ll know if it makes sense to pay a higher price.

If you’re getting a good return on your investment, then why not go with them. By outsourcing the lead gen to a specialist, you free up resources in your team. They can focus on closing the deals and fulfilling the orders.

Understand The Target Market

The lead generation company you work with must work to know your target audience. In B2B, they could be different people in multiple departments.

One can be an engineer who wants to know specific details of how your product works. They want to know detailed hardware requirements, specifications and how to use them.

Another audience could be the decision makers who may not be technically savvy. They will be overwhelmed and confused with that level of detail. Instead, they’re more concerned about the costs, getting a good return on investment and safety of the product.

It’s important the B2B lead generation company you work with knows your ideal client. That way the agency knows their concerns and can communicate it in the marketing messages.

How Leads Are Generated

There are many ways to generate leads online. There’s content marketing, email marketing, paid advertising, social media, and many more.

These strategies are all great and have a place in the overall B2B lead generation strategy. They complement one another when you integrate them all seamlessly. They fill each other’s gaps.

For example, organic keywords may take longer to rank on the search engines. You can run paid search for those keywords that you aren’t ranking high for yet. You can also incorporate social media to engage your target audience and join the conversation where they are hanging out.

B2B buyers today go through a long sales journey, where they twist and turn throughout the process. By having a presence in all the different channels, it increases your chances of getting noticed.

But having to deal with multiple agencies who handle different parts can be a nightmare. It will be difficult to coordinate and cause delays in the project. Moreover, your messaging won’t be consistent.

Therefore, it would be a great advantage to work with a B2B lead generation company that provides all of the service. Everything is in one place and you just have to liaise with one person.

Establish Clear Communication

In any business relationship, clear communications is a must. This has to be set up the moment the project is launched. So ask the agency what their onboarding process looks like.

Having a thorough onboarding process means that everything will be laid out and everyone will be on the same page. There’s no back and forth which will delay the start of the project. This will save a lot of time and get your project moving faster.

You also want to know who will be the point of contact. You want someone who is reliable. They need to be easy to reach when you need them. And find out what is the best channel to communicate. The last thing you want is to spend days waiting for a reply from your lead generation company.

It’s a good idea to schedule regular updates. You can monitor the KPI and make sure the campaign is running on track. This will help you have a successful lead generation campaign.

Choosing the Best B2B Lead Generation Company

Bringing in a top B2B lead generation company can take some effort initially. By doing the due diligence upfront, it will increase the chance of a successful campaign.

Having a predictable stream of new leads is critical for any business. Get in touch to fill your pipeline with warm and qualified leads.