The short answer
A broker starting out with about $1,000 to spend on leads should spend it on aged leads, not on a handful of real-time contacts. A thousand dollars of aged leads is thousands of contacts; worked hard, they close a few deals. That cash flow goes into better leads, such as live submissions at $10, $20 or $30 a lead from other vendors (we do not sell them), and eventually real-time exclusive leads. Each rung costs more per lead and less per funded deal, so the aim is to keep climbing to the best lead that is accurately priced.
The question from a broker starting out is usually whether to put their first thousand dollars into the best leads they can afford. Alex’s answer is no. Real-time leads are better, and a thousand dollars buys very few of them, so the whole budget rides on a handful of calls. Aged leads at a fraction of the price turn the same money into thousands of contacts and a few deals, and the deals pay for the next step.
The ladder
- $1,000 on aged leads. Thousands of contacts at well under a dollar each; ours are $0.35 per lead. You pay with time: dial, text and email the lot.
- Close a few deals. Do not spend the commission. Save it.
- Reinvest the cash flow into live submissions at $10, $20 or $30 a lead: fresher, fewer buyers, less chasing. We do not sell these; other vendors do.
- Keep climbing towards real-time exclusive leads, sent only to you the second the merchant opts in. You pay with money.
Each rung moves you from paying with time to paying with money. The rule Alex gives for which rung to stop at is that there isn’t one. The highest-quality lead, at the highest price that is actually accurate for what it is, gives the cheapest cost per funded deal and the lowest effort per funded deal, so the climb keeps paying.
Who should skip the bottom rung
A shop already paying with money, and not wanting to put the effort into each deal, has no reason to go back to aged leads. The ladder is for the broker without cash flow, which is most brokers in their first months. When aged leads are worth buying covers the floor they suit, and the time and effort per funded deal tells you when the bottom rung has stopped paying.