Sales managers are the driving force behind the majority of companies, but they can only do an effective job when they have the right tools - and this includes direct email addresses and phone numbers for potential leads. This not only saves time, but also avoids your team becoming frustrated with a large amount of research to undertake or outreach through social media, which often proves to be ineffective.
However, there is a problem with this proposal; we can't always get both a direct email and phone number for a contact. Even marketing landing pages, that require visitors to enter both of these details into a form, often don't get the results as very few people want to hand over so much of their personal data.
Even database providers who sell customer data don't have both email and phone numbers a lot of the time, which leads us to an important question; what other ways are there to obtain this information?
Here are some possible strategies to collect this data using lead generation campaigns or through a partnership with a data vendor:
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Leave out the number field: If your goal is to get leads from your landing page, it may be a good idea to sacrifice the phone number field in exchange for a higher form conversion rate. Then, once you've built up a database of leads, you can enrich these contacts by using data providers who have access to direct phone numbers. This way, you get more leads with fewer fields; you just need to search the vendor's database using the customer data you already have.
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Use Facebook IDs: If you're running a marketing campaign that involves a freebie such as an eBook or whitepaper download, or a free trial, you can try asking visitors to fill in the form using their Facebook credentials. This way, you'll receive their full name and email address, which you can then use to find their work email and/or direct phone number via a data vendor.
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LInkedIn Autofill: Similar to the Facebook method, you can enable visitors to your landing page to sign up using their LinkedIn account. Once they've given their consent, the form is automatically filled with the personal data from their account, which can potentially include both their direct email and phone number. The fact that they don't have to fill in this form manually means a substantial increase in form conversions.
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Create a two-step form: Creating a form that breaks down the signup process in to two different steps can encourage more conversions overall. The first part of the form is for visitors to add their email address and company name, and then the second step is to add their phone number. This way the form is made easier to fill, but you still get types of contact data.
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Use API: Another option is to use a data vendor who provides API to their data feeds. This means when someone enters their name and company name into your landing page form, the API will retrieve their work email address and phone number automatically. Using this method means more conversions as the process is so simple, and, rather usefully, allows the visitor to correct the information if it's wrong.
While there's no doubt that having sufficient direct contact data for leads is essential, it's often difficult to get both a direct email address and a phone number by more traditional methods. However, by using logical strategies and connecting directly with multiple data vendors, you'll be able to fill in the gaps of any data you're missing. In order for companies to succeed, it's important to use all kinds of strategies to improve the data collection process and generate more engagement from clients, using different channels such as email, calls, ads, content, and the press.
