Has anyone EVER been successfull with a lead generation company?

[computertechguy]

I find word of mouth carries more weight but that is a slower process. I have been solicited with a few lead generation companies and I am very reluctant to go that route.

 

[ThatPlace928]

I find word of mouth carries more weight but that is a slower process. I have been solicited with a few lead generation companies and I am very reluctant to go that route.

Maybe some have good luck but, personally, I wouldn't pay for a service that may or may not have fresh leads.

 

[phaZed]

In short, no. I was involved heavily with a Winery customer and they spent over $30k on lead generation/advertising/etc with a National big-name company... it was a net-negative - bordering on absolutely nothing in return. I took over from that company after 8 months of trying that avenue and had leaps and bounds more success. It was one of those "If you want it done right, do it yourself!" situations.

 

[callthatgirl]

I bought some off Fiverr once to test it and it was such a joke. They guy sent me a list of 1000 people, almost all were junk lol. I was more curious how it worked, but emailing 1000 rando's about my services didn't feel right at all. I still rely on Google organic SEO, YouTube and LinkedIn. Long game marketing that lives on forever.

 

[GTP]

ALL my clients were from word of mouth.
Those word of mouth clients kept me in business for almost 22 years till my retirement.

If you do a good job for one person it can bring in another 5~7 clients. (Friends, family members, cousins, friends of friends etc etc.)

Once you build that trust with someone they will tell others, but more importantly - they will come back, time after time.

In 22 years of business I spent maybe around 5K (in the first 5 years) on advertising for absolutely no result!
Google SEO, "Local Trade" magazines, Letterbox drops, fridge magnets, radio advertising (so expensive), handing out flyers in the local Mall - useless!

 

[britechguy]

In 22 years of business I spent maybe around 5K (in the first 5 years) on advertising for absolutely no result!

The only paid advertising I ever got leads from was when I did a sponsorship for our local NPR (National Public Radio) station, and even that was not enough to make back what I spent (but, of course, it could be that some of the business I got was from these announcements but I didn't consistently ask where the potential new client heard about me).

Your comment about building trust, and establishing long term relationships, cannot be emphasized enough. And when you're particulary good with clients who routinely get dismissal (read: senior citizens, for one) you will get lots of good word of mouth from those who've worked with you when their friends or friends of friends need assistance.

 

[frase]

ALL my clients were from word of mouth.
Those word of mouth clients kept me in business for almost 22 years till my retirement.

If you do a good job for one person it can bring in another 5~7 clients. (Friends, family members, cousins, friends of friends etc etc.)

Once you build that trust with someone they will tell others, but more importantly - they will come back, time after time.

In 22 years of business I spent maybe around 5K (in the first 5 years) on advertising for absolutely no result!
Google SEO, "Local Trade" magazines, Letterbox drops, fridge magnets, radio advertising (so expensive), handing out flyers in the local Mall - useless!

Same, it is ones reputation and integrity that is the best advertisment.

 

[GTP]

Your comment about building trust, and establishing long term relationships,

Over the years, I found that being patient with senior citizens, especially with those less familiar with technology -was incredibly rewarding. Helping someone go from feeling lost to confidently using their computer, even for something as simple as browsing knitting patterns or video calling family, always felt worthwhile.

And pleasantly chatting and listening to the stories of their lives was incredibly fascinating too!

It was also financially fair. Clients appreciated the service and were happy to pay reasonable rates for honest, reliable help.

What stood out most, though, was the level of trust I built - especially with clients who had been misled or taken advantage of by others. I heard too many stories of people being told they needed a new PC just because a browser wouldn’t open, or being pressured into unnecessary upgrades.

I had many occasions where people purchased a PC from an unscrupulous competitor with certain hardware, but after checking the invoice and inspecting the PC internally, I found they did not get what they paid for!

Whether it was a senior citizen or a savvy business owner, I’ve always believed in treating every client with dignity and respect. That trust is what keeps people coming back - and why I still do what I do, even in retirement.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Lead Generation only works if you're neurotically excessive with your targeting.

And no, you're never finding anyone on Fiver that can do it correctly.

The marketing team at my day job does most of this on their own, but there's a firm that's backing them up too. We've also got some really crazy tools, I know most of the marketing runs via HubSpot, but there's another tool behind it that I can't recall right now. This thing is wild because it tells us who is looking for what service from both people that have hit our website as well as from our own customer base. It alerts us when someone is shopping either to leave, or to join and our team reacts accordingly.

The only thing I can recall about the magic tool right now is how expensive it was, in the ballpark of $10k / month to get started.

My perspective is until you're ready to be plopping $120,000 / year into advertising, it's not really worth it. The cost per customer after that scales in your favor VERY quickly, but the entire industry is built around larger firms. It leaves IT based SMBs in a very dark place, where local word of mouth and reputation are among the few things that actively work.

Bryce's program here is about the best you can get in this space. Build up your online reputation for organic search returns. Worry about cold lead generation later! It won't work at the scale of most orgs here.

@GTP I get a fair bit of that too, it's astonishing to me how many unqualified people are out there. The lies, the lack of value being delivered, the sheer greed. It's objectively terrifying. Everyone here is at least TRYING, that's the best I can hope for these days.