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The most common scaling mistake in this business is buying more leads for the same reps. The lead line goes up, the dial times slip, the funded rate falls, and the conclusion drawn is that the leads got worse.
Start with what one rep can work
Not how many they can dial — how many they can work properly, meaning called within minutes, texted, emailed and followed up more than once. That number is smaller than most shops assume and it is the constraint everything else sizes against.
- Measure it before you scale. Give one rep a known daily volume for two weeks and watch what happens to median dial time.
- When dial time starts slipping, you have found the ceiling. That is the number, not the one you hoped for.
- Size lead flow to headcount rather than the reverse. Throttle delivery rather than accept a volume the floor cannot cover.
- Add the rep before the volume. A new rep with too few leads is bored; a floor with too many is slow, and slow is far more expensive.
Compensation
Pay on funded deals rather than submissions. Paying on submissions produces submissions, including the ones that were never going to fund, and it degrades your standing with funders as a side effect.
| Structure | What it produces |
|---|---|
| Commission on funded only | Focus on files that fund; the default for a reason |
| Base plus commission | Stability, and tolerance for longer cycles |
| Anything paid on submissions | Volume of submissions, including bad ones |
| Renewal commission | Attention on the book, which is usually under-worked |
The metrics worth watching
- Median time to first dial, weekly, per rep. It predicts revenue earlier than anything else on this list.
- Contact rate — how many leads reach a conversation at all. It separates lead quality from process problems.
- Submission-to-funded rate. If this is low, the problem is qualification or packaging, not acquisition.
- Cost per funded deal by lead source. The only figure worth comparing vendors on.
- Renewal rate on the existing book. The number most shops cannot produce at all.
Contact rate and submission-to-funded together tell you where a problem lives. Low contact with high funded means your leads or your speed. High contact with low funded means qualification or placement. Both low usually means the floor is buried.
Questions brokers ask
How many leads can one MCA rep work per day?
Fewer than most shops assume, and the only reliable way to find out is to measure. Give one rep a known daily volume for two weeks and watch median time to first dial — when it starts slipping you have found the ceiling. Size lead flow to that number rather than hoping.
Should you hire reps or buy more leads first?
Reps. More volume into the same headcount slows dial times, which lowers the funded rate on every lead including the ones you were already buying. A new rep with too few leads is an inefficiency; a floor with too many is a systematic loss.
How should MCA reps be compensated?
On funded deals rather than submissions — paying on submissions produces submissions, including files that were never going to fund, and degrades your standing with funders. Adding a renewal commission is usually the highest-return change available, because renewals are the cheapest deals a shop writes and nobody chases what they are not paid for.
What metrics matter most on an MCA floor?
Median time to first dial weekly per rep, contact rate, submission-to-funded rate, cost per funded deal by source, and renewal rate. Dial time predicts revenue earliest; contact rate and submission-to-funded together tell you whether a problem is acquisition, speed, qualification or placement.
How do you know if the problem is leads or the sales process?
Compare contact rate against submission-to-funded. Low contact with a healthy funded rate points at lead quality or dial speed. Healthy contact with a low funded rate points at qualification or placement. Both low usually means the floor is carrying more volume than it can work.
Alex Makowski
Founder, Infinite Bookings
Runs the lead generation operation behind Infinite Bookings — paid traffic, the funding application, and the delivery pipeline that puts records into brokers’ CRMs.
Reachable directly at alex@infinitebookings.com or 732-609-7182.