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I remember the first time I came across the world of lead generation. The pitch seemed simple - reach prospective customers, buy the results of somebody else’s marketing spend, speak to prospective customers within moments of them requesting to be contacted, and so on and so forth.

Pretty compelling I thought. Marketing this concept should be fairly straightforward. Surely intermediaries would be queuing up to buy leads?

By and large it has been a good reception, but along the way we have had a few challenges. Sometimes despite our best efforts, it is not always easy to explain lead generation to everybody.

My personal favourite was an intermediary who contacted us after reading an article in the press about the merits of lead generation. He seemed very keen and excited at the prospect of buying leads.

Unfortunately the intermediary concerned had no email address to receive the leads and no computer either.

When trying to explain how online lead generation and owning a computer go together like the British summer and rain, he promptly told us that he didn’t like typing so would not be changing his working practices.

I thought this was an isolated incident but after it seems that this wasn’t a one off. Another intermediary has contacted us in the past who also did not have a computer but didn’t see this as an obstruction to buying internet generated leads.

He came up with a solution himself by suggesting that we should just call him every time he received a lead and read him the lead detail over the phone and he would copy the information down himself.

While these anecdotes are certainly amusing, they do reveal a potentially more worrying trend.

The finance world is increasingly moving online and in the current market it is vital that intermediaries adapt and embrace online technologies to allow them to work more efficiently or risk being left behind.

Justin Rees is head of marketing at LeadPoint UK

Embracing technology is one thing, we’ve just had a big spend (For us)on new servers, PCs and inceased our back office support.
What the article fails to recognise is that a need for ever more new clients/”leads” suggests either a start up firm/one expanding it’s number of advisers or one that cannot retain it’s core clients or doesn’t have a broad spread of client ages/demograhics so they are all dying off!
If an IFA firm has worked out how many clients it needs (average ticket value etc) to have and of what quality, then targeting exaclty the clients one wants to add through on-line marketing is unlikely to achieve what one is aiming for. Even with increased technology (all our office PCs have webcams and skype, but no clients use them yet)geography and ability to see quality clients face to face is still paramount.
We first used laptops in client meetings back in the late 80’s and have gone through and out the otherside of automation at point of sale. Our client fact find isn’t a paper form, nor is it electonic, it is a recording of the discussion, notes and pictures which is then keyed back at the office in to our back office systems (PLUM). Which is better a fact find signed 50 times which can then be disputed or a recording of the client in their own voice making a statement of fact.
Got away from the subject a litte bit I know. But more point is that “leads” are a numbers game, so if you are in to volume business, you need lots more leads. For me you focus on what is profitable or what you like and want to do
Just my opinion. Shoot be down if you like.

Phil,

I agree with a lot of what you say. Buying leads is a numbers game. Some lead categories such as Life Insurance convert at fairly high percentages (around 20%) so it is feasible for a smaller firm to buy leads and make a decent return. For categories such as unsecured loans, it does tend to be the larger companies buying in volumes but this is reflected in the price.

Lead generation can be a useful tool for any company, big or small. What we always try to do is just present lead generation as a viable marketing option rather than the solution to all the problems a company may have. I think in the past, lead providers have over promised which is a dangerous thing to do.

The important thing to do (and this applies to all companies in all industries) is to be open and upfront about what lead generation can deliver.

Justin - Thanks for your reply, it balances the article better.