Is it worth buying ERP leads from marketplaces?

¶01 The short answer: sometimes

Declared interest. We help NetSuite and ERP partners win enquiries without buying leads, so we have an interest. We say below when buying leads can make sense.

Sometimes. For a narrow job, with a short shelf life. Bought ERP leads can fill a gap if they are exclusive, recent and match your vendor, buyer size and region. They won’t build a pipeline. The buyer has often been shown to other firms, and has no reason to prefer you. The lasting fix is being the firm buyers and AI assistants already name.

¶02 What you are actually buying

“Buying leads” covers three different things.

• Pay-per-lead marketplaces. A site attracts buyers researching ERP, captures their details and sells each enquiry to one or more partners.

• Directory listings with lead credits. You pay a subscription for a profile, and the plan includes credits to spend on enquiries.

• Appointment setting. A third party contacts prospects for you and books meetings into your calendar.

Here is how one directory model is priced. As shown on 26 October 2026, ERP Research’s page for NetSuite partners lists plans at $150, $400 and $700 a month (excluding VAT), each with monthly lead credits. It says 1 credit equals $1, standard leads cost 49 credits and premium leads 149. It also says each lead goes to up to three buyers. (ERP Research, for NetSuite partners, checked 26 October 2026.) That is their published model, not a comment on lead quality. Read the terms yourself, because pricing pages change.

¶03 When buying leads is the right call

We won’t pretend bought leads never work. Three cases hold up.

You’re entering new ground. A new vertical or region where nobody knows you yet. Bought enquiries get your team talking to buyers while you build a reputation there.

Your consultants are sitting idle. A big project has gone live and the next one hasn’t started. A few well-matched leads beat paying people to wait.

The lead is genuinely tight. Exclusive, recent, and filtered to your vendor, the buyer’s size and your region. Every step away from that weakens the case.

Notice what these have in common. Each one has an end date. Bought leads are a tactic. Treat them as a pipeline plan and you are renting your future.

¶04 The questions we ask before anyone pays

When a partner asks us whether a lead provider is worth it, these are the questions we put to it.

• Is it exclusive? Sold once, or to several partners? A shared lead means you start the race alongside rivals holding the same details.

• How did the buyer arrive? Someone who asked to be matched with an implementation partner is not the same as someone who downloaded a guide. Both can be called a lead.

• How fresh is it, and what was captured? We look for the system being considered, company size, timeline and who owns the budget. A name and an email address tell you almost nothing.

• Can you see a summary first? And what happens if the details are wrong? Get the refund or credit terms in writing. Don’t assume.

• Who calls back, and when? A bought lead goes cold fast. Someone on your side has to respond within the hour, not on Friday afternoon.

• What are you measuring? Cost per lead is a vanity number. Cost per won project is the one that matters, tracked separately from referrals and inbound so you can see whether the channel pays its way.

If a provider can’t answer these clearly, you have your answer.

Not sure where your own enquiries are going? Start the free 3-minute Enquiry Leak Finder.

¶05 Rented attention never compounds

A bought buyer has met you once, often in a line-up. A referred buyer, or one who found you while searching, arrives with a reason to choose you. Someone vouched for you, or your pages answered their question.

That gap matters, because the shortlist often forms before you hear about the project. Gartner surveyed 646 B2B buyers in August and September 2025. 67% said they prefer a rep-free buying experience, and 45% said they used AI during a recent purchase (Gartner, 9 March 2026). That is not an ERP-only survey, but the direction is hard to ignore. More of the decision happens before anyone speaks to a seller. We cover this in Shortlists form before you hear.

AI answers are part of that shortlist. In one anonymised review, two rival firms appeared in 48 of 88 AI answers. The firm we reviewed, Partner A, appeared in 8. No amount of bought leads changes that position. See Why AI recommends one firm.

And when you stop paying, the leads stop. Nothing has built up in the meantime.

¶06 What we build instead

Owned demand. The kind that keeps working after the invoice is paid.

• Service pages that say something. What you do, for whom, on which systems. Clear enough that a buyer and an AI assistant can both describe you accurately.

• Proof people can find. Named case studies and client words, not a logo wall.

• Profiles that tell the same story. Directory and review listings that match your site. See Where ERP partners get listed and Partner directories and AI recommendations.

• Answers to real buyer questions. Drawn from your sales conversations, so the right buyers find you before the first introduction.

To be fair, directories can sit in both camps. A listing that builds your public profile is owned demand. Paying per lead is not.

None of this replaces referrals. It gives you a second road when introductions go quiet, which we cover in Beyond referrals. For how we run it as a service, see ERP partner lead generation. If AI answers are the main gap, the AI Visibility Sprint is the focused option.

¶07 What it costs with us

Our prices are published on Engagements (checked 26 October 2026):

• Visibility Review: free

• Foundation: from £750, one-off

• AI Visibility Sprint: £1,950 fixed

• Pilot: £3,500 for one scoped month of Thrive, no obligation to continue

• Growth: £2,600 per calendar month, initial 3 months

• Thrive: £3,500 per month

• Thrive Plus: £7,000 per month

• Lead: from £9,500 per month

For a wider view of budgets, read What marketing costs a NetSuite partner.

¶08 Our view, in one line

Buy leads as a tactic if they pass the checks. Build owned demand as the strategy, because it is the only part that compounds.

Can you do both? Yes, and plenty of partners should. Use a small number of well-matched bought leads to cover a gap while you build the pages, proof and profiles that bring buyers to you. Just keep the two apart in your numbers. The danger isn’t buying leads. It’s waking up a year later to find bought leads are the whole pipeline, and the day you stop paying is the day the phone goes quiet.