How Outsourced B2B Lead Generation Works & What to Look Out For

Outsourcing your b2b lead generation is a great way to get more leads, but doing your research first is essential. When it comes to lead generation, there may be a plethora of individuals and businesses that could do your lead gen, but only a few are suitable for your company. Additionally, outsourcing lead generation helps companies focus their internal teams on higher-level tasks, such as closing deals and refining sales strategies. By letting sales teams concentrate on closing deals instead of prospecting, businesses can better allocate their resources to core activities.

You will have control over the filtering process if you correctly set up your B2B lead generating outsourcing method. Maintaining a consistent brand voice can be tricky when outsourcing lead generation, but this challenge can be managed effectively with clear guidelines. Investing in training and onboarding helps outsourced teams understand a company's brand, value proposition, and market position, ensuring alignment with company culture and values. In-house teams generally maintain a consistent brand voice aligned with company culture and values, which can be a significant advantage for some businesses.

In this article, we'll explain what outsourced b2b lead generation is, the benefits, and the pros and cons of outsourcing. We'll also explain how a typical collaboration with a b2b lead generation company works and provide tips on vetting the right company to get leads from. Establishing clear communication and performance metrics is crucial for successful outsourced lead generation. Regular check-ins and feedback between the business and the outsourced agency can help align strategies and expectations. A trusted lead generation provider ensures to submit their report regularly, which helps maintain transparency and track progress effectively. The agency you hire should actively participate in your regular meetings to ensure seamless collaboration and alignment.

What is Outsourced Lead Generation?

The goal of B2B lead generation is to identify the ideal consumers for your service or product to then entice them to buy. It’s a crucial element of B2B sales and marketing professionals’ jobs.

When comparing house lead generation (in-house lead generation) and outsourced lead generation, house lead generation offers direct control and alignment with your company’s goals, while outsourcing can provide greater cost efficiency and access to specialized expertise. In-house lead generation relies on internal teams to handle lead acquisition, execute strategies, and build relationships with potential customers. However, building an in-house lead generation team involves costs beyond salaries, including benefits and technology. Companies that outsource lead generation see a 43% improvement in lead return compared to those that generate leads in-house. Startups and small businesses often benefit from outsourcing for its flexibility and cost savings. Additionally, outsourcing can reduce costs by avoiding expenses related to payroll, benefits, and turnover. Many marketing companies report that lead generation takes up a majority of their budget, making outsourcing a cost-effective alternative.

Outsourcing your b2b lead generation means working with a lead generation company or an outsourced team that specializes in generating leads for businesses. An established lead generation company brings experience, resources, and the ability to deliver a higher quality and quantity of sales leads compared to individual freelancers. When selecting a trustworthy lead generation provider, look for transparency, regular reporting, and a multi-channel approach to ensure quality leads. These lead generation companies use their resources and methods to generate leads, which you can then follow up on. A reliable lead generation company will help you create an ideal customer profile (ICP), ensuring that your campaigns are targeted and effective. Outsourced lead generation means working with third-party agencies that specialize in finding and nurturing leads, ensuring a steady flow of potential customers. An outsourced partner can also work closely with your internal sales team to ensure seamless integration and transparent communication.

There are several advantages to outsourcing your b2b lead generation:

1. It frees up your time so that you can focus on other aspects of your business.
2. It allows you to tap into a larger pool of potential leads.
3. It gives you access to experienced professionals who know how to generate leads effectively.
4. You benefit from cost efficiency and immediate expertise when working with lead generation companies.
5. Lead generation companies use proven methodologies to deliver quick and reliable results.

Naturally, outsourcing a b2b lead generation team also has some disadvantages; for instance, it can be expensive, and you may not have as much control over the leads at first. However, an in house team provides direct control over your lead generation strategies and messaging, ensuring alignment with your brand. In-house teams require ongoing training to keep up with industry trends, which adds to the resource burden and can impact overall efficiency.

When you outsource, you gain access to specialized expertise from an outsourced team or external teams, which can benefit your business by leveraging advanced strategies and industry knowledge. Choosing an outsourcing partner with industry expertise and alignment with your business goals is crucial for achieving measurable results. Outsourcing partners also provide access to advanced tools and technology that enhance lead quality and campaign effectiveness. A structured lead generation strategy is essential for maximizing the effectiveness of outsourced teams in generating leads. Effective outsourced lead generation agencies analyze business needs and run campaigns across multiple channels to find leads. Multi-channel outreach is essential for effective lead generation, as it allows businesses to engage with prospects through various platforms and methods, increasing the chances of success.

What to Expect from Lead Outsourcing?

When you outsource your lead generation strategy, you can expect to receive several benefits. Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that you will free up time to focus on other aspects of your business.

In addition, you will most likely see an increase in the quality of your leads. When you work with the right partner, you have access to a team of experienced professionals who prioritize lead quality and implement rigorous lead qualification processes. This ensures that your leads are well-vetted, which can significantly improve conversion rates and overall campaign effectiveness. High-quality lead generation not only boosts conversion rates but also contributes to increased revenue and overall business growth.

Finally, outsourcing your lead generation strategy can also save you money. While finding leads isn’t cheap, you can get qualified leads that will eventually buy from you. It is important to track success metrics and key performance indicators, such as lead quality, conversion rates, and customer lifetime value, to measure the effectiveness of your outsourced lead generation efforts.

In essence, when you outsource your lead generation strategy, you should aim to save time, improve the quality of your leads, and save money. By aligning outsourced lead generation with your specific business needs, you can also drive revenue growth and achieve better long-term results. You should also expect regular reporting on the number of leads generated, allowing you to track progress and optimize your strategy as needed.

How do you Generate Leads for a B2B Business?

There are several ways to generate leads for a B2B business. Lead generation activities can be managed by internal resources or outsourced to specialized agencies, depending on your company’s needs and available resources. The most common methods are through online channels such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and content marketing as a key component of a multichannel approach. Sales and marketing teams, as well as marketing teams, often collaborate to generate high-quality sales leads using these strategies, and developing a comprehensive sales strategy that includes lead generation and pipeline management is essential. However, trying to generate leads in house can present challenges and inefficiencies, making outsourcing an attractive option for many businesses. Outsourced lead generation can involve a variety of methods including email campaigns, social media outreach, and telemarketing. Outsourced agencies often rely on proven strategies that have been tested and validated to generate results. But there’s more; here are some common ways your outsourcing company will generate leads.

Identifying prospects is a crucial step in the process. Understanding your target audience helps ensure your efforts are focused on the right customer segments, improving lead quality.

Social Media

Social media is a great way to connect with potential leads. External agencies often use social media outreach to connect with potential customers, leveraging platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to engage and attract new prospects. According to a report by Hootsuite, 82% of marketers think the best social media platform for lead generation for B2C is Facebook, followed by LinkedIn at 48%. The opposite is true for B2B marketing, where LinkedIn takes the cake.

Facebook allows you to target individuals by interests, preferences, company size, and more. LinkedIn, on the other hand, allows you to research individual profiles and connect with professionals in your field.

And by outsourcing to a powerful team such as Intelus Agency, you can get qualified leads every day to maximize your sales. Intelus will manually build targeted lists and reach out to your prospective clients—those who are most likely to benefit from your offerings—build rapport, and ask them questions to get them as qualified as possible before booking a call on your calendar. Nurturing leads through ongoing engagement is a key part of successful social media lead generation, ensuring that potential customers are developed into valuable opportunities.

By outsourcing your lead generation to a company specializing in these platforms, you can be confident that you’re getting the most out of your social media efforts.

Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator

On top of sending connections on LinkedIn, using LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful way to generate leads. The advanced search filters in Sales Navigator enable sales professionals to identify the right prospects by narrowing down searches based on specific roles, locations, industries, departments, and more. Sales teams can leverage these platforms to build targeted prospect lists and scale outreach efforts, making their lead generation strategies more efficient and effective. A deep understanding of your target market further enhances the effectiveness of using Sales Navigator, allowing you to create more authentic messaging and improve lead qualification. AI-powered tools in lead generation allow for faster implementation than traditional methods.

Needless to say, this will help you hone in on the right people to connect with. Of course, LinkedIn is not a quick fix, and Sales Navigator has its limitations. But when using it simultaneously with other tools, it can maximize your chances of generating high-quality business leads.

Sending Cold Emails

Cold outreach via email is a key lead generation tactic. Another way to generate leads is by sending cold emails. This process can be effective if done correctly, but a few steps must be followed to create successful cold email campaigns. First, it is important to compile a list of potential leads by researching the target market and identifying key decision-makers within potential partner organizations. Before starting outreach, rigorous lead qualification is crucial to ensure that only high-quality leads are targeted, which can significantly improve conversion rates. Quality control is also essential throughout the cold email process to maintain high standards, ensure proactive oversight, and enable open feedback loops.

Once a list of potential leads has been compiled, the next step is to create an enticing email that will capture the recipient’s attention and encourage them to learn more about the products or services being offered. The email should be well-written, engaging, and free of grammar or spelling errors, and it should also clearly state what the recipient stands to gain.

Both sales reps and AI sales agents can play a role in managing and following up on cold outreach campaigns, with AI sales agents handling tasks like automated follow-ups and lead research, while sales reps focus on relationship-building and closing deals. AI agents can autonomously search for targeted leads and engage in outreach without human intervention, streamlining the lead generation process and improving efficiency. AI can optimize lead scoring processes by analyzing vast amounts of data to identify high-potential leads, enhancing the overall effectiveness of campaigns. Implementing AI technology in lead generation can lead to a 30% increase in conversion rates.

Finally, it is essential to track the response rate of each campaign and make adjustments accordingly to maximize results.

Finding Users Who Aren't Satisfied with your Competitors

Lastly, a tricky yet very powerful way to generate qualified leads is to find users who aren’t fully satisfied with their current partner, service, or product.

While “how to find them” is ultimately up to the outsourcing company, it can be done by conducting research, such as surveys and interviews, to identify user needs that your competitors are not meeting. Understanding market demands also helps tailor your approach to better address gaps in the industry. Once you’ve identified these needs, you can create targeted marketing campaigns directly addressing them. Additionally, focusing on customer success and maximizing customer lifetime value can improve your lead generation outcomes by fostering long-term relationships and ensuring ongoing satisfaction.

Is it Better to Outsource Lead Generation?

A common debate among businesses is whether it is better to outsource lead generation or keep it in-house. When making this decision, key factors to consider include the scalability of in house teams, the impact on internal resources, data security, and the long-term alignment with brand goals. Both approaches have pros and cons, but the most convenient and ROI-increasing solution is to outsource your campaign. Outsourcing lead generation supports a structured sales process by guiding leads from initial contact to closing deals, ensuring consistency and maximizing revenue. Establishing a hybrid approach that combines in-house efforts with outsourced agencies can provide the best results for lead generation. Many companies adopt a hybrid approach by combining outsourced expertise with AI capabilities in lead generation.

Outsourcing agencies have economies of scale and can often generate leads more efficiently than a single in-house employee. In addition, they also have access to a broader range of tools and resources. Outsourcing helps fill and sustain the sales pipeline with qualified leads, making it easier to scale during periods of rapid growth. However, an internal team can provide better data security by maintaining control over sensitive customer data and ensuring compliance with regulations, as well as more direct oversight of internal resources.

Ultimately, outsourcing is certainly your safest bet if your sales representatives don’t have much experience finding qualified leads.

Benefits of Outsourcing Lead Generation

When you outsource, you can choose the leads you want to reach out to and target specific industries or niches. An outsourced team or lead generation agencies can provide flexibility in outsourced lead generation, allowing you to scale your outsourced lead generation efforts up or down as needed and manage them to ensure responsiveness to changing business needs. Businesses can seamlessly scale existing lead generation processes to accommodate rapid growth phases. Continuous optimization is crucial to maintain the effectiveness of your lead generation in a dynamic market, ensuring ongoing improvements and a competitive edge. Scalability in lead generation helps businesses respond to seasonal fluctuations effectively, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently during peak and slow periods. To maximize results, it is important to regularly review performance and adjust strategies accordingly. Some businesses may prefer to scale back their lead generation efforts during slower months while developing a new product.

You'll Speak to Decision-Making People

One of the critical factors to consider when generating leads is to talk to decision-makers who can decide whether or not their company will use your service. Targeting decision-makers is one of the key factors that can significantly improve lead quality, as it ensures you are engaging with those who have the authority to move forward with your offering. When negotiating with them, you’ll be able to sell your product or services more efficiently.

Instead of targeting the administration or office reception when cold calling, finding directors, managers, or other key titles in the company will undoubtedly benefit your marketing strategy.

Outsourcing Lead Generation Improves Your ROI

The second and arguably most apparent benefit of outsourcing lead generation is that it can improve your return on investment (ROI).

You are essentially paying for results when outsourcing lead generation to a reputable firm. And because these firms specialize in lead generation, they have the tools and expertise necessary to generate high-quality leads that are more likely to convert. Outsourcing can also help boost conversion rates by leveraging advanced AI technology and automation, resulting in more leads turning into paying customers. This, in turn, drives consistent revenue growth and enhances overall sales effectiveness.

According to WebFX, 80% of marketers believe that their strategy is only slightly effective, which can eventually hurt your business instead of benefiting it. For this reason, you can expect to make more money outsourcing your campaign instead of doing it in-house.

You can Focus on Less Time-Consuming Tasks

There’s no question that lead generation can be time-consuming, and when you outsource a team to boost your campaign, it allows you to free up your time. By outsourcing, you can reallocate internal resources to focus on your core business needs, ensuring that your team is dedicated to activities that directly support your company's growth and objectives.

And after getting your first batch of leads, you can use this time to write compelling emails, make cold calls, or improve your overall marketing strategy.

B2B Lead Generation Outsourcing Decreases your Costs

Business-to-business lead generation outsourcing is quickly becoming a popular option for many companies. The main reason is that it can save you a lot of money. Cost efficiency and access to specialized expertise are major reasons companies choose to outsource lead generation, as outsourcing often reduces expenses for salaries, benefits, training, and technology, while providing access to professionals with targeted skills and industry-specific knowledge. Outsourcing lead generation often provides better cost efficiency for small to medium-sized businesses compared to in-house teams. Businesses often lack the staff, funding, and time to handle in-house lead generation effectively, making outsourcing an attractive alternative. Companies can pay a flat fee for outsourced lead generation services, which can help control costs.

Obviously, generating leads takes a long time, and, therefore, outsourcing the process won’t be cheap. However, you won’t have to spend the day finding leads. This can free up a lot of time and money that can be used elsewhere in the company.

Conclusion

Lead generation is a process that can be difficult to understand and frustrating when done in-house. By outsourcing lead gen to an experienced team, you can eliminate much of the guesswork and ensure quality leads are coming in consistently.

When choosing a team for outsourced B2B lead generation, remember the three things we discussed today: quality, quantity, and culture. Selecting the right partner not only helps ensure lead quality but also maximizes customer lifetime by focusing on long-term value and effective relationship management. If you keep these factors in mind when deciding, you’re sure to find a great partner to help your business grow.

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