TL;DR
- A lead generator finds and qualifies potential customers for a sales team: building target lists, making first contact by phone, email, social channels or events, asking the questions that show whether there is a real need, and handing qualified leads to the people who close. The title overlaps with sales development representative and lead generation specialist.
- The job has six duties: define and research the target, build and keep the list, make first contact, qualify, book and hand over, and record and report. It is measured on qualified leads and the meetings and revenue they lead to, not on calls made.
- In the UK, marketing calls are regulated: no unsolicited calls to numbers on the Telephone Preference Service without specific consent, caller identity always given and automated calls only with specific consent. A job description should name the channels, the qualification criteria, the measures and the rules.
Every sale starts with a conversation, and somebody has to start the conversation. In many sales teams that somebody is not the person who closes the deal but the person who found it: the lead generator, who spends the day turning a list of names into a short list of people who want to talk.
This lead generator job description explains what the job involves, sets out six duties, separates the lead generator from the sales executive and the telemarketer, summarises the UK rules on marketing calls that the job works within, lists the skills and measures employers should use, gives a template that you can adapt and suggests how to describe the work on a CV.
Lead generation runs on targets, and the targets should be visible and fair. See how New Dynamics Goals & OKRs keep targets and progress in one place.
What is a lead generator?
In sales, a lead is a potential customer. The Cambridge Dictionary's entry for lead gives the sense: “a piece of information that allows a discovery to be made, customers to be found, or a solution to be found”, with the example “Our business meeting gave me lots of good leads.” A lead generator is the person whose job is to produce those leads: to find people or organisations who might buy, make the first contact, find out whether there is a real need and pass the ones that qualify to the sales team.
The title varies. Sales development representative, business development representative, lead generation specialist, appointment setter and inside sales representative describe the same job with different emphases. In some companies the lead generator is a junior sales role and the route into selling; in others it is a marketing role feeding the sales team. Prospects, the UK graduate careers service, describes the whole sales job in its sales executive job profile, which includes identifying and approaching potential new customers “through cold calling, networking or referrals” and using CRM systems “to track leads, record sales activity and manage accounts”. The lead generator does the front half of that list, so that the sales executive can do the back half.
Lead generator duties: six responsibilities
- Define and research the target. Work with sales and marketing to agree who the ideal customer is, by sector, size, role and need, and research the organisations and people who fit.
- Build and keep the list. Assemble target lists from research, events, inbound enquiries and referrals, keep them accurate and current, and keep them lawful: screened against the do-not-call registers and covered by a privacy notice.
- Make first contact. Reach out by phone, email, social channels and at events, with a message that is relevant to the person rather than a script read at them, and follow up with persistence and courtesy.
- Qualify. Ask the questions that show whether there is a real need, a budget, a decision maker and a timescale, and be honest about the leads that do not qualify.
- Book and hand over. Arrange the meeting or demonstration, brief the sales executive on what was learned, and make sure the prospect knows who will contact them and when.
- Record and report. Log every contact and outcome in the CRM, report the pipeline weekly and feed back what the market is saying to marketing and product.
Lead generator, sales executive and telemarketer
| Role | What they do | Measured on |
|---|---|---|
| Lead generator | Finds, contacts and qualifies potential customers, and hands them to sales | Qualified leads, meetings booked, pipeline created |
| Sales executive | Takes qualified leads through needs, proposal, negotiation and close, and manages the accounts | Revenue, margin, retention |
| Telemarketer | Makes high volumes of outbound calls to sell or promote directly, often from a script | Calls made, sales or appointments per hour |
The difference between a lead generator and a telemarketer is qualification. A telemarketer's job is to make the call; a lead generator's job is to find out whether the call should turn into a meeting. Measuring a lead generator on call volume turns them into a telemarketer and floods the sales team with leads that go nowhere.
The UK rules on marketing calls
Outbound lead generation in the UK is regulated, and a job description should say so. The Information Commissioner's Office's guide to telephone marketing says: “In general, you must not make marketing calls to any number listed on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or Corporate TPS (CTPS), unless that person has specifically consented to your calls.” Businesses therefore “need to screen call lists against the TPS and CTPS”. Callers must not make unsolicited live calls to anyone who has said they do not want them, must always say who is calling and allow their number to be displayed, and must not make automated calls with a recorded message unless the person has specifically consented to that type of call.
Email and text marketing have their own rules, and personal data used for lead lists is covered by data protection law. This is general information about the UK, not legal advice; other countries have their own do-not-call and marketing rules, and a lead generator working across borders needs to know each of them.
Skills employers ask for
- Research. Finding the right organisations and the right people in them, quickly.
- Writing and speaking. A first message that is short, relevant and human, on the phone or on the screen.
- Questioning and listening. Qualification is asking and hearing, not pitching.
- Resilience. Most contacts say no or nothing. The job is to keep going without becoming pushy.
- Organisation. Lists, follow-ups, hand-overs and CRM hygiene, every day.
- Honesty. Reporting a lead as qualified when it is not wastes the sales team's time and the company's money.
- Product and market knowledge. Enough to recognise a real need and to be credible in the first conversation.
Qualifications and measures
No qualification is required. Employers hire on communication, resilience and evidence of results, and train on the product, the CRM and the rules. The measures matter more than the qualifications: qualified leads per month, meetings booked and attended, the share of leads that sales accepts, and the pipeline and revenue those leads eventually produce. Activity measures such as calls and emails belong in coaching, not in the target. Our OKR guide shows how to set targets that reward outcomes.
Lead generator job description template
Adapt the channels, the target market and the measures to your business.
Job title: Lead generator (sales development representative)
Reports to: Sales manager or head of marketing
Hours: Full time, [office-based, hybrid or remote]
Purpose of the role: To find, contact and qualify potential customers in [target market] and hand qualified leads to the sales team, so that the pipeline is full of opportunities worth pursuing.
Main duties:
- Research target organisations and contacts that fit the ideal customer profile
- Build and maintain accurate, lawful target lists, screened against the TPS and CTPS and covered by our privacy notice
- Make first contact by [phone, email, social channels, events] with relevant, personalised messages, and follow up
- Qualify leads against our criteria [need, budget, decision maker, timescale] and record the outcome honestly
- Book meetings and demonstrations and brief the sales executive before each one
- Keep the CRM complete and current and report the pipeline weekly
Skills and experience:
- Clear, courteous written and spoken communication
- Experience of outbound contact, customer service or sales support [desirable]
- Organised, resilient and honest about results
- Comfortable with CRM systems and research tools
- Knowledge of the UK rules on marketing calls and data protection, or willingness to be trained
Measures: Qualified leads per month, meetings booked and attended, leads accepted by sales, and pipeline created. [State the targets.]
We provide: Product, CRM and compliance training, coaching on calls and messages, a fair target and commission scheme in writing, and a route to sales executive roles.
For the layout of the whole document, use our job description template. For the marketing side that feeds the list, see our marketing manager job description.
How to describe lead generation on a CV
Employers want the market, the channels, the numbers and the conversion. The lines below are invented examples, to show the form.
- Show the market. “Generated leads for a software company selling to UK accountancy firms with 20 to 200 staff.”
- Show the numbers. “Booked 25 qualified meetings a month against a target of 20.”
- Show conversion. “Leads accepted by sales rose from 60% to 85% after I rewrote the qualification questions.”
- Show the channels. “Phone, email sequences and industry events; 40% of meetings from events.”
- Show compliance. “Screened all call lists against the TPS and kept consent records in the CRM.”
Common mistakes in lead generator adverts
Measuring calls, not leads. Say what a qualified lead is and target those.
No target market. Candidates want to know who they will be contacting and why those people might buy.
Commission unstated. If pay depends on results, say how, in writing.
Silence on the rules. Name the TPS, the consent rules and the training you give. Candidates who know the rules will notice their absence.
Frequently asked questions
What does a lead generator do?
A lead generator finds and qualifies potential customers for a sales team. They research the target market, build and maintain contact lists, make first contact by phone, email, social channels or events, ask the questions that show whether there is a real need, book meetings, hand qualified leads to the sales executive and record everything in the CRM.
What is the difference between a lead generator and a sales development representative?
Usually nothing. Sales development representative, business development representative, lead generation specialist and appointment setter are all titles for the role that finds and qualifies leads before the sales executive takes over. The title tends to follow the sector and the size of the sales team.
What is the difference between a lead generator and a telemarketer?
Qualification. A telemarketer makes high volumes of calls to sell or promote directly, often from a script, and is measured on calls and sales per hour. A lead generator finds out whether a contact should become a meeting, and is measured on qualified leads and the revenue they produce.
What are the UK rules on lead generation calls?
The ICO says businesses must not make marketing calls to numbers on the Telephone Preference Service or Corporate TPS without specific consent, must screen call lists against them, must always say who is calling and display their number, and must not make automated calls without specific consent. Personal data used for lists is covered by data protection law. This is general information, not legal advice.
What skills does a lead generator need?
Research, clear writing and speaking, questioning and listening, resilience, organisation, honesty about results, and enough product and market knowledge to recognise a real need and be credible in the first conversation.
What should a lead generator job description include?
The target market, the channels, the definition of a qualified lead, the measures and targets, the commission scheme, the CRM and tools, the compliance rules and training, the reporting line and the route to sales executive roles.
Your next step: define a qualified lead before you hire
- Write down who the ideal customer is and the four questions that qualify a lead.
- Set the targets on qualified leads and meetings, not on calls.
- Put the commission scheme and the compliance rules in writing.
- Plan the hand-over from lead generator to sales executive so that no lead goes cold.
To set targets that reward outcomes rather than activity, read and download our OKR guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.
Want lead targets, sales goals and coaching notes in one place? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current targets. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.
