The Problem with Asking ‘How Many Leads?’

Seeing the sales leads start flowing in is one of the most satisfying things about marketing. It’s hard to avoid the primal dopamine reaction of a job well done, especially if you’ve struggled to attract leads in the past. New leads are a powerful validation of your efforts and, if you’ve decided to invest in a partnership with a marketing agency, can also be the first sign of a promising ROI.

For this reason, the first question that many businesses instinctively ask when looking for a marketing agency is ‘how many leads will I get?’ Agencies are well aware of this, and so some respond accordingly by basing their value proposition on lead generation volume.

However, while this is a reasonable enquiry, the question is also misleading and can lead you down a dangerous path. Focusing solely on lead quantity can place an undue emphasis on short-term gains at the expense of long-term success and can also obscure crucial factors such as lead quality, business alignment, and relevance.

Not all leads have equal value

Numbers alone do not make sales. Let’s say you’ve just run a marketing campaign and received 1000 leads for your efforts, but only 5 of them converted into paying customers. Your competitor down the road also ran a campaign and generated just 100 leads. But of these, 50 of them converted into sales. Which marketing campaign was the most effective? It was the second one that clearly delivered the better results, even with fewer leads, and probably because the leads they did get were of higher quality.

Lead quality or relevance is a crucial aspect of marketing that can often be overlooked when businesses and their agencies fixate on high numbers. It’s fairly straightforward to drive a large volume of leads by targeting a broad or generic audience poorly aligned with your products and services. However, for these leads to convert into customers and long-term value (in fact, any value), it pays to be more circumspect in who you target, even if it results in lower numbers of leads.

Lead volume doesn’t guarantee revenue

Leads are an early indicator of potential success, but they don’t have any intrinsic value unless they convert into paying customers. A marketing campaign that focuses predominantly on inbound lead volume (or Google SERP rank, or website visits, etc) without considering conversions, therefore misses the point of marketing. Volume-focused businesses sometimes find themselves with a bloated sales funnel without the ability to close deals, leading to a disappointingly low return on investment.

The key question is, therefore, one of alignment.

For a lead to have a reasonable chance of conversion, it must be ‘aligned’ with your products and services. The person or business represented by the lead must genuinely have use of your products and services, have the means of affording them, and operate in an area served by your business. What matters most in lead generation is how well each lead connects to your ideal customer profiles or buyer personas.

What are the most important factors in lead generation?

So, what should you talk to your agency about if not how many leads they can get you?

1. Targeting: Talk to the agency about how they will help you identify and target your ideal buyers. An experienced agency will work to an ideal customer profile based on demographics, pain points/needs, and expected behaviours. This will allow them to prioritise the leads most likely to convert into your next customers, rather than casting a wide net and hoping for the best.
2. Measuring lead quality: Lead quality can be measured in several ways, so it’s important to have a shared understanding with your agency about what constitutes quality. For example, quality can be measured through purchasing intent, engagement levels, or by the perceived fit with your product or service. Monitoring leads for quality across several key metrics will keep your marketing campaign focused on real value rather than just numbers.
3. Conversion strategies: The bridge between lead generation and sales is a conversion strategy, so it’s good to have a conversation with an agency about the tactics they use to guide leads through the sales funnel. For example, what nurturing campaigns and strategies do they use, how do they manage personalised follow-ups, and do they use any sales enablement tools or CRMs?
4. Planning your ROI: Successful marketing delivers pounds and pence to your bank account, and doesn’t depend on showy figures or vanity metrics. ROI is, therefore, the only metric that genuinely matters in marketing. Instead of asking an agency about the number of leads they can get you, ask them about how they measure and optimise ROI, discussing average customer lifetime value, cost per sale, sales conversion rates, and other metrics that reflect the real-world impact of the money you spend on marketing.

A numbers game

There’s no denying that numbers are important in marketing. The more leads you get, the greater the number of sales opportunities you have. If our friends who converted 50 leads out of 100 at the beginning of the article had wielded the same conversion rate for 1000 leads, then they’d be in an even stronger position. However, as we have seen, quality is more important than quantity, and the trick to a successful marketing campaign is to deliver a sufficient number of high-quality, sales-qualified leads in order for you to attain your conversion targets.

So, let’s talk about leads, but remember that marketing isn’t entirely a numbers game. An agency that bases its pitch solely on a promise of lead numbers may be enticing, but the path to genuine long-term success lies in a well-rounded approach that prioritises customer alignment, lead quality, and sustainable growth.

At JDR, we give our customers the support they need to reach the right people at the right time with the right message, in order to maximise sales and revenues. Get in touch to find out more.