Cyber-attacks are a threat to businesses of all sizes not just the Solar Winds or Amazons of the world but small businesses too. One way small business increase their potential customer outreach is going through a third-party lead generation solutions provider. When a small business chooses a lead generation company to partner with, it is important that both agreeing parties understand each other and know the importance of being digitally safe.

Why it is important for lead gen companies to remain safe

Lead gen companies do in fact deal with countless personal records on a regular basis. When these records are stored the likelihood of a cyber-attack increases, therefore, making the art of storing sensitive personally identifiable information a huge liability.

If a lead generation company falls prey to a data breach, they are the ones at fault. The risk associated when these companies store lead and data information always rises, making the benefits of retaining all this information pale in comparison to the consequences.

If I am a lead generation company what should I do

One sure fire way to protect your business is utilizing the simple practice of data management.
We don’t suggest a lead gen company having to delete their entire database, we do suggest better management of the fields that the data was entered in and limit the length of storage for this data. As a lead generation company, retaining the data captured for only as long as they need it in itself, lessens the impact and chances of a data breach.

Lead generation is big business and again, as I stated earlier, small businesses will use these types of companies to boost their potential outreach but that doesn’t mean that the best possible cybersecurity practices should not be top priority for a lead generation company. And as a small business one should always ensure the lead generation company they are working with has a good handle on cyber safety.

Best method for implementing a data management strategy

Creating and using the best data management strategy comes down to how a lead generation company buys, sells and stores the leads/data. Lead generation companies use what is called a sophisticated lead distribution solution system, that allows them to customize their distributing strategy based on specific verticals and fields to manage. That is kind of a standard distribution system that lead gen companies take. If you are unsure if the lead generation company you are working with is using a strategy similar, always contact them and find out. Do not let your business be the next victim of a mass data breach, DDoS or malware attack. And this applies to BOTH the small business and the lead generation company.