Whose Burden is it Anyway?
A question posed in a recent LeadCritic.com post titled “Scapegoat or Actually a Valid Return?“ is an ongoing contention between buyers and sellers. 
Are buyers returning leads to sellers that are truly invalid? The bigger question is – what are the parameters of a valid versus an invalid lead?
I agree with the author’s observation that lead return policies continue to be abused. In my opinion, a valid lead is one that is contactable – i.e. can be reached by phone, direct mail or email depending on the desired contact channel.
Technically, isn’t every live person you reach on the other end of the telephone a contact and therefore a potential lead for your business? I do not feel that a consumer’s lack of interest or the inability of a sales person to close a consumer warrants a buyer return for credit.
Truth is, many of the leads generated online are just noise and not viable leads – no matter who generates it, who sells it, who buys it. So ultimately, who’s burden is it to bear?
I surmise that the starting point for both lead buyers and seller must be with contactability. The rest should work itself out.
Andi
In our business, a qualified lead is a homeowner in our client’s defined marketing territory who has specifically expressed interest in our client’s product. We provide our client with at least one, often more, means to contact the homeowner.
But actually contacting (or not contacting) the homeowner is the responsibility of our client. That’s because making contact is actually the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation.
That said, the quality and speed of that first contact is terribly important. See “Your Phones: The Painful Truth That Costs You Money” (http://www.keywordconnects.com/blog/your-phones-the-painful-truth-that-costs-you-money/).
That first contact is so critical to reaping maximum value from leads that we’ve added this capability to our service mix: we now set appointments with homeowners for our clients’ sales reps. Interest in this service has been strong.
@Ben – Thank you! I will do my best to keep enjoyable content flowing!
@Paul – I like your statement and must agree that making contact is the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation.
Nevertheless, a lead must be contactable else the first step in the sales process cannot be taken. That said, I think that in traditional lead gen space we are working toward having the onus to determine whether or not the lead is valid/contactable fall with the lead generators. This leaves the lead buyers, those ultimately working the leads, with the responsibility of managing and contacting valid leads. Thus, the sunk costs associated with a lead where contact is made but does not result in a conversion stays with the buyer and is not pushed back on the generator. If terms are established stating that a lead generator will provide not only valid, but “qualified” leads – where “qualified” meets a predetermined set of conditions – this changes the game of who bears what burden.
This is ostensibly a simple concept, yet we still have much of the he said she said between lead generators and buyers. I believe that clear definition and transparency are the first steps to harmony in bearing the burden.