6 Sources to Find Sales Lead Lists

Credit: Thomas Rmer on sxc.hu

Are you looking for potential customers? What freelancer isn’t on the hunt for the next sale? Looking for sales leads is a necessary part of our business. If you need to expand your potential pool of customers quickly, then tapping into lead lists could be a game changer for you. This article will tell you how and where to find such lists. Time to don your Sherlock Holmes detective hat and do some sleuthing.

What is a Lead?

For the purpose of this article, a "lead" is someone whose name appears on a list. You don’t know how interested he or she may be in your services. That’s why you’re going to make a call, send an e-mail, or drop by for an in-person visit.

In some circles, a lead is also called a "suspect." That’s a way of distinguishing this person from a "prospect" "" someone you’ve qualified as being interested in your services. The goal of your sales process is to promote your prospects to "clients."

A "leads list" may have names, telephone numbers, e-mail and snail-mail addresses, URLs of websites, blogs, social networking pages, Twitter feeds, etc. Or, like an annual report’s roster of board members, a lead list might not show anything more than first and last names. In this cases, you’ll need to do more investigative work before making contact.

Leads lists are quite easy to find. In fact, you'll soon find yourself buried in them. Next up are six sources of leads lists.

1. Trade Association Membership Lists

There’s an association for just about every type of business or industry that you can think of. You can track them down by doing online searches "" my favorite search string is "trade associations [name of] industry." (Just replace the words inside the brackets with the name of whatever industry you’re targeting. For example, it you have petroleum dreams, use "trade associations oil industry").

In addition to doing online searches in your home studio, I recommend a trip to the main branch of your public library, specifically, to the reference section. This is where you’ll find Gale Publishing’s Encyclopedia of Associations. It’s the happy hunting ground for anyone looking for information on trade associations within and outside of the United States. (If you want to buy a copy for your own use, be prepared to pay more than a thousand dollars).

Before we leave this topic, a word of warning about membership lists: Some associations forbid their use for telephone or e-mail prospecting purposes. I used to belong to such an organization, which was very heavy on PR people. The organization’s website included stern warnings about the unauthorized use of membership lists. However, headquarters was more than happy to rent its list to members so that they could do direct mailings.

It’s interesting to note what a local friend, who has served as a chapter board member in a competing organization, said about her own group’s policy: "We’re public relations professionals. We’re supposed to be accessible. That’s why our contact information’s out there."

2. The Yellow Pages

One of my favorite tools for researching local companies is the phone book. Yes, I know. The phone book. How archaic. Darn thing has tiny print that’s hard to read. And, if you don’t know what category your target businesses are located in, the phone book isn’t searchable.

But those almost-obsolete yellow tomes that keep landing on your doorstep still have a useful function. They’re a quick and easy way to see who the big players are locally. Just take a look at the size of the company ads. The bigger ads usually belong to the heavyweights.

Now, note the website addresses and type them into your favorite browser. You might be horrified to find that the big ad-buying company has an awful-looking website. With dreadful-looking photos. And a product database that rolls over and dies at the simplest online search. Which spells "o-p-p-o-r-t-u-n-i-t-y" to anyone involved in website development.

So, since you have the company’s number, courtesy of the phone book, give them a call. Ask for the marketing manager or communications director. Don’t badmouth the current website, even if they admit that it’s dreadful and needs a do-over. Just guide them to the sparkling examples of work that are in your portfolio.

3. Websites with Employee Rosters

Organizations vary widely in their policies toward employee information. Some make employee names, phone numbers, and e-mails readily available. Others guard this information like a highly classified secret. If you’re running up against the Great Wall of Secrecy, try the Jigsaw contact information database. It’s free if you agree to add your own contacts. Or you can sign up for a Jigsaw membership "" annual fees start at $250.

4. Industry Directories

Another leads list to look into are those organized by industry. One well-known example is ThomasNet, which lists manufacturers, distributors and service providers by industry.

5. Lead Lists for Rent

If you’re targeting buyers of creative services, be forewarned that they can be very difficult to track down. They also change jobs the way the rest of us change clothes. Companies like AdBase and Agency Access offer memberships that include the use of their very well maintained lists. If you’re an illustrator, photographer, videographer, stock agency, or artist’s representative, they may be worth checking out.

6. Don't Overlook the News

It's a valuable source of information on business openings, plant expansions, introductions of new products and services, new hires, promotions of key people, and more. If you are tracking a certain industry or business, you can have relevant news sent to your e-mailbox via the free Google Alerts service.

Have You Used Lead Lists?

Do you have other lead list sources you’ve used? If so, please share them in the comments below, and save everyone some detective work.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Thomas Rmer.