B2B Sales Prospecting List: Should You Buy or Build Your Own

Introduction

A position in sales can be challenging. At its core, selling is the process of persuading a customer to purchase goods and services. But as a sales expert, you know that the work could be more complex.

Prospecting is the process of identifying and nurturing potential clients before they buy from you. Prospecting is a crucial step in the sales process to build your pipeline of potential customers.

When done well, prospecting builds a pipeline of possible clients and positions you as a reliable resource. Additionally, it assists you in concentrating on the appropriate accounts.

While having a sales prospecting list is the best thing you can do, deciding how to achieve it can be debatable. Many of our potential clients ask whether buying a sales prospecting list is more beneficial than making one. 

In this article, we will see all the pros and cons of both and decide which one is best for you.

Top 5 Pros of Buying a Ready-Made Prospecting list

To begin with, the advantages you are going to have if you decide to buy a sales prospecting list are:

• Quick and easy access
• Data accuracy and reliability
• Time-saving
• Cost-effective
• Data Guarantee

Quick and Easy Access

Buying a sales prospecting list can provide quick and easy access to a large number of potential leads. 

How? 

These lists are typically compiled by specialists in collecting and organizing data on potential customers.

By purchasing a list, you can save time and resources that would otherwise be spent on researching and compiling your own list of leads. Additionally, these lists are often segmented and organized to make it easy for sales teams to target specific demographics or industries.

Also, 68% of businesses are struggling with lead generation, so it makes sense that purchasing lists is still a common B2B practice.

Data accuracy and reliability

One of the major benefits of buying a sales prospecting list you can have is a high level of data accuracy and reliability. These lists are often compiled using a variety of sources, including public records, surveys, and customer interactions. This means that the information included on your list is up-to-date and accurate. 

Additionally, many companies that sell prospecting lists use verification processes to ensure that the information is accurate and complete. This helps ensure that your leads on the list are viable. Plus, it lets your sales teams use their time and resources wisely to pursue good leads. 

Furthermore, many companies that provide the list will also guarantee that the data is accurate or will refresh the data for free. This can provide peace of mind for the buyers. Buying a sales prospecting list can effectively generate a large number of high-quality leads quickly.

Time-saving

Buying a sales prospecting list can save you significant time for sales teams and businesses. Rather than spending hours researching and compiling a list of leads on their own, you can simply purchase a pre-made list.

This can free up time for your sales teams to focus on other essential tasks, such as reaching out to leads, closing deals, and building customer relationships. Additionally, many prospecting lists are segmented and organized to make it easy for your sales teams to target specific demographics or industries. This can save time and resources that would otherwise be spent on researching and identifying potential leads.

Cost-effective

Buying a sales prospecting list can be a cost-effective way to generate leads for your business. By purchasing a pre-made list, your sales team can save time and resources that would otherwise be spent on researching and compiling your own list of leads.

Also, many companies that make these lists are cheaper than you might expect. Plus, most of them operate on a subscription basis, meaning that you pay a monthly fee for pre-made lists and the services that come with them.

Data Guarantee

Purchasing a sales prospecting list ensures the accuracy and dependability of the data provided. Many companies that sell prospecting lists employ verification processes to ensure that the data is accurate and complete. This can include cross-referencing information from multiple sources, removing duplicate or out-of-date entries, and regularly updating the data to ensure it is up to date. 

Top 5 Cons of Buying a Prospecting list

In addition to having a lot of advantages of buying a sales prospecting list, they also have a few disadvantages, like

• Lack of Quality and Relevance Control
• Marketing Capability
• Outdated and inaccurate information
• Privacy concerns
• Legal concerns

Lack of Quality and Relevance Control

When buying a sales prospecting list, one of the major disadvantages is the lack of control over the lead quality and relevance. As a result, the leads on a prospecting list may not always be high-quality or relevant to your business or industry.

This can be a significant drawback for businesses that rely on high-quality leads to generate revenue and drive growth. To minimize this risk, it is important to research the company and ensure they have a good track record of providing accurate and relevant data.

Marketing Capability

Buying sales prospecting lists can harm your campaign performance by having high bounce rates that can end up banning your domain or even worse.

The percentage of email addresses your campaign could not deliver to is your bounce rate. Every campaign you send is tracked by email providers and anti-spam networks, who use that data to determine whether or not to accept future correspondence from you.

Purchased lists can see bounce rates in the 20-35% range due to several of the factors mentioned above. Building your own list in real-time can yield bounce rates below 5%.

Outdated and inaccurate Information

Another disadvantage of purchasing a sales prospecting list is that the information may be outdated or incorrect. For example, contact information, job titles, and company information can all change over time, making it difficult for your company to make the right decision or target the right demographics.

Furthermore, some prospecting lists may contain duplicate or outdated entries, wasting time and resources as your sales teams follow up on bad leads.

Privacy Concerns

Buying a sales prospecting list can raise privacy concerns as the data may not have been obtained through opt-in methods, and you may not want your data to be shared or used for marketing. 

It is essential to be aware of the laws and regulations related to data privacy and ensure that the data you get complies with these laws. It is also crucial to make sure that the leads on your list have been obtained ethically and that they have been given the option to opt out of any future communication.

 Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in legal issues and damage your business's reputation. Additionally, it's vital to ensure that the data is protected and kept confidential and not shared with any third party without consent.

Legal Concerns

Buying a sales prospecting list can also raise legal concerns, as there may be strict regulations on how the data can be used and shared. 

For example, in some countries and regions, purchasing or using data that has yet to be obtained through opt-in methods or for particular marketing or sales activities is illegal. 

Top 5 Pros of Building Your Own Sales Prospecting list

On the other hand, another way to obtain a Sales Prospecting list is by building it yourself. Some may argue that is the better option, but we are here today to show you the benefits and downsides of building it.

• Targeted market and needs
• Quality control
• Cost-effective
• Brand Awareness
• Personalization

Targeted market and needs

Building your own sales prospecting list allows you to tailor it to your specific needs and target the right demographics or industries. This means you can focus on the most relevant leads and increase the chances of generating high-quality leads and closing deals.

By gathering information about your leads and understanding their needs and interests, you can create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate with them, leading to increased engagement and conversions.

 By building your list, you can also target specific niches or industries that may be particularly relevant to your business or product and that may not be included in pre-made lists.

Quality Control

Building your sales prospecting list allows you to have greater control over the quality and relevance of the leads. By gathering your data through methods such as web scraping, social media, web forms, surveys, or events, you can ensure that the information is accurate, up-to-date, and relevant to your business or industry. 

This can increase the chances of generating superb leads and deals. Plus, this can help you reach the right decision-makers and increase the chances of generating leads and closing deals. 

Cost-effective

Building your sales prospecting list can be cost-effective as it doesn't require purchasing a pre-made list. Instead, you can use the resources you already have available such as internal databases, web scraping tools, social media, web forms, surveys, or events.

This can save you the money you would have spent on a pre-made list. Furthermore, when building your own list, you can be more flexible in collecting data, opting in to the most cost-effective methods for your business, which can help you keep costs low and maximize your ROI.

Brand Awareness

Building your own sales prospecting list allows you to collect information about your leads that can be used to personalize your outreach and increase brand awareness.

Furthermore, by creating your list, you can control the data you collect, such as interests, needs, and pain points, which can be used to create targeted, personalized marketing campaigns that increase lead engagement and conversions.

Personalization

By gathering information about your leads, you can tailor your outreach and increase lead engagement by creating your own sales prospecting list.

Furthermore, by creating your own list, you can segment your leads based on specific characteristics such as demographics, industry, or job titles and create tailored campaigns for each segment. Personalization can also improve lead retention and customer loyalty.

Top 5 Cons of Building Your Own Sales Prospecting list

The opposing viewpoint on the subject mentioned above is that, like everything else, there are two sides to every coin. The following list will discuss the top five most significant disadvantages of building your own leads list. Those cons are:

Time-consuming and resource-intensive
Risk of missing out on potential leads
Requirement of additional tools and resources 
Limited reach
Inaccurate data

Time-consuming and resource-intensive

Building your own sales prospecting list can be a very time-consuming and resource-intensive task. First, it requires significant time and effort to gather the necessary data from various sources, such as social media, website scraping, or even manual research. Once the data is collected, it must be manually inputted and organized into a list, which can take even more time.

Building your sales prospecting list is a labor-intensive process that requires a significant investment of time and resources to create and maintain.

Risk of missing out on leads

Building your sales prospecting list comes with the risk of missing out on potential leads. When creating your list, you are limited to the contacts you can gather, which may not provide a diverse range of potential customers. It may be challenging to identify and target the most relevant prospects if you don't have access to the right tools and resources. 

Additionally, you might not be aware of specific leads in the market for your product or service, and you don't have their information. This can result in missing out on valuable opportunities and limit your business's growth potential. 

The risk of missing out on potential leads when building your sales prospecting list is a concern that should be considered when deciding whether to use this method for lead generation.

Requirement of Additional Tools and Resources

Building your own sales prospecting list requires additional tools and resources. To gather and organize the necessary data, you may need to invest in software such as data scraping tools or CRM systems. These tools can help you to automatically gather data from various sources, such as social media or websites, and organize it into a usable format.

Furthermore, you may need human resources to input, verify and clean the data. Overall, building your sales prospecting list requires significant time and effort. Also, the acquisition and use of additional tools and resources to make the process more efficient and effective.

Limited reach

Building your own sales prospecting list has a limited reach. When creating your list, you are limited to the contacts you can gather, which may not provide a diverse range of potential customers. This can result in missing out on valuable opportunities, as you are not reaching a wide enough audience to find the best fit for your product or service.

Furthermore, building your list is a one-time effort, and it may not be able to capture new leads that are in the market for your product or service. This can limit the growth potential of your business, as your reach and potential customer base could be narrower.

Overall, the limited reach you have when building your sales prospecting list is a significant concern that should be considered when deciding whether to use this method for lead generation.

Inaccurate Data

Building your own sales prospecting list can also result in inaccurate data. When gathering data, there is a risk of collecting outdated or incorrect information, leading to wasted efforts and lost opportunities.

Without proper verification, the information in your list may not be up-to-date, which can cause issues when trying to contact potential customers. When building your prospect list, you may not capture precise information, such as email addresses or phone numbers, which can be crucial for sales prospecting.

Inaccurate data can also result in legal and compliance issues if the data is not gathered legally and ethically. Overall, erroneous data is a significant concern when building your own sales prospecting list, as it can negatively impact the effectiveness and efficiency of your sales efforts.

Conclusion

To summarize everything that we discussed, there are quite a few pros and cons for acquiring a prospect list. But, when you compare both methods with their respective advantages and disadvantages, you can clearly see that it depends on a lot of factors.

Those factors vary from what resources your company has, whether a startup or an already established company, and so forth. But, typically, building your sales prospecting list is the way to go. A perfect example of who can help you build your list is Revnew.

Revnew is a company that can assist and guide you in your pursuit of building your prospect list. Contact us for a risk free strategy call.