Outsourced lead generation services: a guide

What outsourced lead generation services do

Outsourced lead generation services are outside providers that find and approach potential customers on a business's behalf. Typical work includes supplying lists of contact details, cleaning and matching existing customer data, screening phone numbers against preference registers, making live sales calls to other businesses, and sending marketing emails and texts, with interested enquiries passed back to the business's own sales team.

Whether a provider suits a business's wider marketing and lead generation plans depends on which of these tasks it takes on, where its contact data comes from and which channels it uses. Each provider quotes its own price, and the quote reflects the tasks bought, the channels used and the number of contacts involved.

For one sector in detail, see finding clients as a mortgage broker.

Where a provider's work starts and ends

Scope varies widely. At one end, a provider sells or rents a contact list and the business does all the calling and emailing itself. In the middle, the provider enriches, matches or cleans the records the business already holds. At the other end, the provider calls or emails prospects directly and hands over the enquiries that show interest.

Points worth agreeing in writing include who compiles the data, who screens it against registers and suppression lists, whose name and phone number the prospect sees, how a qualified lead is defined, how quickly each lead is handed over, and what reporting covers calls made, messages sent and enquiries produced.

Data broker services a provider may sell

Many lead generation offers rest on bought or rented data. Data broking for direct marketing purposes involves collecting data about individuals from a variety of sources, then combining it and selling or renting it to other organisations.

The services listed by the ICO include selling lists of contact details, selling copies of the open electoral register, data matching such as adding phone numbers to records that hold an address, data cleansing and tracing, screening numbers against the Telephone Preference Service, and audience segmenting for tailored messaging.

A business that uses the marketing services of data brokers is responsible for ensuring that its processing of personal data is compliant with data protection law. ^[1]

Questions about where the contacts came from

Due diligence on a data broking service could cover who compiled the data, where it was obtained from, what people were told when it was collected, and when and how it was compiled. Other points to raise are records of consent for consented data, evidence that the list was screened against the TPS or CTPS and how recently, and whether the broker passes on objections.

If a broker cannot show the data is reliable, or the business is not satisfied with its explanations, the data should not be used.

Calling business prospects on a provider's behalf

Telephone prospecting is a common part of outsourced B2B lead generation. PECR applies to live phone calls to corporate subscribers and to live phone calls to sole traders and some types of partnerships.

In most circumstances, before live B2B calls are made, the numbers need screening against both the CTPS and TPS registers, as well as the business's own 'do not call' list. ^[2]

The ICO checklist for B2B marketing also includes displaying the caller's telephone number when making direct marketing calls to businesses. The rules on some types of live direct marketing calls are stricter; for claims management services, consent is needed to make live marketing calls.

Emails, texts and opt-outs from business contacts

The PECR rule on direct marketing by electronic mail does not apply to corporate subscribers, and electronic mail covers emails, text messages, voicemails and direct messages via social media. Where personal data is processed when sending marketing by electronic mail to another business, the UK GDPR still applies, including the right to object to direct marketing.

Business contacts who have given consent can choose to withdraw it at any time. If an individual withdraws their consent or objects, processing of their personal data for B2B marketing purposes must stop.

Keeping a 'do not email or text' list of corporate subscribers that object or opt out, and screening new B2B direct marketing lists against it, makes good business sense; this is a point to confirm with a provider emailing in the business's name.