What It Does

Lead generation software is a type of software that helps companies of every size to do activities related to generation, management and conversion of leads. Whether you have a sales force or not, it can save a large amount of time ordinarily spent managing data and automating some lead generation and management functions.

How to Purchase

Lead generation software is available several ways. Free downloadable shareware lead generation software is available online. Several companies offer software that is either shipped or downloaded and which resides on your computer or server. Some companies store your data in their system; you access it via the Internet. Finally, one company is now offering a cloud version that allows you instant access from virtually anywhere at any time.

How Can It Help Me?

The functionality will vary from one manufacturer to the next. The software will do several things:

-- Generate leads from people who visit your web site

-- Nurture leads.

-- Manage demand generation efforts

-- Manage and track campaigns, including email.

-- Lead scoring.

-- Pre-defined database for ease of set-up and use.

-- Sales forecasting.

-- analyze sales or marketing ROI

-- Analytics to measure impact on revenue of campaigns and sales meetings.

Companies with both sales and customer service departments can share information for instant access to latest updates of prospect and customer information. Customized reporting is also available with some lead generation software.

A wide range of costs

Depending on the functionality you need and the product you choose, the cost ranges from free for shareware applications up to $4,000 per month. You will need to shop around to determine what functionality you need and which options offer the ability to expand or add on modules as it becomes necessary. Consider also the number of people who can use the software at once and the cost of additional user licensing. You will also want to check usability, documentation, training and support.

Benefits of lead generation software

The main advantages of lead generation software are in data management and the ability to save significant time and money. Instant updates and ability to share data throughout a company are also major benefits of investing in an application. Instant calculation of lead conversion rates and ROI calculations, as well as segmenting lists and providing data that assists in building effective landing pages also saves time.