2023 has been a booming year for Lead Prosper and the company has remained a key player in the lead generation industry. This year saw the addition of crucial updates and new features to help enhance user capabilities driven by user feedback and the introduction of dedicated Account Managers, system optimizations and continuous tech enhancements. Lead Prosper's new pricing plan, effective Feb. 1, 2024, reflects the company's growth and commitment to delivering top-tier products and support. Lead Prosper has grown through strategic hires, appearances at trade shows and its response to the FCC's recent ruling on robocalls and robotexts. Looking ahead to 2024, Lead Prosper anticipates further growth and the introduction of exciting new features.
New Features and a Pricing Change
Lead Prosper continues to be dynamic in the lead gen world with 2023 being no different. A key aspect of the company’s mission includes constantly providing updates and new features to help maintain the platform. Important features that have been added this year include sensitive fields, the response parser tool and overall system optimization. “We've introduced a ton of new tools and features for our users over this year. Sensitive Fields were added to allow our users the ability to securely send private information to endpoints without the data ever being stored on a server. Another incredible feature that we added was the Response Parser tool, which allows our users to take any PING or POST API Response and debug it. This tool makes setting up new buyers and troubleshooting buyer errors a breeze by visually parsing the API responses, as well as providing users with the exact settings they can use in the buyer set up to correctly map the responses,” said Garrett Krinsky, Chief Operating Officer at Lead Prosper.
Lead Prosper prides itself on customer support. Ross Breiman, CEO of Lead Prosper, adds that the team relies on user feedback when introducing new features to the platform so that Lead Prosper’s platform can be catered best for its customers.
“All of this year’s new features are tools to help our customers. We primarily work off of customer feedback, so if we’ve noticed our customers are having hang-ups or getting stuck somewhere, we want to build tools and features for them to alleviate those problems. We're always talking to our customers, we’re always getting their feedback,”
— said Breiman.
Along with new features having been added to the software, Krinsky goes over additional aspects that have been worked on and improved for the company this year. “2023 was a year when we focused heavily on two major aspects of our platform - the tech and the customers. We introduced dedicated Account Managers towards the end of this year with the intention of not only being able to help with account related issues, but also work alongside our customers to proactively address any issues as well as optimize their campaigns when they can,” Krinsky said. “On the tech side our devs have been working this year to continue optimizing our servers and code, and we're extremely proud of the fact that our platform has had little-to-no downtime this year - including on code pushes.”
Lead Prosper’s new pricing structure has been another addition for the company in 2023. In November, Lead Prosper announced their new pricing plan which is scheduled to be enacted on Feb. 1, 2024. Included in the pricing change is a new $500 monthly minimum per account. Krinsky noted some of the decisions that led to the price change, including Lead Prosper’s growing user base and the team’s plan to contribute more content and resources for the company’s customers.
“The price change was a difficult decision for us to make, however, we've been inundated with positive responses to it. It's the right move for us as a company and also as a business, we want to be able to continue to provide the best quality product as well as our top tier support to our users,” Krinsky said. “We're not trying to just make a buck, we're trying to help people as well and help build up this industry. The whole point is to be able to continue to provide the customer support that we give to our users, but at the same time, we're also going to be expanding on a lot more such as the educational resources, webinars, keynote speaking and providing more value outside of the software to the industry as a whole.”
Breiman also commented on the company’s decision for the pricing change and what the decision will help provide for the future of the company.
“We’re putting out an exceptional product, and we’ve made new hires. We have a lot of new features coming out and the pricing change will be able to help fuel the fire even more and help the company grow and keep putting out that top-tier product,” Breiman said.
New Additions to a Growing Team
Lead Prosper has enjoyed a year of exponential growth on the customer end, which has also led to company growth from within. Many new faces have joined the team this year. Breiman added that this year's new hires have been needed to continue to put out a great product and grow the company.
“It's been going great. We need more manpower to do more, to make a better product to service our customers. That was the goal and I think we're doing great,” said the company's CEO.
Harrison Johnston, Account Manager at Lead Prosper, marks his first year at Lead Prosper as 2023 comes to an end. Similarly to the company’s successful 2023, Johnston has also experienced a year full of growth and accomplishment. In October, Johnston was promoted from Content Manager to Account Manager. Johnston speaks on his promotion and how he has adjusted to his new role.
“I’m very glad to be in a place where there's upward mobility available. I was also looking for a more client facing position, because I feel like that works to my strengths a little bit better. So I'm excited to move into this role and grow as an account manager and with my clients as well,” Johnston said.
The Account Manager position is not only new to Johnston, but new to the company and its customers as well. Johnston explains the decisions that went into creating this new role.
“We wanted to make sure that every customer felt as valued as possible and had somebody keeping an eye on their account and making sure that nothing slipped through the cracks, that everything was working smoothly for them. So, as part of an extension of Lead Prosper is trying to provide the best service possible for their users and this is essentially why the Account Manager position was created.”
Speaking on Lead Prosper’s new hires last month, Krinsky noted what he expects the company’s new hires will bring to the table.
“I’m excited to see how the new hires are going to provide more value to our users as well as the company so that we can keep building Lead Prosper and expanding. It's just exciting to bring new people to the table, open up other opportunities for expansion and innovation within the product and help improve our offerings to our users,”
— Krinsky said.
Lead Prosper’s Harrison Johnston (left) and Ross Breiman (right) show off their booth at Contact.io in Denver, Colorado.
Trade Shows Aplenty
It has been another year of great trade shows for the lead gen community with Lead Prosper having attended many of the top shows of 2023. This past year Lead Prosper attended Affiliate Summit West, LeadsCon, Contact.io, MTMP, Affiliate Summit East and Lead Gen World.
Ross Breiman, CEO of Lead Prosper, attended a handful of this past year’s shows and added why he enjoys getting to attend lead gen trade shows.
“I attended all major lead gen ones, the Affiliate Summits, Contact.io, Lead Generation World. All the major lead gen focused ones. It's always great going to the shows, seeing clients face to face, meeting new people, talking about our product. We had a great time,” Breiman said.
Johnston was also able to attend various shows throughout 2023. For Johnston, attending this year’s trade shows have been a unique experience as they have been his first while working in the lead gen industry.
“Being there and learning from people that have so much background in the industry, whether it be from my own team or from other teams that we meet there, has been a great experience. They're good personal resources to have, and it's basically a lot of hands-on learning from the people that know it best,” said the Asheville native.
Johnston noted that being able to attend shows this year with the likes of Lead Prosper’s CEO, CTO and Head of Business Development has been important in helping him learn more about the lead gen industry and his new company.
“It's super awesome because they have several decades of experience between them in the industry, and they also built the platform. Nobody knows Lead Prosper better than them. They know everything that there is to know about the platform and have very good ideas about how people can utilize our platform for their specific businesses,”
— Johnston said.
Harrison Johnston and Michael Welch, Head of Business Development, attending MTMP.
The FCC’s “Anti Robocall and Robotext” Ruling
The end of the year saw big news announced concerning the lead gen world from the Federal Communications Commission. On Dec. 13, 2023, the FCC officially announced a ruling to “Close the ‘lead generator’ robocall and robotexts loophole and facilitate blocking of unwanted texts.” The ruling is set to be implemented in 12 months and was created to address the issues of robocalls and robotexts, aiming to enhance consumer privacy and reduce scams.
Key measures of the ruling include 'red flagging' certain numbers as sources of robotexts, extending Do-Not-Call list protections to text messaging and closing the "lead generator loophole." While beneficial for consumer protection, the ruling poses challenges for lead generation platforms, requiring them to obtain one-to-one consent and adapt their processes.
“The FCC ruling was a big deal for this entire industry, and we spent a lot of time brainstorming amongst ourselves as well as other industry leaders. There was a ton of speculation about what was going to come into effect, how quickly the changes would be put into effect and overall a huge black cloud surrounding how the FCC ruling would affect the overall lead generation industry.”
While the new ruling brought uncertainties to the lead gen industry, Krinsky noted that Lead Prosper and Breiman worked hard to think of solutions to the new regulations brought on by the impending directive.
“Instead of harping on the doom and gloom aspect, our CEO Ross took a more optimistic standpoint and focused heavily on not only how this ruling would help the consumers in the long run, but also add some more legitimacy and honesty into our industry. The idea of one-to-one consent was the biggest aspect of the rulings, and I think Ross's solution of ‘dynamic consent’ really helped put a lot of the lead suppliers and generators in the space at ease,”
— Krinsky said.
According to Breiman, Lead Prosper’s platform will already be able to operate with the new changes that will need to be made to follow the FCC’s new guidelines.
“Realistically, we can already handle the changes that are needed. A lot of the change is needed around the buyers’ and the suppliers’ end. With Lead Prosper, we can already parse API responses and send that data back to the supplier. So in theory, the buyer, like in a ping post, would bid but along with that, they would provide their TCPA entity name, and we can pass that information back to the supplier. But then the supplier would have to be able to take that response and dynamically load that name. So, Lead Prosper can already do what is needed in the rawest form to help people do this. We're happy to support all kinds of ideas and ways to make this easy for the industry as a whole,” Breiman said.
Overall, the main objective of the new ruling is to enhance consumer privacy and reduce scams — which is a positive for everyone, says Breiman.
“Overall, we're excited about the ruling. I think a better consumer experience is a good thing for everyone. No one wants unwanted phone calls and spam texts. The new ruling will help clean up the industry, and we're looking forward to that. Technology is a big part of that, and we're happy to be a part of it, to help,”
— Breiman said.
Krinsky adds that the ruling will dominate the lead gen industry next year and Lead Prosper is ready to work with the industry and customers to ensure that the new regulations will be followed.
“I personally think the FCC ruling will continue to be a major topic of discussion throughout 2024, but the future of the rulings are still very much uncertain. Already we've seen the FCC go from a 6 months time frame, to now a 12 months time frame for when the changes would be put into effect. A lot of changes can take place in that time, and we'll continue to address any updates and keep on trucking into 2024 as a source of tech innovation and optimism, no matter where the FCC rulings finally land.”
To read more about the ruling, check out our article “The FCC's ‘Anti-Robocall’ Ruling: A Deeper Dive and Lead Prosper’s Plan.”
Looking to 2024...
Lead Prosper looks to add on to 2023’s successes in the new year. Johnston also hopes to continue to improve with the company after a flourishing year.
“I am excited to grow in my role as an Account Manager and to see Lead Prosper’s continued growth in the lead gen industry. Just excited to be a part of the team and grow with the company as we navigate 2024 together.”
With the new year quickly arriving, Brieman says the team is excited to attend upcoming trade shows in 2024. In the second week of the new year, Breiman, Krinsky and Johnston will all be attending Lead Generation World from Jan. 7-9. Additionally, the team has plans to attend more shows in the first half of the new year.
“Right off the bat we have Lead Gen World in early January, a week later the team will be at Affiliate Summit West. Then we have LeadsCon in April in Vegas, and the same shows, you know, pretty much all over again. But we have fun, and we're looking forward to it. It's always fun to get out there and to see our clients face to face and to meet new people, and to talk about our product,” Breiman said.
Lead Prosper at Lead Generation World January 2024
New features are planned to be added in the new year, says Breiman.
“I don't want to give too much away, but I think the users will really appreciate the enhancements that we're adding in 2024. Again, it's all customer feedback driven from talking to our customers and getting an understanding of what they need to optimize their campaigns and for us to build the best product we can,” Breiman said.
Krinsky adds that Lead Prosper is excited to implement new changes and continue to innovate.
“Moving into the new year there are some big changes coming to the platform, most talked about right now being our platform price changes coming in February 2024. But the pricing change is only one update coming, we have a ton of really exciting new features in the pipeline that will be sure to help continue to keep Lead Prosper at the forefront of lead routing innovation.”