Online marketplaces · Lead generation
Generate leads for both sides of the platform, starting with the side that is short.
Lead generation for a marketplace means two separate streams of enquiries: sellers who might list and buyers who might order. GullySales builds each stream on its own, beginning with whichever side is short in the city you are opening.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
What lead generation means
Lead generation is the combined work of every channel that brings in a new enquiry, whether from search, adverts, referrals or a stall at an exhibition. GullySales runs these channels together and reports the number of enquiries each one produced, not the activity behind it.
Last updated 18 Oct 2026.
For online marketplaces
Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.
“A seller lead is a different person from a buyer lead”
A shop owner asking what the commission is and a homeowner asking for a plumber share nothing except the platform. One list, one script and one follow-up for both will fit neither, and the sales team will not know which number to ring first.
“Buyer leads from a locality with no live sellers are wasted”
An advert that brings a buyer to a page with nobody to answer produces a lead that cannot become an order. The enquiry looks healthy in a report and dies at the first unanswered call, so supply has to be checked before demand is paid for.
“Seller leads come from the places sellers already gather”
Market associations, trade unions, distributor counters and local WhatsApp groups are where a tailor or an electrician hears about a new platform. A field executive the group already knows brings in a better lead than a generic advert.
“A lead that came from a referral should be marked as one”
When a listed seller introduces a colleague, that origin decides how the call opens. Without a source column, the sales team treats a warm introduction like a cold list and the referring seller never hears back.
What we do
What we deliver for online marketplaces.
Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.
Two lead streams with separate sources
One list of seller leads and one of buyer leads, each with its own source, trade and locality fields, so nothing is mixed in a single sheet.
Result: You can filter the sheet and see seller leads and buyer leads apart, by city.
Seller recruitment lead list
Target sellers by trade and locality, drawn from association lists, market visits and referrals, with the language each prefers noted.
Result: Every seller lead shows a trade, a locality and the first language for the call.
Buyer enquiry capture for live localities
Enquiry forms and call buttons switched on only where a listed seller has replied, so a buyer is never sent to an empty page.
Result: No locality takes buyer enquiries unless a seller there has answered.
Lead handover rule
A written rule for who calls a new lead, how soon the owner of the lead is named, and what is logged after the first conversation.
Result: Each lead carries a named owner and a logged first outcome.
Source report by side and city
A sheet showing where seller leads and buyer leads came from, set against orders completed.
Result: You can name the source that produced active sellers, not just sign-ups.
How the result is measured
- Enquiries generated
- Cost per enquiry
- Enquiries by source
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
What to capture or send
What to record on every lead, with the side of the platform marked first.
- Side: seller or buyer
- Set at the first touch by whoever logs the lead. Every report, handover and follow-up rule depends on it, as the two streams are worked by different people.
- Trade or service offered or sought
- The plumber, the tutor or the spare part. It shows which services have sellers waiting and which have buyers with nobody to serve them.
- Locality or pin code
- Where the seller works or the buyer needs the job. It decides whether the lead is live today or is stored for the day supply arrives.
- How the seller takes jobs today
- Word of mouth, a shop, a rival platform or WhatsApp groups. The recruiter asks it, and it shapes what you say about why listing is worth their time.
- Referral source and who referred
- A seller or buyer who brought them, if any. It marks leads that came through a person, so referrals are counted apart from your own outreach.
Who it is for
This is written for these online marketplaces.
- Local services marketplaces for plumbers, electricians, tutors and beauty professionals
- B2B marketplaces connecting manufacturers and buyers
- Product marketplaces for a niche, such as handlooms, organic food or industrial spares
- Rental marketplaces for equipment, vehicles, furniture or space
- Freelance and talent marketplaces
- Agri marketplaces connecting farmers with buyers
- Used goods and refurbished device marketplaces
- Hyperlocal delivery marketplaces serving one town
- Travel and experiences marketplaces connecting local hosts and guests
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You have buyers in a city but no listed sellers there, and more buyer leads would only add people you must turn away.
- Your team cannot yet tell a real seller from a friend of the team, so lead counts would reward the wrong activity.
How it works
How the lead generation work runs
The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.
- 1
Understand your capacity
We ask how many enquiries your team can answer well, who answers after hours, and what a good enquiry looks like. Without this, the system fills a funnel nobody is watching.
- 2
Audit current sources
We read your call log, WhatsApp chats, enquiry sheet and platform dashboards. The baseline is recorded: enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order.
- 3
Strategise the channel mix
Search and maps are chosen for people ready to buy, ads for people who are not yet looking, and content and referrals for trust.
- 4
Implement capture and follow-up
Pages, forms, tags, the lead record and the first-reply message are built and tested end to end. We submit test enquiries ourselves before any media money is spent.
- 5
Measure and optimise
Enquiries are traced to source and judged by what became orders, not by volume alone. Channels that fill the sheet with poor enquiries are cut back. How often you are reported to is agreed in writing.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Which side should we generate leads for first?
Do you generate leads by calling or by advertising?
How do we know a lead is real and not a friend of the team?
How do we count a seller lead that lists but never gets an order?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
More for online marketplaces
Everything else we would do for you.
Closest to this: leads and follow-up
Also for online marketplaces
Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for online marketplaces.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.