If you're waiting for design businesses to take the first step, you're out of luck. Instead, you need to be proactive about sales and that starts by acquiring lists of high value design businesses.

Benefits of Design Business Lead Lists

Lead lists allow for a more efficient use of time during the early stages of the sales cycle. In the design business sales arena, speed is essential and lead lists make it easy for sales units to quickly locate the customers who are most likely to purchase their products and services. Even more, design business outsourced lead generation is more accurate and up-to-date than internal lead generation -- and that means higher quality leads and better conversion rates.

Avoid Misuse of Lead Lists

When you purchase a list of design business leads from a third-party, you don't have legal ownership of the leads and contacts it contains.

Mailing and lead lists are generally restricted to the terms of the contract, so it's important to know exactly what you're paying for before you agree to a purchase. In some cases, vendors may permit usage upgrades, but you'll need to contact your provider before you exceed the limits of your contract.

Lead Selection: Which Leads to Buy

Top tier lead list providers give their clients the ability to sort and filter leads. The goal isn't to accumulate as many design business leads as possible. Instead, you'll want to focus your energy on lead lists containing the names and contact information of likely buyers. For example, Experian, the forerunner in B2B lead lists, makes it easy for their clients to sort and filter leads by geography as well as a variety of demographic criteria including company size, years in business, number of employees, etc.

Other Options for Getting Business Leads

Seeking out new prospects by acquiring business lead lists from mailing list and lead database brokers is a great start to any lead gen initiative. Still, make sure you brainstorm on other ways to improve lead generation.

For example, try calling up a peer company that sells to the same market as you do but is not a direct competitor. Ask them if they are interested in swapping leads. The nice thing is that the leads you get in this manner may not be getting many calls from your competitors.