Measuring ROI of lead generation

[dogdon]

Does anyone have a decent way of measuring ROI of a lead generation campaign? It is simple to measure effectiveness of a promotion if the cost associated with running the campaign is immediately related to the purchase price of the product or service. On the other hand, if I am paying money for a lead, as opposed to a sale, it puts another step and a more complicated metric into the ROI modeling process. I am interested in how people may be measuring this data.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[theonlinedirectory.co.uk]

What do you sell 'Don?

Sounds like you're doing most of the work over there! Havn't ever had to pay for a lead through lists etc as I source my own leads but if I could find an excellent source then it would definitely be worth it.

Any list companies that are actually worthwhile?

[dogdon]

I'm in the service industry and use large marketing channels to assist with lead gen. I have PPC campaigns, performance based biz dev relationships, traditional CPM campaigns and many other various relationships out there in order to boost my database of qualified customers. The cycle after sign up includes automated emails sent at specific and measured intervals offering tips and service information and finally a call from me to close after trial.

What I am interested in here is the cost of one click through Google adsense or other marketing campaign and the lag time and human resources to close that sale. Are there any automated tools or other online technique that can cut the human out of the process? If this customer signs up for a trial how can I make them close on their own without having to make that call? This is what I am most interested in.