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