5 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Internet Lead Provider

Trusting your marketing budget to a third party can be scary. It can be a lot less scary and very profitable if you just know the right questions to ask.

Whether you're in the mortgage, debt, or insurance business you need a marketing partner that brings you quality consumer opportunities. This kind of partnership lets you focus on sales and delivering incredible customer service, not wasting your time trying to figure out marketing strategies.

Unfortunately, the risk is that not all lead providers are created equal and some are downright scams.

Asking a few key questions can eliminate the risk of fraud and position your sales for success. Here are a few of the basic questions you should ask any Internet lead provider.

1. How Do You Generate or Source Your Leads? Internet leads are great sources of motivated customer leads. In the business of mortgage, debt, or insurance there are thousands of customers research financial product online and then asking for call back with more information. However, not all lead providers generate or acquire leads in the best way. Make sure you are comfortable with their marketing methods.

2. How Long Have You Been Generating Leads? Being in the business for a long time doesn't necessarily make you the best. However, it does give you experience, customers, and stability. These are all important characteristics if you're going to give them your marketing budget.

3. What is Your Return or Replacement Policy? Even the best of Internet marketers will aggregate or generate leads with bad contact information. Consumers and fraudsters will often provide bad data to test competitors' marketing, but avoid sales calls. This is a fact of Internet marketing and is a bit annoying, but other than a mild annoyance these bad leads aren't a big deal if your provider has a reasonable return policy.

4. Can I Talk to a Customer Reference? Nothing helps your due diligence and success rate with a marketing partner more than a short chat with a couple of customer references. These contacts can give you the straight scoop on how to be most successful with the leads from the lead partner. And those marketing companies that won't give you a reference--watch out.

5. What is Your Better Business Bureau Rating? This is an easy way to check for yourself. The Better Business Bureau aggregates and investigates complaints about all businesses. This quick check can give you a third party evaluation of what it's like doing business with any lead provider you consider.

Partnering with the right Internet lead source can be the difference between big success or lots of money dumped down the drain. Make sure you are asking questions and getting answers. A good lead partner will want to build a trusting relationship with you--a good Q & A session is the right place to start.