Guest Writer: Sean Cheyney, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, AccuQuote
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the LeadsCon event in Las Vegas.
In terms of the show itself, Jay Weintraub and team have done a wonderful job of turning LeadsCon into the premiere event for everything lead generation. It was very well organized from all aspects, and provided for good networking as well. The content was diverse and well put together for both the general topics as well as for the vertical specific ones. A common theme I heard from attendees was that in addition to the content, people were easily able to pack their schedules with meetings, making the show informative AND extremely productive.
One of the trends that I observed from the show was concerning. In terms of the traditional seller / buyer relationship, there appeared to be quite a bit of “us versus them” mentality. Many of the buyers were echoing the challenges they have with working with lead sellers, while the sellers were shouting equally loud the challenges they have working with increasingly discerning lead buyers. Given that my panel was titled “I would buy more leads if…”, my opinion is naturally going to be slanted towards the buy side.
Common concerns from the buyers included:
- Lack of transparency in sourcing
- Lack of partnership – Most buyers felt that their lead vendors were “vendors” as opposed to “partners”
- Lack of control and the legal concern that presents, especially in highly regulated industries
- Lack of the capability to optimize when presented with back end data from the buyer
In the end, the best partnerships are formed with transparency, and an open partnership in which data is shared for the purpose of creating a win-win situation for both buyer and seller. Were any of you at LeadsCon? If so, please comment of your experience at the event.