How to choose which lead generation channels to run first

Imagine a tarpaulin and tent maker in Rewari (an invented owner) with a wish list: a directory listing, a Google profile, LinkedIn posts, a stall at a trade fair and a calling drive. There are about eight hours a week of the owner's own time to give any of it. Start with the two channels that can bring a first enquiry soonest, that your buyer already uses, and that fit inside your own hours. Add a third only when those two are answered the same day and every enquiry is recorded.

What makes one channel better than another for you?

Not its reputation. A channel suits you when three things line up. Your buyer is on it at the moment they are ready to buy. It can produce something within a wait you can afford. And your team can handle what it sends. Social posting can be excellent for a boutique and poor for a bearings distributor, whose buyers pick up the phone to a name they know.

Of the five lines in the table below, two do most of the separating for a small firm. One is time to first enquiry: days, weeks or a season. The other is the hours it eats from the owner or one named person. A channel that takes a month to warm up and an hour a day to feed is a poor first choice for a three-person firm.

How do I rank them?

Give each channel a mark from 1 to 3 on each line. Higher is better for you.

Add the marks, then apply the hours rule. Write down the hours a week you can honestly give, and the hours each channel would take. A channel that does not fit is out, however well it scored. If two tie, take the one that uses fewer of the owner's hours, because those are the scarcest input in a small firm.

Which channels usually come out on top, and when?

This depends on the trade, so treat it as a starting guess.

• Search and map listings suit work bought when a problem appears: repairs, clinics, tutors, local services. They are quick if the listing is complete and slow if it is bare.
• Directories and marketplaces suit standard products and suppliers who are comfortable quoting many strangers. Skip them if you make to order and cannot stand a heap of price-only enquiries.
• Referrals and past customers suit anything bought on trust. They cost little and need a habit of asking, so they often rank first.
• Calling a list (see telecalling) suits B2B firms that know exactly who buys. It needs a researched list and someone who can take a no, and calling rules differ by channel, so check yours with your adviser.
• Paid ads are the quickest way to find out whether anyone wants the offer, and a quick way to waste money if the page behind the ad is poor.
• Content and social posting take longest. Make them a second channel, unless posting is something you already enjoy and do.

For example: the Rewari tarpaulin maker

In this made-up case the firm sells truck tarpaulins to transport operators, and shamiana and tent covers to event decorators. The eight spare hours are the limit.

The directory looks easiest, so the owner lists the firm there first, for a yearly fee of about ₹12,000 (invented). Within weeks the phone fills with people asking the lowest rate for a single tarpaulin. The owner answers every one, and the eight hours are gone before anything else is tried. That was the mistake: judging the channel by how quickly it was set up, not by what it would cost to run. Cheap to start can be dear to run, so count orders per hour of your time as well as rupees spent.

The owner starts again with the hours rule. The directory needs four hours or more a week and scores 1 on fit, since most enquiries want one piece and no drawing. A complete Google listing needs an hour to set up and little after that. Calling 40 named transport firms within a day's drive needs about three hours a week and the owner already knows how to quote for them. Two decorators he already supplies could each introduce a friend, and that costs a message. So his first two are the calling list and the listing, with referrals asked for along the way. The directory goes on a shelf marked "later, with a minimum order shown". The restart is slower: the first six weeks bring two calls worth a visit and no order, which the owner had to sit through before a transport firm placed a small one.

What do I set before I begin?

Write four things on one page. How many enquiries do you hope to see from each channel in the trial? Who answers them, and how fast? How will you record the source? On what date will you look at the numbers? Without the date, a channel that is quietly failing gets renewed out of habit. For recording sources, see how to track lead source in your CRM.

When should I add a third channel, and when should I drop one?

Add one when both existing channels are answered the same day and the record shows which of their enquiries became orders. Drop one when it has had a fair trial and brought no enquiry your team would have been glad to win, even if the cost looks small.

Do not drop a channel only because it was slow. A local listing or a referral habit can grow quietly. Look at enquiries and orders, not at activity.

Starting the two

Tonight, list your candidate channels, score them on the five lines and write down the hours you can give each week; pick the two that survive. The sales process hub shows what happens after the enquiry lands. If you want a second pair of eyes on the ranking, see demand and lead generation and tell us what you need.