Business Lead Lists That Don't Disappoint

Have you ever purchased a business lead list only to find your money wasted on bad data?
All I can tell you is just like you I've run into list companies that left me cold.
Too many old mailing addresses or wrong numbers or outdated contact information.
Even some big name outfits --- they really dissapointed!
But ten years ago things changed for the better.
I stumbled across a small family owned company which I found on the internet.
Never heard of them before but their website looked credible.
I called them and was impressed with how I was able to work with the same person whenever I had questions or last-minute tweaks for my list research.
So after a day or two of smoothing out the wrinkles I decided to test their data with a list I purchased not for a client but for myself to do my own outreach calls.
What I liked especially about their service is how they worked with me editing and cutting out prospect data not suited for my particular niche project.
To this day I continue working this way with them on every list I build for anyone interested in my outreach services.
The process is very flexible so you can test small batches of prospect lists custom built to match your needs.
Selecting leads by industry, job function, and a number of other demographics are pretty clear cut and easy to do.
Selections include:
- Employee Size
- Type of business
- SIC Code
- Sales volume
- Years in business
- Phone numbers
- Credit rating
- Headquarters Geography
- Executives by title
- Franchises
- Website Address
- Medical professionals
- Growing Businesses
- Fortune Executive
- New Businesses
- Credit rating
- Number of computers
- Number of white collar
- Manufacturing site
Their business lead lists database is created from over 100 unique sources.
- 19,000,000 Company Locations
- 24,000,000 Executives.
The combined data represents over 75,000,000 business records which are merged, cleaned and passed against USPS software.
In addition, over 20 million records are telephone verified to provide the highest accuracy available.
So, yes --- there are some good business lead lists out there.
Just avoid fly-by-night data companies selling old data...or any list company you do not feel comfortable with.
My toolbox for building a good business lead list
Learned this in bits and pieces ---- keeping what works while tossing out the bum turns that ended up going nowhere.
What works for you building good prospect lists is what matters ---- so take my suggestions as starting points to get you going in the right direction.
Things you will need ----
A reasonably good contact management program.
My favorite --- TeleMagic.
Streamlines list building --- keeps data organized for rapid outreach to best prospects.
My review of Telemagic is here.
Important: List building without a good CRM platform is a fool's errand. So get one an learn the ropes.
Good list company.
Accurate Leads ---- Small family owned. Great service.
Plus you can test small batches of prospect lists custom built to match your needs.
Again, it's a process. No magic pill!
Just giving you real-world experience you can test yourself.
Let's work together
100 Best Business Development Books of All Time
Seven Must read classic business books
Forbes: New Rules for Prospecting In The Age of The Customer
Also: Harvard Business Review reports on benefits of cold call lead development.
From Harvard Business School On-line: This On-line learning course sounds interesting
Q: What goals are realistic for prospecting to get appointments?
A: Forget phone prospecting for appointments.
Effective lead generation and list building are about qualifying prospects for future contacts.
You are calling to get information -- NOT to book an appointment!
That means finding out if your prospect qualifies being added to the front end of your sales funnel.
Picture a crowded room.
Your goal: find the folks interested --- more or less --- in what you offer.
How to do it? Ask for a show of hands.
There, that's the goal of your cold call ---
- finding the right prospects
- separating them from the crowd
- qualifying their interest level
My goodness --- now you have three goals!
Also, view each call as a means for fine tuning your prospect database.
It's a work in progress that never ends!
Sooner or later every vendor screws up a project.
My real-time follow-up calls keep you informed on account activity so you’re ready to move when opportunity knocks.
Feedback: I give you full notes and clear records of each call at all stages.
You Monitor Account Activity:
Because these updates are ongoing you can track results and jump in whenever a prospect is ready for a face-to face or wants a demo scheduled or has questions best answered by you or your team.
Question: Does effective business outreach cold calling require a background in the industry or markets you are calling?
Answer: Surprisingly, industry specific knowledge about the business segments you are calling is NOT essential.
Your ability to bond with someone --- usually a complete stranger if you're cold calling --- will have more to do with your tone of voice than anything else.
See my post: How To Make A Successful Phone Introduction
But too many sales managers insist only salespeople with deep understanding of the markets they are selling can do business development cold calling.
It's myth based on lack of real-world testing and experience rather than tested cold call business experience.