Times are tough for companies that provide outsourced tech help to other businesses. Clients simply aren’t upgrading their systems with the fervor of years past. Nitech, a 20-person computer reseller based in Irvine, Calif., turned to Wendover Corp. to seek additional business leads over the Web.

How it works. Wendover makes two million cold calls per year -- 60,000 in Nitech’s Orange County alone -- to unearth tech projects companies wish to outsource. For just under $20,000 a year, CEO Dan Nickel buys access to the database for his area. He can then search by time period, area or zip code, number of employees, technologies owned, etc., to find projects best suited to what he does. He gets a list of jobs, contact names, and the prospects’ IT history.

Like a loaf of bread. While a lead may be hot today, it’ll be stale next week. Nickel’s reps check daily for new opportunities, which Wendover posts immediately after completing its extensive screening process.

The bottom line.The screens save Nitech’s reps a lot of spadework. "You don’t have to be so slick and clever," says Nickel. "We can call and say, ‘This is exactly how I can help you.’" He estimates that they get six leads a week from Wendover, and two end in jobs averaging $5,000 to $10,000. The bonus to his sales reps: 10% more business per year.