Marketers looking to supplement in-house lead generation campaigns have an array of resources available at any stage of the process. Services range from list providers offering business contacts to outsourced telemarketing teams ready to help qualify leads generated from events or campaigns. But these services can’t do all the work for you – online databases, telemarketing and lists must all be incorporated into your own lead nurturing and qualifications strategy.

So we’ve created a tutorial to help you through the maze. Our tutorial, “Buying Leads – How to Select Vendors, Available Services and Strategies to Get the Best Leads” helps you identify options and gives advice about where each option fits into your lead generation process (see link below).

Following is an updated list of lead generation resources that will help you navigate some of the available options, with links to key vendors and details on their products or service offerings.

*NOTE: MarketingSherpa does not vouch for the quality of any list or service.


BUSINESS CONTACT LIST PROVIDERS
List providers help you generate customized lists of contacts based on a number of criteria, including industry sector, size, geographic region, etc. Large providers include:

Dun & Bradstreet
http://www.dnb.com
Database size: 23 million U.S. and international business records.
Purchasing options: Customized lists downloadable from zapdata.com, subscription-based online database Selectory.com, lists on DVD from MarketPlace and Private Data Portals.
Specialty lists: Not available.
Pricing: Not available.

Hoover’s
http://www.hoovers.com
Database size: 36 million business people.
Purchasing options: Customized list creation available from subscription-based online database that lets users choose from 40 criteria.
Specialty lists: None
Pricing: Professional subscriptions start at $75 a month.

infoUSA
http://www.infousa.com
Database size: 14 million business records and 12 million executives and professionals.
Specialty lists: New businesses, targeted medical lists, executives, executives by ethnicity, Canadian businesses, big businesses, entrepreneurs, fleet owners and operators, fax numbers, Fortune 1000 companies, growing businesses, home businesses, small business owners, manufacturers, websites.
Purchasing options: Customized online list downloads, CD-ROM, printed lists or a subscription-based online database through SalesGenie.com.
Pricing: Business contacts start at 90 cents per record for lists of less than 100, and prices decline to 3-4 cents per record for lists of more than 1 million. Using qualifiers, such as executive names and titles or business size, adds less than 1 cent to 5-6 cents per record, depending on the size of the list.

USA Data
http://www.usadata.com
Database size: 22 million business records.
Specialty lists: Accountants, Canadian businesses, churches, clubs and organizations, colleges and universities, educators, financial analysts, Fortune 1000 companies, insurance agents, lawyers, medical specialists, new businesses, nonprofit organizations, real estate agents.
Purchasing options: Customized list downloads in Excel spreadsheet or Text file. Enterprise platform available for Insurance, Retail, Financial Services and Franchise industries.
Pricing: Lists with contact names and phone numbers start at 20.8 cents for a list of 250-1,000 names; prices decline as the size of the list increases, with lists of 50,001 or more costing 7.5 cents per name. Using qualifiers, such as employee size range and sales volume, adds 1 cent to 2.5 cents per name, depending on size of the list. Adding fax numbers adds 5.5 cents to 8.3 cents per name, depending on list size.

ONLINE BUSINESS CONTACT DATABASES
These subscription websites are dynamic business contact networks that rely on users to add and update entries. Major players include:

Jigsaw
http://www.jigsaw.com
Size of network: 10 million contacts.
Search options: Contact name, title, level (C-level, director, etc.), department, company name, geographic location, industry, employee size, annual revenues, ownership type (public/private), Fortune ranking, Internet domain (.com, .org, .biz, etc).
Pricing: $250 a year or free for adding or correcting database entries.
Special features: Members continually add to and correct the database, receiving two contacts for every one they enter in the database. Members are penalized for any bad contact data they enter to help ensure quality.

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com
Size of network: 30 million contacts.
Search options: Member profile, which includes name, title, industry, location.
Pricing: Free basic membership; three premium levels that cost $19.95-$199.50 per month or $50-$500 annually.
Special features: Social networking aspect allows users to contact each other through shared connections.

Spoke
http://www.spoke.com
Size of network: 40 million contacts.
Search options: Contact name, title, company, job recency, industry, employee size, annual revenues, geography, Fortune ranking.
Pricing: Free basic membership; Free basic membership; three premium levels that cost $15 a month, $50 a month, and $200 a month.
Special features: Contact information is verified by Spoke for accuracy. Data analysts are available to help customers generate marketing lists.

ZoomInfo
http://www.zoominfo.com
Size of network: 45 million contacts.
Search options: Contact name, company, title, education, diversity, industry, company size.
Pricing: Free basic membership; premium models starting at $99 a month.
Special features: Detailed profiles, including education, job history and biography, available for VP-level contacts.


VENDOR MATCHING SERVICES
Online business-to-business marketplaces can match buyers looking for a product or service with appropriate vendors. Here are three examples:

BuyerZone
http://www.buyerzone.com
Size of vendor network: 8,500+
Vendor categories: Automotive, benefits, business insurance, computers, construction, facilities, finance, furniture, HR/personnel, Internet, industrial, mailing and shipping, marketing, office equipment, professional services, security, software, telecom equipment, telecom services, transportation.
Amount of buyer activity: 2 million active users/50,000 requests a month.
Membership fee: $40 annually.
Pricing: $6 to $50 per lead, depending on industry.
Number of vendors that receive each buyer’s request: Maximum of 6.

The Lead Generator
http://www.leadgenerator.com
Size of vendor network: 6,000 members who trade information on their own business needs to get access to other members’ business needs (leads). Database and matching system currently being updated.
Vendor categories: Approximately 13,000 SIC product and industry codes, with concentrations of activity in manufacturing and industrial, professional services and web services.
Amount of buyer activity: N/A
Membership fee: $24.95 a month for access to unlimited leads provided you’re also updating your own contact information and business needs in the system.
Number of vendors that receive each buyer’s request: Needs exchanges are available to anyone in the network.

VendorSeek
http://www.vendorseek.com
Size of vendor network: 9,000
Vendor categories: Business equipment, business process outsourcing, business services, call center services, conferencing services, financing group services, HR/outsourcing, insurance services, IT services, legal services, marketing services, medical/healthcare, printing services, records/document management, staffing services, software, supply chain/fulfillment/warehousing, training/consulting services, Web/Internet.
Amount of buyer activity: 10,000 requests per month.
Membership fee: $29 per month.
Pricing: $15 to $50 per lead, depending on industry. Additional cost to use parameters to target specific size organizations or projects.
Number of vendors that receive each buyer’s request: 3-5


B-TO-B TELEMARKETING
Telemarketing firms can help marketers with a range of lead generation tasks, from qualifying leads they have collected from other efforts, such as trade shows and webinars, to generating appointments for salespeople. Here are some examples of telemarketing firms and details about pricing methodology (by the lead/appointment or by the hour) and industry specialties:

DM2-DecisionMaker
http://www.dm2decisionmaker.com
Primary services: Lead generation from its own lists; lead qualification from customer-provided and tradeshow/event lists. Business and marketing intelligence research.
Pricing: Per lead, with prices varying depending on factors such as the level of qualification and industry.
Industry specialties: A division of Reed Business Information, DM2-DecisionMaker can target subscribers of RBI and other leading trade publications in industries such as construction, electronics, food service and legal.

Good Leads
http://www.goodleads.com
Primary services: Lead generation, appointment setting, event registration, lead qualification from trade shows and other events.
Pricing: Programs typically start at $5,000-$10,000 per month.
Industry specialties: Technology, early-stage companies.

InTouch
http://www.startwithalead.com
Primary services: Teleprospecting, lead management and lead nurturing -- establishing opt-in relationships with prospects, collecting actionable business intelligence and managing ongoing nurturing efforts through email and telephone follow-up. Other support solutions include marketing data management and automated e-mail nurturing solutions.
Pricing: Monthly retainer starting at $8,000-$10,000.
Industry specialties: Industries with long-term, complex sales cycles, such as business and professional services, information technology, telecommunications and networking, medical device/pharmaceutical and manufacturing/industrial/chemicals. Supporting organizations that are managing leads and inquires from multiple sources.

JV/M Inc.
http://www.jvminc.com
Primary services: Lead generation, lead qualification and appointment setting.
Pricing: $40 per hour.
Industry specialties: None

Lead Generation Solutions
http://www.leadgenerationsolutions.com
Primary services: Appointment setting, webinar registration, lead qualification from events and direct mail campaigns.
Pricing: $200-$1,000 per appointment; $5-$25 per lead.
Industry specialties: Medical, franchisors.

MarketMakers
http://www.marketmakers.com
Primary services: Lead generation, B-to-B sales promotion, event promotion and registration, market research, customer relationship management telemarketing.
Follow-up from direct mail.
Pricing: $42 per hour, plus $21-per-hour admin fee.
Industry specialties: Petro-chemical industry, manufacturing, technology, finance, and other complex sales.

TeleNet Marketing Solutions
http://www.telenetmarketing.com
Primary services: Lead generation, lead nurturing, market targeting.
Pricing: Hourly, ranging from $45 to $65 depending on type, level of decision maker and complexity of message.
Industry specialties: High tech, including enterprise software, hardware and IT services, telecommunications and financial services.

The Lead Dogs
http://www.leaddogs.com
Primary services: Lead generation, lead nurturing, seminar and event registration, sales calls (closing deals).
Pricing: Per hour, with rates depending on the complexity of the calls.
Industry specialties: Enterprise software, telecommunications, networking, industrial products.


Note: If you’re a vendor or service provider in one of the preceding four categories, and would like to be considered for inclusion in our listing, email the appropriate information to Sean Donahue, Senior Reporter at MarketingSherpa. His email address is seand(at)marketingsherpa(dot)com.

Please follow the format and information categories used in the article.

Useful links related to this article:

Tutorial: Buying Leads - How to Select a Vendor, Available Services and Strategies to Get the Best Leads
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29958