Modern B2B sales is all about making connections that count. When you buy leads, you’re not just adding contact information to your CRM database or an excel sheet; you’re opening doors to potential partnerships that resonate with your sales goals.
This practice isn’t just about acquiring any leads; it’s about investing in high-quality prospects that are pre-vetted and ready to engage.
Also, it’s a practical step towards building a robust pipeline full with opportunities ready for conversion.
In this article, we will discuss on when and how to buy leads that align with your sales goals, learn about the best B2B leads providers, and understand the pros and cons to make an informed decision for your sales strategy.
By the end of this article, you’ll be equipped to make an informed decision on whether buying leads is the right move for you.
So let’s get started with the most important question.
When should you buy leads for your business?
Under the following cases, you should ideally buy leads for your business.
1. Your sales pipeline is empty.
Continous flow of leads is a prerequisite for a healthy sales pipeline and revenue growth of a B2B business. An empty sales pipeline possess uncertainty for the sales teams and for the business as a whole. In such a case, buying sales leads is a good idea to keep the sales pipeline healthy and flowing.
2. You are launching new products or services.
When your business introduces a new product or service, buying leads can quickly help you create a buzz and attract early adopters. It’s a fast track to getting your innovation in front of interested folks.
3. You are trying to boost sales numbers.
If you feel your business is currently witnessing a slow revenue growth or you’re trying to hit ambitious sales target, buying leads can provide your sales team with fresh contacts to pursue, increasing the chances of hitting those sales numbers.
4. You have no outbound sales team.
It often happens with the solopreneurs and small agencies. In such cases, due to limited budget or lack of technical expertise, the core team can’t build an effective outbound lead mechanism for their business. Buying leads can help you get along for some time before you build a sales team.
5 factors you should know before you buy leads
Now that you know when you should actually buy sales leads, let’s look at some of the factors that you should consider before you buy any business leads from the internet.
#1 Define your ICP properly
This includes knowing their demographics, interests, and pain points. The more detailed your customer profile, the more targeted list of leads you can buy. It increases the conversion probability of those sales leads.
#2 Assess the qualify and accuracy of the leads
For conversion the quality and accuracy of the sales leads are important. Find and read reviews and social proofs of the lead providers. You will find most of them on the sites such as G2, Capterra and even on Reddit.
#3 Verify the sample leads
Before you buy a full set of sales leads, try to get a sample set of leads on your defined ICP. Check their accuracy using a prospect verification tool like ProspectDaddy or Apollo.io. This way you can make sure each dollar you spend on per leads is actually worth it.
#4 Check compliance
Make sure that the business leads you buy are compliant with privacy laws and regulations such as GDPR. This not only protects you legally but also builds trust with your prospects.
#5 Compare pricing and evaluate ROI
Compare the pricing of different B2B sales lead providers. Ask the lead providers if they are selling the same outbound leads to multiple businesses in your industry. This may potentially harm your conversion. Also, check for additional features like data export options and CRM integration details for the leads you buy through any platform.
Additionally, evaluate if lead generation through inhouse team is more-cost effective compared to buying a fixed number of outbound leads from third party providers. This will give you a better perspective on ROI which technically helps you in the purchase decision.
How to buy leads for B2B sales?
There are many ways you can buy B2B sales leads such as through lead generation agencies, freelancers from sites like Fiverr or upwork or through established B2B lead database provider companies.
However, in this article we’ll talk only about the B2B lead database provider companies as they tend to be the most accurate and safe among the other options mentioned above.
Check out our exclusively selected lead list provider companies below.
1. Cognism
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Capterra Rating: 4.6/5
Cognism is one the best platforms to buy leads for B2B sales. With it’s AI driven sales intelligence, Cognism offers corporate data for new ventures. It offers a comprehensive B2B lead database on the basis of technographic data, firmographic data (industry, location, company, revenue), emails and phone numbers.
Cognism offers a chrome extension for prospecting your leads directly from LinkedIn and enriching LinkedIn Sales Navigator with the contact information.
However, you should be aware of the learning curve associated with its advanced features.
2. Apollo.io
G2 Rating: 4.8/5
Capeterra Rating: 4.6/5
Apollo.io is known for its vast lead database and engagement platform, which is ideal for those looking to buy leads and engage with them effectively.
It currently provides over 275 million leads in its database with tailored options for lead search and filtering. You can filter the lead data on the basis of job title, location, company employee count, buying intent and many more.
Additionally, Apollo offers lead scoring options that gives you opportunities to figureout how likely a prospect is going to covert.
You can easily find your lead through LinkedIn with Apollo’s extension for collecting prospect information and save it to Apollo’s database for future reference.
Its strength lies in the seamless integration of lead generation with sales processes, though some users might find the platform overwhelming due to its extensive functionalities.
G2 Rating: 4.3/5
Capterra Rating: 4.6/5
LinkedIn Sales Navigator leverages LinkedIn’s vast user base to help users buy leads that are highly targeted. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a reliable solution for both marketers as well as sales professionals.
Sales navigator offers a wide range of lead filtering and sorting criteria directly from LinkedIn, making it one of the top lead database providers currently.
Also, It offers integration with CRM directly on its advanced plan. However, the only drawback is that this tool is expensive and may not be suitable for small business or agencies.
For more detailed information, check out 👇
4. Lusha
G2 Rating: 4.3/5
Capterra Rating: 4/5
Lusha is another popular sales intelligence tool that offers leads to marketers, sellers and recruiters. Just like Apollo.io, you can can also narrow down your lead search and filter process with its several targeting filters.
It simplifies the process to buy leads by providing direct contact information (phone number, email address, company information and more), making it a favorite for users who prioritize speed and ease of use.
They also offer browser extension to help you scrape out leads contact information from LinkedIn and websites.
The only disadvantage it has is that the tool currently focuses on providing US based leads which might not be your partcular use-case.
5. Uplead
G2 Rating:
Capterra Rating: 4.6/5
Uplead offers a straightforward approach to lead generation, allowing users to buy leads through a user-friendly interface.
UpLead offers access to over 140 million B2B based on 200+ countries worldwide with a 95% data accuracy guarantee. It offers advanced search and sorting filers to search for specific lead contacts and companies.
Also, they have an interesting feature called ‘intent data’ which allows users to find leads that are actually looking for the type of solution the users are selling.
6. SmartReach.io
G2 Ratings: 4.7/5
Capterra Ratings: 4.7/5
SmartReach.io is an AI-enabled sales engagement platform built for sales teams to hit their sales quotas consistently.
You could find your target audience, and run cold outreach and engagement campaigns using multiple channels such as email, LinkedIn, Calling, WhatsApp, and even text messages. Then use a shared inbox for efficient sales management
With a SmartReach.io plan, you get access to a B2B lead database of over 300 million decision-makers across the globe, especially leads from the United States. This will make buying leads and running outreach even more easier.
It’s advanced sorting and filtering criteria based on company size, location, designation, job titles, revenue etc. allows you to find targeted leads for more personalized outreach.
If required, you can enrich the leads with Clay or any 3rd party data enrichment tool using Zapier and then add the data directly to your SmartReach campaigns.
Stay tuned. Keep your eyes glued at smartreach.io for more solutions and tools for sales teams.
7. Builtwith
G2 Ratings: 4.3/5
Capterra Ratings: 4.2/5
Last but not the least – BuiltWith.
BuiltWith is a robust B2B lead database that helps you to buy leads with a focus on technology usage.
It offers detailed insights into the web technologies (e.g., a specific programming language) used by companies, making it an invaluable resource for tech-focused sales teams.
With its advanced filtering capabilities, you can fileter business leads based on specific technology stacks, spend, and historical usage data.
It also works as a sales intelligence and market analysis tools, allowing users a comprehensive understanding of potential leads. Although this tool is a perfect match for tech sales, but it lacks in other B2B business verticals.
Advantages and disadvantages of buying leads for sales
Buying leads may seem a good idea so far but its has its own set of cons as well. Let’s find out the advantages and disadvantages of buying leads for sales.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Buying leads can give a quick boost to your sales pipeline by offering immediate contact information for sales outreach. ✅ | There’s always a risk of buying low-quality, overused lead list which can waste your money. ❌ |
| While buying leads from reputed databases, you can apply multiple filters and sorting options to find out the most targeted leads as per your business ICP. ✅ | Lead providers often sell the same contact information to multiple buyers which increases your competition. ❌ |
| It saves time and is often cost-effective than setting up a full-fledge in-house B2B lead generation team. ✅ | Buying leads can not give a positive ROI unless and until you successfully convert them to sales. ❌ |
| You can easily scale up your sales outreach process by buying ready-made leads from the market. ✅ | Relying always on theird party B2B leads can be a mistake, in case the lead quality drops. ❌ |
| Buying leads helps you expand your businesses to new demographics and geographics easily. ✅ | There’s an inherent risk of compliance issue with ready-made leads. ❌ |
Buying leads v/s creating a lead list – which one should you choose?
Deciding whether to buy leads or generate them in-house is often a dilemma for B2B businesses, with each option offering distinct benefits and challenges.
Buying leads can quickly populate your sales pipeline with prospects, potentially shortening the sales cycle and allowing your team to concentrate on nurturing and closing deals. However, this method can be costly, and the quality of leads may not always meet expectations, which could lead to wasted resources and efforts.
On the contrary, creating leads with in-house team, is comparatively more resource-intensive and provides a total control over the process. Also, you find leads that are more aligned with your company’s specific target market. These sales leads tend to be of higher quality and more likely to convert into long-term customers due to the personalized approach from the outset.
A strategic blend of both methods might be the most effective approach.
Utilizing platforms like SmartReach.io can help you streamline your sales outreach, whether for purchased leads or those generated internally. SmartReach.io offers features for automating and optimizing key touchpoints throughout the B2B sales cycle, ensuring consistent and personalized engagement with all leads. It also comes with advanced reporting and analytics to measure the effectiveness of your sales efforts.
In short, your decision to buy leads v/s generating them in-house should be informed by your company’s immediate needs, resources, and long-term sales strategy.
Carefully consider the pros and cons of each method to set up a B2B lead generation process that is sustainable for growth. It’s crucial to consider the potential downsides, such as cost, lead quality, compliance risks etc.
By evaluating these factors and possibly integrating purchased leads with in-house efforts, businesses can build an effective sales pipeline.
