Sourcing new outbound leads is a never-ending endeavor for sales and marketing. Prophesies of cold calling being dead have not come true if only for the simple reason that prospecting through all channels must be on the table to fuel the engine of sales growth. Companies typically procure lead data from four main types of leads: Internally-generated leads: Referrals, word of mouth, events, etc. Intelligence-based leads: Newsfeeds, industry alerts, personnel changes, etc. InsideView is one good example of this, but we believe LinkedIn also fits this mold (the evolution of this is exciting) Special or vertical lists: Trade associations, commerce groups, organizations operating with a geographic charter Compiled lists: The likes of D&B and InfoGroup, including credit files But as any sales or marketing manager knows, simply dumping more records on a sales rep is a thing of the past. Lead nurturing and scoring are the norm, wherein prospects are nurtured until they raise their hands as hot leads, and are then forwarded to sales. In addition, predictive modeling that identifies the most likely prospects based on the “ideal customer” profile must be part of the mix. It’s clear that the prospects at the top of the funnel – the ones you might pay for – are not sales ready. Further criteria and …Read More