Trust Comes with Transparency
Having a standard definition sets the bar for understanding.
Transparency raises the bar for trust and innovation. 
Recently, on my post “Whose burden is it anyway?” a reader commented that “making contact is the first step of the sales process, not the last step of lead generation.”
I support this statement, nevertheless, I think we can all agree that a lead must be contactable else the first step in the sales process cannot be taken. That said, I think that in the traditional lead generation industry, we are working towards 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.
That is unless the sales terms were 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. In this case, the generator assumes the responsibility of evaluating consumer intent, and I’d bet is charging a premium for those leads.
Today, there exist strong markets for both “valid” and “qualified” lead generation and exchange. It is important to know in which market you wish to engage and clearly define the rules by which you intend to play.
This is ostensibly a simple concept, yet we still have much of the ‘he said’ ‘she said’ mentality between lead generators and buyers. I believe that clear definition and transparency are the first steps to harmony in bearing the burden and continuing to move the market toward optimization.
Here’s what I’d recommend: First step, define all business terms. Are the leads exchanged expected to be evaluated on a contactability basis – i.e. valid versus invalid – or an intent basis – i.e. qualified versus unqualified? What are the conditions governing a valid or a qualified lead? What are the return policies?
Next step, be transparent in your partnerships. As our friend Mike at LeadCritic.com points out in a March discussion “Lead Generation: Transparency and Love”, many fully developed partnerships continue to lack the trust and in turn the transparency which could directly help optimize business for both parties involved.
Trust, the fundamental building block of any personal or professional relationship, hinges on both parties being open and honest – transparent – about their actions and intentions. One problem is that trust must generally be earned, leaving both parties skeptical of opening OZ’s curtain too widely or too quickly in a fledgling relationship.
It is scary to unveil processes and decision making strategies to parties who are undecidedly friend or foe. But a business partnership can never achieve greatness while lacking an integral piece of the foundation – trust.
So if you have chosen to engage in a partnership, trust is a necessary risk taken to foster the relationship.
I think the risk will be worth the reward in the end. What do you think?
Andi
