In our previous article I gave an introduction in the two main types of leads : Warm Leads and Cold Leads. I am going to continue by giving a more in depth look into Cold Leads and Lead Vendors.

Cold leads are prospects whom you do not know, were not directly referred to you by someone or prospects who contacted you but were not quite sure what you were selling or offering. The main source of Cold Leads are Prospect Vendors, also called Lead Providers. Prospect Vendors are in the business of building contact lists (who’s prospects are usually one of the three types of referrals) and then selling these contact lists to business people like you.

Even though the prospects you purchase from a Lead Vendor started out warm, by the time they get to you they are considered cold, and in many cases they will be frigid.

Here is why.

There are several great Lend Vendors online today.  They obtain their leads through reputable methods and do their best to give genuinely warm leads.  Unfortunately,  there are by far more bad Prospect Vendors out there today than good ones. Some prospect vendors will use very questionable methods to build a contact database. These methods include:

• using surveys that do not relate to the businesses they will be selling the leads to
• buying old or used leads from other lead vendors
• selling the same lead to multiple (sometimes as many as 50!) businesses
• taking contact information off of websites using electronic searchers called Web Spiders
• making false offers to the prospects, such as promises of coupons or free merchandise.

Imagine what this can lead to. You call up a prospect you recently purchased from Joe’s Leads, who you thought was giving you at least a Cold Referral lead. This poor lead, Sara, filled out a survey on baby products two months ago, and was then sold to various businesses, non of which are selling baby products. She has now been receiving calls for two months from people who assumed she was interested in what they are offering. By the time you call Sara, she is wondering who you are, how you got her information, why you are contacting her about an e-business opportunity and where her free samples of baby food are that she was told she would be getting when she filled out the survey two months ago!

I have seen this scary scenario play out time and time again. I have had my own fair share of experiences of being both the Caller and the Called. I bet you too have had at least one of your Sunday Night dinners interrupted. Before you give up on the idea of purchasing leads all together, there is another side to the Lead Vendor issue.

There are legitimate lead companies out there that provide quality, researched and informed prospects to businesses.

That being said, a lead company will almost always sell a lead to at least 3 people. They have to do this in order to make a workable business profit. The legitimate lead providers, however, will tell you this upfront. You must also always keep in mind that, as with all things, you really will get what you pay for. Today, fresh legitimate leads are the diamonds of the business world. Expect to pay at least 2 to 5$ per lead. Pay anything less and you will be getting cheap imitations. Pay anything less than 1$ per lead and you will be getting well used coal.

Avoid Bulk Lead packages. I cannot stress this enough. Every Lend Vendor (including the legitimate ones) will have a Special Bulk Lead package or Old Lead Package. These are the Blue-Light Specials of the Lead Vending marketplace. They usually go for 10 to 25 cents a lead and are sold in packages of 500 or more. Again, you get exactly what you pay for. Bulk Leads are usually “last sell” leads, meaning they are generally more than one month old and have already been sold to multiple businesses. By the time you get to contact the leads from a bulk list, they are tired of being contacted, will most likely not remember how the lead vendor obtained their information and will most likely become hostile on the phone.

Put yourself into the shoes of the leads you are buying. Do you think you are worth more than 25 cents?

If you purchase the high quality leads (sometimes referred to as Live Leads or Hot Leads) that are 5$ each and are less than 24 hours old, you will have a higher rate of acquisition. These leads are more expensive for a reason. They are brand new; they just filled out a survey asking them questions that relate to your product or service. Some lead vendors will even show the lead your website and direct them to your contact form. In this way, you are paying the Lead Vendor to be an Impersonal Referrer.

The bottom line with using Lead Vendors is to do your homework and stay way from the prospect bargain bin.

Prospecting can be one of the most enjoyable and interesting parts of doing your e-business. You get to converse with people from all walks of life, form business relationships, investigate new ways to get quality leads and experience the elation of turning a lead into a customer or business associate.

Anyone can be a successful prospector as long as they follow five key simple rules:

• Do not add your entire family and friends list to your Prospect List
• Avoid Cheap and seedy Lead Vendors - don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t buy!
• Put yourself in the shoes of your prospects every time you call them
• Build business relationships that build referrals
• The best quality prospects come from prospecting that you do yourself