How do I actually sell my leads?

[OhSimon]

Hi,

I started a hobby business a while ago, I'll be slightly guarded but it's a service business in a pretty niche area. I never had time to take on enough of the jobs for various reasons, one being it was difficult taking calls during my actual office job (I now wfh).

I was surprised how easily I ranked locally in SERP and Google map pack with very little effort. So these enquiries keep coming in via email and phone. Then it hit me yesterday, I'm not in the service business, I'm in the lead gen business!

I realised a few key things;

1. These leads have value, a job is min a few hundred and then up to a few thousand pounds.

2. In this industry, customers don't actually care where the solution comes from to the extent they often can't see what they need on my site but still call. Either they can't be bothered looking or assume I can source what they need anyway.

3. The strength of my site is that it presents as a service so directly generates it's own leads. It's also easy for me to qualify them.


Summary;

I'm generating high quality leads, how do I sell them to businesses in my city?

 

[fisicx]

Pick up the phone and talk to them.

Simon who does our building work often gets calls from his building mates offering work. And vice versa. And you ask if they know a roofer and before you know it Carl is knocking on the door.

The answer to your question is: networking.

 

[OhSimon]

Pick up the phone and talk to them.

Simon who does our building work often gets calls from his building mates offering work. And vice versa. And you ask if they know a roofer and before you know it Carl is knocking on the door.

The answer to your question is: networking.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry I should been more specific. I'm more thinking of the actual mechanism of how this is usually done. Definitely, I can pick up the phone but my contact actually needs to purchase the lead from me.

 

[fisicx]

Ask them. Probably a stuffed brown envelope.

I asked Simon and they don’t pay for leads. It’s all a buddy buddy system.

The likes of checkatrade are all automated.

 

[OhSimon]

Ask them. Probably a stuffed brown envelope.

I asked Simon and they don’t pay for leads. It’s all a buddy buddy system.

The likes of checkatrade are all automated.

Yeh what you're describing is just trades helping eachother out. Checkatrade is a lead directory that sells subscriptions. That's not what I'm getting at here.

 

[fisicx]

You first need to build up your network of suppliers. You then need to agree a price for the lead. You then need to develop a way to communicate the lead to the suppliers. And finally, a way where they can accept the job and pay the money.

An app with push notifications would do the trick.

 

[TCH]

best of luck, just don't fall foul of GDPR

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Hi,

I started a hobby business a while ago, I'll be slightly guarded but it's a service business in a pretty niche area. I never had time to take on enough of the jobs for various reasons, one being it was difficult taking calls during my actual office job (I now wfh).

I was surprised how easily I ranked locally in SERP and Google map pack with very little effort. So these enquiries keep coming in via email and phone. Then it hit me yesterday, I'm not in the service business, I'm in the lead gen business!

I realised a few key things;

1. These leads have value, a job is min a few hundred and then up to a few thousand pounds.

2. In this industry, customers don't actually care where the solution comes from to the extent they often can't see what they need on my site but still call. Either they can't be bothered looking or assume I can source what they need anyway.

3. The strength of my site is that it presents as a service so directly generates it's own leads. It's also easy for me to qualify them.


Summary;

I'm generating high quality leads, how do I sell them to businesses in my city?

I'm in video production and get agencies offering me leads all the time. I tell them all the same thing. Here's my business, what we do, ideal customers, pricing etc... Send me one. So 100% of the time, they send me something so completely unrelated.

So if you want to sell them, approach businesses, offer them 1 free lead and then sell. If the first lead is any good, they'll pay whatever it takes for the rest.

 

[OhSimon]

I'm in video production and get agencies offering me leads all the time. I tell them all the same thing. Here's my business, what we do, ideal customers, pricing etc... Send me one. So 100% of the time, they send me something so completely unrelated.

So if you want to sell them, approach businesses, offer them 1 free lead and then sell. If the first lead is any good, they'll pay whatever it takes for the rest.

Yeh good call on first lead free. My leads will be high quality as I've been in the industry so know the right questions to ask.

I'll just set up a portal on my site to purchase the lead once agreed.

 

[japancool]

Offer them on a commission basis. No sale, no payment.

 

[OhSimon]

Offer them on a commission basis. No sale, no payment.

Yeh I thought about that before but how do I prove the sale went through?

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Yeh good call on first lead free. My leads will be high quality as I've been in the industry so know the right questions to ask.

I'll just set up a portal on my site to purchase the lead once agreed.

To keep you aware, on multiple occasions, I've described our perfect customer, price points, proposition to lead merchants and they've come back with something totally different. The last one was hilariously bad.

So anyone who's had experience with lead merchants are incredibly sceptical.

However, giving a demo is way more powerful.

 

[OhSimon]

To keep you aware, on multiple occasions, I've described our perfect customer, price points, proposition to lead merchants and they've come back with something totally different. The last one was hilariously bad.

So anyone who's had experience with lead merchants are incredibly sceptical.

However, giving a demo is way more powerful.

I'm not actively finding leads for people, it's just a case of selling whenever they happen to come in. Maybe I wasn't clear, this isn't going to be a big money spinner, it's just I have enquiries coming in so might as well do something with them.

I've been in the exact position as the businesses I'd be selling too so it's not a difficult pitch for me. It's literally a case of getting the details fleshed out and passing it on. Also, I'm not approaching them as a lead agency. I'm saying, I can't fulfill this job, do you want it? They will either be keen or they won't. There's not much more too it.

 

[OhSimon]

UPDATE for clarity:

My question is about the literal mechanics of selling a lead as in the transaction itself.

One suggestion mentioned commission after sale. Great! How is something like that done.

 

[NickGrogan]

Two options.

Hey, I've got a lead, do you want it?
How much?
£50
I'll take it.
My paypal address is blahblahblah.
Money recieved send the lead

Or

Hey I've got a lead, do you want it?
How much?
10% of whatever you make.
I'll take it
Great, heres the lead, let me know how it goes.
Chase up, if it sells and they pay, give them your paypal.

Its not rocket science.

 

[OhSimon]

Two options.

Hey, I've got a lead, do you want it?
How much?
£50
I'll take it.
My paypal address is blahblahblah.
Money recieved send the lead

Or

Hey I've got a lead, do you want it?
How much?
10% of whatever you make.
I'll take it
Great, heres the lead, let me know how it goes.
Chase up, if it sells and they pay, give them your paypal.

Its not rocket science.

Ok no need to be rude.

Yes first one is simple.

Second one relies on trust on both paying at all and the value that it actually sold for. Could easily be underpaid every time.

 

[NickGrogan]

Ok no need to be rude.

Yes first one is simple.

Second one relies on trust on both paying at all and the value that it actually sold for. Could easily be underpaid every time.

I wasn't being rude; I was just explaining exactly how it works.

First option requires them to trust you - is this lead real, will it sell, are they just time-wasters?

The second option requires you to trust them - can they sell, will they do the job, and will they pay me?

The first one appears simpler, as you have no downside.

 

[OhSimon]

I wasn't being rude; I was just explaining exactly how it works.

First option requires them to trust you - is this lead real, will it sell, are they just time-wasters?

The second option requires you to trust them - can they sell, will they do the job, and will they pay me?

The first one appears simpler, as you have no downside.

The second option requires one to know if the sale went through and the value. There is probably a technical solution here and I'm sure there are businesses that do this with some sort of automation.

If you don't know, that's fine but don't make a snide remark and then provide no actual input.

 

[japancool]

The second option requires one to know if the sale went through and the value. There is probably a technical solution here and I'm sure there are businesses that do this with some sort of automation.

If you don't know, that's fine but don't make a snide remark and then provide no actual input.

It'll be legally bound by contract. You do have to trust them, to a point (or independently confirm with the customer), but it's doable.

 

[Frimley111R]

IME, companies often don't value leads unless they are getting lots of them. If they are free you rely on them telling you when they converted and how much profit there was... Plus if they are free, if they do nothing with it it won't matter. If they pay they can get envious of paying you for leads when they don't pay for other ones. The idea is sound but I've never heard much positive about the actual long term viability of this.

 

[OhSimon]

IME, companies often don't value leads unless they are getting lots of them. If they are free you rely on them telling you when they converted and how much profit there was... Plus if they are free, if they do nothing with it it won't matter. If they pay they can get envious of paying you for leads when they don't pay for other ones. The idea is sound but I've never heard much positive about the actual long term viability of this.

The leads are coming in for free regardless. I'm not trying to start a new venture with this model.

 

[NickGrogan]

The second option requires one to know if the sale went through and the value. There is probably a technical solution here and I'm sure there are businesses that do this with some sort of automation.

If you don't know, that's fine but don't make a snide remark and then provide no actual input.

I do know, I do it regularly.

The "technical" solution is to either choose a party you can trust to work with, or keep in touch with the client and see what they say happens, or if its big money, include a right to audit/access in the profit share agreement.

Which is best depends on scale and value.