How to evaluate a lead provider before you spend

A serious provider will ask what a good case looks like for your firm before quoting a price. If the first conversation is about volume and discounts rather than your screening criteria, you are being sold contacts, not screened inquiries.

Expect a written criteria document that you can correct before anything is delivered. If there is no document, there is no standard to hold anyone to.

One: who else receives the same inquiry? Exclusive means one firm, and it should be provable on a delivery record. Two: what exactly is billable? The definition should fit in one sentence. Three: what is the weekly volume cap, and can you change it?

Four: how are issues resolved? There should be a written credit process with named timeframes. Five: what does the monthly statement show? You should see every inquiry, its delivery record, and its charge. Six: what happens to the people behind the inquiries if they ask for their information back?

Honest answers contain numbers, timeframes, and documents. Evasive answers contain adjectives. A provider who will not put its own process in writing is telling you something worth knowing before your first invoice, not after.