Hiring an lead generation agency can seem a bit daunting if you have not hired one before. This post is a guide for hiring a lead generation agency to manage your lead flow. It is important to know what to expect and what to look for in an agency. So, let’s get started!
When considering to hire an agency for lead generation, it is always important to look at the numbers, even if it is only to have a better idea of the value proposition being offered. Many companies look at the numbers from a monthly cash flow basis. While cash flow is important, growth is about the long-term affect on the business. Because high-quality online lead flow is a process that takes time to ramp up, I would suggest looking at your numbers based on your customer LTV (life time value) first and your monthly cashflow second.
First, find your estimated customer LTV by multiplying your average annual income per customer by the average number of years that you have historically retained customers. Once you have your estimated customer LTV, then you can determine how many customers need to be acquired every month or year in order to get past the break-even point. This is also an excellent point of conversation with the lead generation agency you are talking to and they can help you to generate reasonable growth goals beyond the break-even point.
While increased lead flow is a good problem, you should still ask yourself, “are my internal processes able to facilitate additional lead flow?” Depending on your internal processes, this may be a no and warrant additional attention and focus on internal process scalability. Depending on what your business does, how quick your sales process is, and how long it will take to build a solid lead generation campaign, scalability may or may not be an issue that needs immediate and premeditated focus. Nonetheless, take note of it, because most companies need to look at this eventually.
Online marketing starts with getting the user’s attention. According to Preston Ely, “the number one rule of marketing is don’t be boring” (@Preston777 | Source) . Design is extremely important these days and as younger generations become the buyers, this becomes an increasing reality every year. Before investing with an agency, look at their design. How do they promote their own blog posts and website? Are their graphics clean, sleek, messy, boring, or unorganized?
Finally, look at conversion rates for your industry and know these numbers when discussing your game plan with your agency. While the conversion numbers may differ, your agency should be able to factor in necessary conversion rate planning, so that your promotions are as effective as possible. It is also an important benchmarking factor when reviewing the effectiveness of one campaign over another, so be sure to know your numbers and that of the industry average.
I hope this helps to point out a few things you may have overlooked. If you have hired an agency and want to know some of these metrics, reach out to them. Usually agencies share this data with their customers, but even if they do not, they should have the numbers on hand.
