Buying Lists For Prospecting

Most MSP coaches and experts recommend curating a list of prospective clients that you will nurture and market to. Where do you find that list? How do you build it? Many MSPs ask me if it’s worth buying a list from an online source like Hoovers, InfoUSA or data.com.

The answer is absolutely, yes. With the following caveat:

This is not a list of leads.

You are buying a list of companies, with information and contact names that may or may not be accurate. Expect any list you purchase to be 30% incorrect at minimum. Whether a result of outdated information, or inaccurate prospect-provided data, you’re not guaranteed that the list you’ve just purchased is going to be useful to you. Set your expectations accordingly.

Most companies will allow you to test their data prior to purchase – you can buy (and often even download for free!) a small list and test it for accuracy. But honestly, you don’t need to bother with this if you’re buying a list from a reputable company online. The original data is going to be garbage, and you’re going to have to do some work to scrub it out. You can, however, keep the garbage to a minimum.

How do you buy the best list possible?

Buy in small batches. Only purchase as many contacts as you’re going to use in under a quarter. If you’re only going to make ten calls a day, that’s not a very big list. Don’t buy a huge list to save a bit per contact because by the time you get to the middle of the list, your data will be even more stale. Most companies regularly update their data, so you have a better chance of new, clean information when you’re buying in small batches. Most companies will also enable you to suppress data you have already purchased so you don’t need to worry about buying duplicates.

Segment your data appropriately. Use the most easily verifiable information to create your list. In the case of an MSP, you should use number of employees, not revenue. Why? Some companies require that number to be prospect-provided, so they’ll suppress any leads where that information isn’t present. Private companies are under no obligation to reveal any information to anyone – revenue included. It’s an intrusive question, and one most SMBs won’t be inclined to answer when some random person calls them to ask about it. Remember you can sort by technology dependent and technology strategic SIC and NAICS codes, so spend a little time pulling out exactly what you want. Law firms are NAICS 541110. Accounting firms are NAICS 541211. Architects are NAICS 541310. (Fun fact, there isn’t an accurate NAICS code for MSPs!)

Don’t worry about contact names. You will want to call in, verify information, identify the actual decision maker and the size of the company before you add them to your list of prospects. There is no value in paying more for a list that includes contacts and email addresses that may or may not be correct, and may or may not be involved in the decision making process.

But Carrie, we don’t want to do any of that! We just want the list!

Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. Part of the prospecting process is building that list. You can use online sources to make a beginning, but at some point you’re going to have to begin turning that cold list into warm leads. You can pay someone to do it for you, but you won’t be able to avoid doing it.

And a few more tips:

  1. Don’t pull new lists directly into your CRM or PSA. It just makes a big ol’ mess. Before you add a contact, make sure you know that contact is useful to you. Some companies have a good process for moving data through their pipeline, but most don’t. Unless you’ve built a system which includes a “holding pen” for dirty data don’t muddy up your systems with unverified contacts.
  2. Make data scrubbing part of the day to day sales process instead of a stand-alone. If you get a decision maker on the phone during this process, you want to pitch them, not confirm the spelling of their name and email address!  We recently posted an article on MSPMentor that speaks to this, you can read it here:  http://mspmentor.net/msp-mentor/tele-sales-done-better
  3. Want to hand off the curating and qualifiying of your dream prospect list? We can help you! Reach out to us at hello@managedsalespros.com to learn more.