Seven Questions to Ask Before Committing to an Outsourced Lead Generation Provider

July 3, 2024

New business development takes time, a skilled sales team, investment, a defined process, and a supporting infrastructure. While all of these aspects can be challenging to implement, in 2024, finding skilled labor is at the forefront. The Manpower Group reports that 75% of employers struggle to fill positions, and sales and marketing ranks as the third-most difficult technical skill to fill. To combat this, many companies are outsourcing some aspects of their sales and marketing, specifically lead generation. If you are one of those companies, this is a critical decision. Asking the right questions will ensure you are partnering with an outsourced provider that will meet your needs and deliver quality leads.

What Type of Outsourced Provider Do I Need?

There are several types of outsourced providers, and choosing the right type will depend on your sales and marketing needs and budget. Some companies claim to sell leads, but be wary of any company selling you a list and calling it leads. The companies on the list may fall under a requested industry code (standard industrial classification or North American Industry Classification System) and within a specific geography, but these lists aren’t vetted to fit your specific needs regarding sales potential, product requirements, and decision-makers. Often, these lists contain outdated contact information—if any at all—or in some cases, the emails are spam traps, which can result in consequences ranging from future delivery issues to blacklisting. If you have the personnel, you can use a service such as D&B Hoovers or ZoomInfo to generate an initial list that your sales support team can research to narrow the list to potential prospects, ensure that the contact information is correct, and confirm that the contact is a decision-maker. If you need more support than this, decide if your company can benefit from inbound and/or outbound marketing. Inbound marketing pulls in prospects using passive tactics to attract people seeking packaging solutions. Outbound consists of active outreach tactics targeting specific companies and contacts to start the sales process. Most packaging manufacturers benefit from a holistic approach that incorporates both. Once you know what kind of provider you need, you will have to ask your prospective candidates questions about the approach they take and the results you can expect.

What Is Your Packaging Experience?

Partnering with an agency that not only understands the difference between a corrugated box and a cardboard box but also has a finger on the pulse of the industry shortens the onboarding learning curve and provides confidence that your company will be represented appropriately when its team is speaking to prospects on your behalf. An agency with industry experience will understand the nuances and challenges faced by independent corrugators versus integrated. Additionally, every industry has a unique audience with specific needs, preferences, and pain points; packaging is no exception. An agency familiar with paper packaging will understand your target audience better, allowing them to tailor their marketing strategies to resonate with them effectively. Since they understand what is happening in the industry, they can adapt messaging to be relevant.

What Is Your Approach?

Having a repeatable process is key. The approach taken to make a box can vary from provider to provider. One may deliver boxes to spec every time, and another manufacturer may have varying dimensions, poor glue adhesion, and inferior graphics. The same is true of outsourced partners. A repeatable process with feedback data will ensure a better outcome. The approach should also involve best practice activities. For example, some search engine optimization (SEO) providers may focus only on content. A best practice SEO provider should offer technical optimization, improve the users’ experience, build organic visibility, incorporate on-page and off-page SEO, monitor rankings, give suggestions for improvement, and focus on long-term results. When inbound leads come in, your team must determine if they fit your targeted profile and quickly follow up with them. When using SEO alone, it takes months to start seeing results. An outbound provider’s process involves calling and emailing prospects from lists the agency builds or you provide. They should have a process with a regular cadence for outreach and a means to follow up and prevent opportunities from aging. Because they are speaking directly to prospects, they should understand the packaging industry and be able to speak at a high level about your services, including having prepared rebuttals to common objections. A full-service agency provides inbound and outbound services and follows up on inbound leads. Some firms also offer sales support by tracking leads through the sales pipeline, reconnecting with leads that have gone dark, following up on quotes, reaching out to current customers who may have additional spending potential, and finding out why an opportunity was lost or won. These agencies should assist with accountability to ensure that leads move through the pipeline.

How Many People Will Be Working on My Account?

Understanding the expertise and roles of the individuals involved with your account can help you gauge the comprehensiveness and quality of the service you will receive. It gives you an idea of the level of attention and resources the provider dedicates to your business and can indicate their capacity to effectively manage your needs. You will also want to ask if the team will remain the same or if individuals rotate in and out. When the same team members handle your account, they develop a deeper understanding of your products or services. This familiarity enables them to communicate more effectively and convincingly with potential clients about the benefits and features of what you offer.

How Are Leads Qualified?

How leads are qualified is important, as it directly impacts the amount of work your sales team has to do. Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) often come in through your website, or they may also come from another platform that offers downloadable content—the person may fill out a form in exchange for your e-book or webinar, for example. If the agency provides MQLs, understand that your team must determine if they are a good fit, which uses resources. Sales-qualified leads are ready for the salesperson to contact. They have been determined to fit your customer profile and are prepared to discuss their needs. Someone from the agency will speak to the prospect to ensure they meet the qualification criteria. These are much more valuable than an MQL.

How Many Leads Can I Expect and in What Time Frame?

If this question makes an agency nervous or they answer with “there is no way to know,” they are not confident in their processes or don’t have enough experience in the paper-based packaging industry. A company with expertise understands that the results for a corrugated brown box will differ from a retail display, which is different from retail packaging. Using your pipeline conversion rates, they should be able to calculate the number of qualified leads you can expect and how they move through the sales cycle. Remember that the length of your sales cycle must be considered. Although it’s more challenging for an SEO provider, they should be able to predict how many quality inbound submissions you can expect based on their experience with others in the same industry. You will also want to ensure they use tactics to target leads, including local SEO and targeted keywords. It isn’t helpful for an East Coast boxmaker to get hundreds of website visitors from the West Coast.

Can You Provide a Packaging Case Study and References?

Understanding their past performance is crucial when evaluating an inbound or outbound lead generation agency. Requesting a case study and references allows you to gauge their process’s effectiveness and their client’s satisfaction. The case study should highlight the client’s objectives, strategies employed, challenges faced, and outcomes achieved. Ensure the case study is relevant to your industry and provides quantifiable results, such as the number of qualified leads generated, the increase in website traffic, or the value of new sales generated. Quantifiable results help in assessing the effectiveness of the agency’s work. In addition to a case study, ask for client references. Speaking directly to past or current clients can provide insights into the agency’s reliability, communication, and overall service quality. Ask these references specific questions about their experience working with the agency, the agency’s responsiveness to inquiries, and the reference’s satisfaction with the results obtained. By requesting a comprehensive case study and direct references, you can better understand the agency’s capabilities and the likelihood of achieving your desired outcomes. This due diligence is key in choosing an agency that aligns with your business goals and can deliver tangible results. Hiring an agency for inbound and/or outbound lead generation can be a significant investment. Asking the right questions upfront can help ensure the agency’s approach aligns with your business goals, optimizing your return on investment and minimizing risks.