4 Types of Farmer and
Rancher Sales Leads
Which type is best for you and your business?
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to buying sales leads for your business. Who to buy from? Are they accurate? What is my return on investment going to be? What is the guarantee? These are all valid questions. The first step, though, is to understand the type of leads that are available. We have it boiled down to four types:
Targeted
Leads
These leads are normally in the form of a list. It’s a list of contacts that match the demographics of your best farmer or rancher customers, such as crops, acreage, livestock, and parcel size.
Pros :
This is normally the cheapest of all lead options. The average cost is anywhere from 5 to 30 cents per farmer or rancher. These leads are ideal for direct mail, telemarketing, and salespeople. A list like this gives your firm plenty of prospects to contact.
Cons :
Since this is a list, turning these leads into customers is all on you – from finding the ones that may be interested in your product to actually closing. You and/or your team do all the work.
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Niche
Leads
These leads are similar to Targeted, except Niche leads provide more in-depth information about the farmer or rancher. An example would be a local ag directory. In a Targeted Leads list the information may be name, address and basic farm information. In a Niche Leads list, additional information is included like number of farms owned, association, and much more.
Pros :
More in-depth information on each record – gives you a more complete picture of your prospect.
Cons :
Similar to targeted leads, you have to find the those prospects who are interested in your product and want to learn more. Since there is more information on each prospect, the list size tends to be smaller than the targeted lists. Although the entire list may be smaller, each lead is more expensive than a targeted leads list. Avg price per record is closer to 30 cents vs. 10 cents.
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Qualified
Leads
Think of Qualified Leads as “Hand Raisers”. These are a list of leads who are saying: “Yes, I am interested in learning more about product X. Please have someone contact me.” When buying qualified leads, the most important element to understand is the age of the lead. Prior to ordering, you will want to know when the contact expressed interest. Usually these leads are sold 30-60-90. Meaning, interest was expressed less than 30 days ago, or 31-60 days ago or 61 to 90 days ago or 90 days or more. A good idea is to test multiple time-frames. Recency doesn’t always mean the best.
Pros :
When handled correctly by sales teams you should experience a higher close rate than with Targeted or Niche leads
Cons :
Sometimes close rates simply don't exist because sales are hard to come by. The reason for this is qualified farmer lead lists are sold to multiple firms – not just you (see Exclusive Qualified Leads below). The price per lead will be much higher than targeted or niche leads. Expect to pay in the dollars per record vs. cents/record. For instance, most exclusive farmer or rancher leads range from $3 to $50 per lead depending upon product and recency.
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Exclusive Qualified
Leads
Exclusive Qualified Leads or EQLs are qualified leads that come to you exclusively. In other words, they are not shared with your competitors and you receive them in real time. There are a number of ways companies generate EQLs. For instance, in the telemarketing world, call center companies call them “hot transfers”. In the online or digital space, they may come from forms, online chats, or click-to-call actioins. Either way, the prospect is coming to your site or your online form and the lead comes directly to your sales team.
Pros :
The leads are specifically for you. These leads can be prospects who are early in their decision-making process or ready to spend money today. Exclusive Qualified Leads allow you to form a relationship with the prospects as they are deciding which direction to take. Trust is formed and when a lead does close it can lead to a life-long customer.
Cons :
For the most part, the biggest drawback is the time it takes to build an Exclusive Qualified Lead program. It is a long play, meaning, it can take time to generate your own leads. The initial cost in building an Exclusive Qualified Lead program means these leads are expensive to start, although the cost per lead goes down over time. It’s important your sales infrastructure can handle managing the process to develop leads like these
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So there you have it.
Hopefully this helps.
Call Us at 402-337-4050
Our sales reps will be happy to assist you.
