Sponge NB has existed for nearly twenty years. That’s twenty years of talking to prospects on the phone, shifting our know-how to emails as they became the preferred way to communicate (and hide!) and - in more recent times - learning to master SEO, refining the manipulation of Google, and understanding the algorithms of LinkedIn.

You can therefore probably imagine how frustrating it is to see SO many lead generation companies pop up (especially in the UK) promising to “replenish your lead funnel” at the touch of a drop-down menu. If only it were that simple!

Being honest, we’ve looked into automating our offering. The dream of sitting back and letting some macro do our job for us is a tantalising one, but though it can appear to deliver fast and instant results, they are often results that crumble under closer examination.

In research for this article, I encountered phrases (time and time again) such as: “generate a list of leads for customer acquisition and pass them on to you for closing” which seems to go against everything we put value on. What thought process is backing up the generation of these leads, how are they being sense-checked and validated, and whose experienced eyes are looking over all of this data that appears to effortlessly spew into the world without effort?

“AI-based platforms”… “Bionics”… “holistic strategies”… “social prospecting—generated by AI-enabled research” are just some of the ‘techniques’ being sold that - apparently - result in huge volumes of leads, seemingly generated in moments.

At this point I am aware I am like some old codger telling you how modern music has no beat and you can’t hear the lyrics properly, but the difference between companies with experience of new business and those tempted by these magnificent promises and sci-fi methods is massive.

If it was genuinely that easy, EVERYONE would do ONLY this.

I’ve met people with infallible systems for roulette, but none of them are millionaires. Funny that eh?

It’s the same here; if you could actually triple your incoming business with one subscription, wouldn’t it be unaffordable?

Match the promise to the fee and you realise it can’t possibly deliver what it promises. If I said I could make you £20,000 a week by downloading my “How to” brochure for £5 would that seem likely? Surely I’d be too busy making £20,000 a week from my yacht to sell you the know-how for a fiver.

If it were that easy, we’d already be doing it.