Using online databases for developing prioritized sales leads

The current availability of online direct marketing databases provides numerous opportunities for marketing professionals to improve their marketing strategies and tactics. This paper illustrates how online “mailing file” data, formerly known simply as “mailing lists”, can be used to develop high‐quality sales leads. A set of procedures is presented that provides a way for sales managers to guide the company’s salesforce in seeking new customers. A case study is included that demonstrates how a company that competes in a high‐tech business‐to‐business market has developed and used sales leads that are highly targeted. In particular, the paper provides the results of an empirical study that uses a mailing file database as the starting point for developing a market segmentation approach to lead generation. Issues encountered in this type of research are identified, and suggestions are made for handing these issues.