It's one of the more common questions I get, either, "I have a unique buyer network, how can I get quality providers" or "I have a lot of providers, how can I get more high paying buyers". The solutions are numerous and many times pretty straight forward, but then how do you keep these relationships? How do you make them profitable? In this first part of two, we'll examine some ways to attract and keep top tier providers.
More so than buyers, providers are easy to get ahold of. However, the relationships with your providers can sour just as fast as those of your buyers. When a provider sells you a lead they have effectively put a portion of their revenue stream in your hands and this should be taken into consideration whenever debating subjects such as pricing, dispositions or quality. Below are some tips to ensure a happy provider relationship.
1. Big payouts
Obvious? I suppose. Pricing determines almost everything to a provider and big payouts are absolutely essential to making and keeping a good provider. But keep in mind, having large payout options and never exposing them can be harmful, be sure to always have at least a few buyer relationships active in your system that can translate into each of your top level payouts for your providers.
2. Dynamic pricing
Everyone knows dynamic pricing is hot right now and providers are clamoring to find direct dynamic pricing relationships. As we have identified in previous articles, the advantages are numerous and one should always offer a dynamic pricing option whenever possible. In addition to unparalleled flexibility with margins and payouts, this gives the perception that your company is continually evolving and offering more tools to your provider base.
3. Conversion
Nobody wants to ping your system 50,000 times a day and send you 0 leads, it does them as little good as it does you. Make sure you have a reasonably sized buyer pool to offer up to your providers before you approach the larger players.
4. Be mindful of your dispositions
I'm pretty sure dispositions kill puppies and kittens. The truth is nobody likes to dispose leads, however, it is a necessary process in the industry. Without a global consensus as to what exactly constitutes a "valid lead" dispositions will continue to exist. So what can you do to make the process as painless as possible?
- Process dispositions more than just once a month
- Provide a provider extranet with real time reporting
- Support some form of automated disposition from your buyers back through to your providers
- Adjust your pricing to compensate for your dispositions where you have larger than average margins
- And finally, be considerate to your providers. You have to dispose leads at times, but you can also do it kindly and respectfully.
5. Communication tracing
Having good, detailed tracing inside of your system can go a long, long way. Whenever a disagreement around counts comes into play a good trace can help give insight into what is many times a classic case of "your word vs mine". The unfortunate truth is, most providers don't keep a trace of the exact ping and post response give to their inquiries and integration bugs are quite common. Keeping this data for at least 45 days is advisable as this will allow for you to investigate any anomalies for an entire billing period.
6. Fast response times
As touched on in a previous article, providers love quick ping times. A fast ping time allows for a provider to quickly make decisions and facilitates more business. Long ping times on the other hand will drastically affect a provider's ability to conduct business quickly and may result in lost business.
7. Transparency and honesty
I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times, 99% of what we all do is exactly the same. The idea that we have to make absurd fabrications as to how we conduct business to impress a potential provider is extremely harmful, as is the need to keep our business under a shroud of secrecy. Nobody wants to push leads into a black box and cross their fingers that they're going to get paid. Information exchange is essential to a trusting relationship with a good lead provider and should always be encouraged. No company is an island =)
The preceding are just a few tips on supporting your provider base. Above all else, honesty and respect are a huge part of any relationship and lead trading is no different. Stay tuned for the 2nd part of this series on supporting your buyers and getting those most out of your relationships.