Any sales team would appreciate a sales funnel with leads from various sources. But high-quality leads don’t come easily. Prospective customers rarely drop by a company’s doorstep on their own. A company needs the right people with suitable skills and tools to reach out to its target audience and find potential customers within that group. This is what a lead generation specialist role is for.

You might ask yourself, “Why hire a lead generation specialist?” The short answer is this: if you’re serious about beefing up your sales pipeline and setting up your sales team for success, you need someone who can focus on finding and qualifying leads to help improve your sales operations.

A lead generation specialist’s role is important to the sales cycle. They help sales and marketing teams find new business opportunities in the form of qualified leads (i.e., individuals or companies that can be potential customers).

The scope of work of a lead generation specialist largely depends on the type of business their client operates and their internal sales process. But typically, they work on outbound lead generation tasks like cold calling or cold emailing potential clients. They also support inbound lead generation campaigns from SEO content creation to executing social media marketing strategies. An experienced lead generation expert can also handle analytics tasks such as market research and report generation.

Because this role can be done remotely, businesses can hire remote talents or virtual assistants as lead generation specialists. Doing so helps them generate leads without breaking the bank or overshooting their budget.

Are you considering hiring a virtual assistant for lead generation? Book a free consultation with our Growth Experts to get top-notch virtual assistant services!

Why Hire a Lead Generation Specialist? [Top 5 Reasons]

Instead of using your time cold calling or scouring the internet for leads, why not hire lead experts to handle this part of your business? Yes, finding new leads is crucial for your business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t delegate this task, so you can truly focus on your executive responsibilities.

If you’re still on the fence about hiring a lead generation specialist, here are five reasons why hiring one is the way to go:

• Get Quality Leads

According to a study by Ascend2, a B2B research agency, 43% of the responses identified collecting enough data on leads as a top barrier for successful lead conversion. This means not all leads that come in have enough information for sales teams to convert. Instead of becoming potential customers, they turn into wasted opportunities. To help avoid experiencing this fate, hiring a lead generation specialist is best.

They can focus on making sure each new lead is qualified and has complete information that salespeople can use to move them along the sales funnel. Your lead expert will ensure that you have information like a company’s decision maker, contact details, and so on. This way, there will be less need for rework, and move forward to the next stage of the sales process without a hitch.

• Save Time

You can get leads for your sales funnel through various methods like cold calls and emails. But doing so can take up much of your time. Luckily, you can hire lead generation specialists who can do that on your behalf.

Lead generation specialists support both your marketing and sales teams. Depending on their experience and skill level, they can handle a wide variety of tasks, from routine admin work to more specialized ones like paid advertising and analytics. By hiring the right candidates, you can delegate these tasks to save more time and focus on other more high-level duties.

Here are some examples of tasks lead generation specialists can work on:

Administrative Tasks

Administrative tasks can seem routine, but they still take time. Your lead generation specialist can take over this part of the lead gen process to check off time-consuming desk work from your to-do list.

• Database Management
• Appointment Scheduling
• Email Management
• File Management
• Calendar Management
• Updating Customer Relationship Management Systems

Outbound Lead Generation

Your lead gen specialist can focus on finding and qualifying leads through various outbound efforts. These include the following:

• Cold Calling
• Cold Emailing
• LinkedIn Outreach
• Crafting Sales Scripts and Messaging for Lead Generation
• Updating Active Call List

Inbound Lead Generation

There are a lot of tools you can use to automate inbound lead gen tasks. However, you still need someone with the right skills to navigate such tools and do things manually when necessary. Here are some inbound marketing tasks you can delegate to your lead gen specialist:

• Managing Queries on Website Forms and Landing Pages
• Qualify Sales Leads from Inbound Marketing Campaigns
• Creating and Optimizing Lead Magnets
• Content Creation
• SEO Strategy Execution
• Paid Advertising Campaigns
• Handling Social Media Marketing Efforts

Research and Data Analysis

You can delegate research tasks to your lead generation specialist. They can help you and your team turn data points into actionable insights that you can use to make data-driven decisions.

• Market Research
• Progress Tracking
• Performance Metrics Reports
• Tracking Lead Generation Performance Metrics
• Competitor Check

The above list is just a preview of what a lead generation specialist can do for your business. Make sure to assess your needs and objectives to find the most suitable lead generation experts.

• Increase Productivity

With the right training and tools, lead generation specialists can generate and qualify leads. These new leads will then be handed over to you or your sales team so you can nurture them and eventually close the deal.

An excellent lead generation specialist can improve productivity across the board. First, they’re helping you free up your to-do list so you can focus on executive duties like finding new business opportunities or strategies. At the same time, your sales team can focus on its core function. Instead of spending the majority of their workday finding leads, your salespeople can work on converting them.

Taking out the time-consuming tasks involved with lead generation from your to-do list frees up your schedule to focus on more executive responsibilities.

• Save Money

If you’re thinking of adding a lead gen specialist to your sales team, why not consider hiring remote talents? Hiring remote talents is an excellent option for small business owners or companies who just want to find effective yet cost-efficient staffing solutions.

Remote professionals can do the job at a fraction of the cost of hiring full-time, in-office staff. A remote lead generation specialist works using their own tools like a laptop and internet connection. This means you don’t have to set aside a budget for additional workspace, office equipment, insurance, and other expenses related to a new in-office hire.

Schedule a free consultation with our Growth Experts to learn more about how you can save up to 80% on labor costs!

• Beef Up Your Bottom Line

Lead generation specialists kickstart the sales process. They make sure your sales funnel has a steady flow of qualified leads or potential prospects. More qualified leads mean more business opportunities or potential paying customers.

Hiring a remote lead generation specialist means getting the same lead generation services but at a fraction of the cost of hiring in-house, full-time employees. When you work with remote professionals or virtual assistants, you don’t have to worry about costs like buying additional office equipment, insurance, or transportation allowances. They can help you save on expenses which can help increase your bottom line even more.

In summary, a lead generation specialist for your sales team can be just what you need to boost both productivity and revenue. And when you hire a remote professional for lead generation services, that could equate to even more savings and process improvements.

What Makes an Effective Lead Generation Specialist?

You can find lead generation specialists with varying degrees of experience and skills. To help you hire the right candidate, you must narrow down the list of lead generation tasks you’re planning to delegate to your lead gen specialist. The list can then help you zero in on the specific skills needed for the scope of work.

Having said that, you need to ensure that your lead generation specialist, regardless of their duties, possesses the following essential qualities. These are basic qualities that any effective lead generation expert should have:

Strong Communication Skills

It’s crucial to find someone with great communication skills. Lead generation specialists act as the first point of contact for customers. Their communication prowess will come in handy to help you make an excellent first impression with potential clients.

Aside from interfacing with leads, lead gen specialists also need communication skills when coordinating with sales and marketing team members. Having strong communication skills will ensure smoother workflow and process efficiency.

• Highly-Organized

Being organized can help ensure that files and information are stored in a way that can be easily found and understood by the working teams. You need a highly-organized lead generation specialist to help you make sense of the multiple data points coming in from different lead sources. Additionally, organized data is easier to understand, allowing the sales team to move seamlessly onto the next phase of the process.

• Expert Time Management Skills

Lead specialists should also be excellent at time management. They know how to prioritize tasks to be able to meet deadlines. Any hiccup or bottleneck in the lead generation step of the process can negatively impact the path forward. A lead generation specialist that knows how to manage their time well can help you and your team stay efficient and productive.

• Tech Savvy

Your lead generation specialist should be tech-savvy, especially when they’re working remotely. A lot of the lead generation activities are done online, so it makes sense to have someone comfortable navigating the internet to scrape leads. Plus, their comfort level and openness to learning new systems will be useful when you’re training them to use your preferred sales and marketing tools.

• Persistent

Staying persistent despite rejections or roadblocks is a key trait of any successful lead generation specialist. They should have the grit to stay focused and determined when finding and interacting with prospects. Persistence can not only generate leads but ensure that you’re not leaving any stone unturned.

• Relevant Experience or Training

When you’re working for remote lead generation specialists, you can come across candidates with varying levels of experience. Of course, the one you choose will highly depend on important factors such as your budget and the scope of work. However, it does help if you look for someone with relevant training or work experience in a similar role.

Lead generation experts that have enough experience will have a better idea of how the process works and can help cut down training time and shorten the learning curve.

Did you know? 20four7VA offers training and upskilling sessions to virtual assistants (VAs). These sessions help equip VAs with the skills necessary to perform well in roles, including lead generation positions.

Hiring a Lead Generation Specialist Through 20four7VA

If you’re ready to hire lead generation specialists for your business, then you need to be prepared. You must have a thorough screening process to ensure that you’re getting the best candidate for the role. Ensuring a good job fit is an excellent way to avoid high turnover rates and longer learning curves.

If you don’t have the time and energy to spare on screening candidates or if you just want expert remote staffing assistance, let 20four7VA help!

Why Choose 20four7VA?

20four7VA has over a decade of experience helping businesses grow by providing cost-effective and highly-scalable remote staffing solutions. At the same time, we connect talented remote professionals to rewarding career opportunities they may not be able to find locally.

To date, we’ve connected over 2,900 clients with the most suitable virtual assistants or remote talents. Here are the top reasons why we are the leading remote staffing partner of choice for businesses across multiple industries:

Global Talent Pool

Our 8-step vetting process ensures that our talent pool is filled with top-tier remote professionals. Doing so means our clients will be connected with the best VAs for their business needs.

Dedicated Client Support

Each 20four7VA client is assigned a dedicated Customer Support Officer to ensure every query and concern is handled quickly. We make sure all our clients have access to the right support and dependable services.

Award-Winning Remote Staffing Company

20four7VA is committed to delivering the highest quality remote staffing solutions possible. Our commitment and efforts have been recognized by several respected institutions. Below are some of our most recent awards and recognitions:

• Inc. 5000 List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the U.S.
• World Staffing Summit’s Top 100 Staffing Companies to Work for in 2023
• World Staffing Summit’s Top 100 Staffing Leaders to Watch in 2023
• Time Doctor OA500 2023: Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index

End-to-End Remote Staffing Solutions

Our services don’t end at the recruitment phase. All our clients have access to our end-to-end remote staffing solutions, which make remote work work for both clients and VAs. Our solutions include:

• VA Management: Our support officers will help you review VA performance to ensure the best output.
• HR Assistance: With 20four7VA, you receive HR support on top of your VA’s service! We’ll help you with HR tasks like time-tracking and VA payroll processing.
• Free Training and Upskilling for VAs: To ensure your VA’s skills are up-to-date, 20four7VA offers free training to all VAs. These training sessions also help the VAs with their personal and professional development.

Fast Turnaround Time: Find a VA in Four Easy Steps!

Upon approval of the VA job description (JD), we can connect you to your VA in as fast as 72 hours! This is possible thanks to our global talent pool and our streamlined process. Here’s how it works:

1. Simply fill out the 20four7VA consultation form, then choose your preferred schedule. Our Growth Experts will hop on a consultation call to get to know your business and requirements better. The consultation call is completely free and no-strings-attached!
2. We’ll search our talent pool for the remote talent that matches the approved JD.
3. Our team will schedule interviews with you and the shortlisted candidates to help you with the selection process.
4. Once you’ve selected the most suitable candidate, we’ll work on setting up your account. And just like that, your remote lead generation specialist can start the next day.

A lead generation specialist can work wonders for your business. They can help kickstart your sales team’s process and deliver valuable business opportunities. Make sure you make the most out of this role by letting 20four7VA find the best person for the job!

Ready to work with a remote lead generation specialist for your business? Book your free consultation today to get started!