Learning Center Resource

Why do Commercial Leads Use Personal Email Addresses?

During your partnership with 360Connect, you will eventually stumble across a lead that uses a personal email address or phone number. You may be wondering “is this personal email address really a business?” or “is it worth calling a lead if they are using a personal phone number?”

Yes, it is! We’d like to use this article to give you some key insights you should know about the leads that you receive with personal email addresses and the history of lead generation businesses.

The History of Lead Service Providers

Lead generation centers were created to help prospective customers find good suppliers. This process used to happen through something like cold calling or ads in a newspaper. With the rise of the internet, customers now have thousands of options to search for quotes on equipment or items for their business. Customers can work directly with a company but have to reach out individually to each company for a price or quote.

With so many choices and such short time, many customers turn to a lead service provider to find quotes on products or services. However, customers may be nervous to give out business information in the digital age due to a couple of key factors. 

Spam:

Some lead providers may come off as spammy. This may happen through marketing efforts or working with unreputable suppliers. Because of these interactions, customers may be hesitant to give out information about themselves or their company in fear of spam. This may mean they give a fake name or email not associated with their work.

Customer Information Sent to Tens or Hundreds of Companies:

One of the special attributes that sets 360Connect apart is that we only send a lead to 5 suppliers max, not 10 or 20. Many people have been burned by other lead services in the past that have sent a lead’s contact information to 10s or 100s of businesses. Their information being sold over and over again. 

For instance, a customer may fill out a form online to receive quotes about a home loan. That lead generation company would then turn around and send that information out to their entire network. Customers then become inundated with calls or emails from suppliers who may not even have what the customer is looking for. Again, those lead generation companies may turn around and try to sell that information to other companies. 
360Connect does not do this, however, due to their previous experience buyers may opt to use a personal email address vs their company domain.

People Do Not Trust Brands Automatically Online:

Customers may not want to reveal information when filling out a quotes form because they do not know the brand is trustworthy yet. This goes for 360Connect or any other lead servicing company. As customers have become more aware of how easy it is to be tricked into giving information to a fake business, they are less likely to give information that could harm them or their business.

If a lead comes to you with a personnel email, or common name like “John Smith,” or personal number should you ignore it? No, this is still a valid lead that has been verified. You should always call first! Don’t try to judge whether the lead is good enough for you to call. You are only competing against at max 4 other competitors instead of hundreds! 

Other Reasons a Buyer May Use a Personal Email

Differentiate between work and other emails

It can be helpful for customers to use separate emails for time-sensitive deals. A customer may give their personal email because they are going to be on vacation, on a job site, or something else, but still want to be accessible. 

Small Businesses May Use Personal Emails

Some small businesses are family-owned operations and have very few employees so they may use a personal email. That’s what they use with their customers and feel comfortable using them on a quotes form. Those are still valid leads!

Accessible Form of Communication

One of the best benefits of a customer giving a personal email address or phone number is that you usually have more access to them. Instead of having to compete with business calls from work or being filtered out as spam, you have a direct line to the customer. Customers may prefer this direct line of communication.

What Makes 360Connect Different?

360Connect looks to bridge the gap between suppliers and buyers. We verify our leads after they fill out our quote form and we tell them which suppliers may be contacting them. This establishes trust between the customer, 360Connect, and the suppliers we work with. 

Even if you receive a lead from us that has a personal email or phone number, the most important thing you can do is Don’t think, just dial. Don’t wait and try to judge whether or not the lead is right for you. Call first and follow up using our 3-2-1 method. You can find out more about how to have a good contact rate in our guide here:

8 Things You Need To Do To Have A Good Contact Rate

Think a lead qualifies for a return? Check out our guide on Lead Returns here:

How to Return a Lead in 4 Simple Steps

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