Where merchant leads come from
| Source | What you get | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live transfers | A vendor's call center qualifies a merchant and transfers the call to your rep while they are on the line | High intent, a conversation right away | Priced per transfer and expensive; quality varies by vendor and by day |
| Aged leads | Older applications and inquiries resold in bulk | Very cheap per record | Low contact rates; consent to contact may be stale or missing |
| UCC lists | Merchants found through public UCC-1 filings, which often signal an existing advance | Shows who already uses financing | Cold outreach with the highest consent and do-not-call risk |
| Web leads | Merchants who filled in your form, from search, ads or your own content | High intent, consent captured on your own form | Costs rise with ad prices; needs a fast first call |
| Mailers | Letters with a response code | Trackable by campaign | Long lead time, print and postage costs |
| Referrals and partners | Introductions from merchants, accountants, equipment vendors and other brokers | Trust is already there; highest close rates | Slow to build; partners may expect a share of commission |
- UCC-1 filingA UCC-1 is a public financing statement a funder files with a state to record its interest in a merchant's receivables; brokers search them to find existing positions.
- Commission splitA commission split divides the commission a funder pays on a deal between the house, the closer and any sub-ISO or referral partner, by agreed percentages.
Measure cost per funded deal, not cost per lead
A $1 lead that never funds costs more than a $75 transfer that does. The number that matters is what you spent on a source divided by the deals it funded, compared with the commission those deals earned.
spend = leads x cost per lead (or the flat fee) cost per funded deal = spend / deals funded return on spend = commission earned / spend
A worked month for a five-rep shop, with an average commission of $3,000 per funded deal:
| Source | Leads | Spend | Funded | Cost per funded | Commission | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live transfers | 120 at $75 | $9,000 | 5 | $1,800 | $15,000 | 1.7x |
| Aged leads | 4,000 at $1.50 | $6,000 | 2 | $3,000 | $6,000 | 1.0x |
| UCC list | 2,500, flat fee | $1,500 | 1 | $1,500 | $3,000 | 2.0x |
| Web leads | 180 at $40 | $7,200 | 6 | $1,200 | $18,000 | 2.5x |
| Referrals | 14 | $0 | 4 | $0 | $12,000 | n/a |
Two things the table does not show. First, rep time: 4,000 aged leads take far more dialing than 120 transfers, so the aged list is worse than break-even once you count hours. Second, referral splits: if referral partners take 25% of commission, those four deals still net $9,000 with no upfront spend. Run the numbers for at least three months before cutting a source, because one month of funded deals is a small sample.
Consent comes with the lead, or it does not
How you may contact a merchant depends on how the lead was collected. Calling or texting cell phones for marketing generally requires prior consent, and do-not-call lists apply even to many business owners, because a sole proprietor's number is often a personal cell. A web lead from your own form can carry clear consent. An aged lead or a UCC list often carries none that covers you.
- Ask every vendor for the consent language, the date and the source page for each lead, and keep it.
- Scrub against do-not-call lists before calling, and keep your own internal do-not-contact list.
- Honor every opt-out at once, whatever channel it arrives on.
Read the compliance lesson before buying data
The rules on autodialed calls, texts and do-not-call lists are strict and the damages add up per call. TCPA, SMS and do-not-call covers them. This lesson is not legal advice.
How the CRM helps
In Ferrylend, Settings → Lead sources holds each source with its type (live transfer, aged lead, UCC list, web form, referral and more) and a cost model: per lead, per transfer, flat fee or free. Pick a source on every lead or import. The Lead source ROI report under Reports shows each source's cost, funded deals, volume and cost per funded deal against the commission earned. See lead import and applications and Import leads.
Questions
What is a live transfer lead?
A live transfer is a merchant who has been contacted and pre-qualified by a lead vendor's call center and is transferred by phone to the broker's rep while still on the line. Brokers pay per transfer, so live transfers cost much more than data leads but come with a conversation already started.
How do you calculate cost per funded deal?
Add up everything spent on a lead source for a period, then divide by the number of deals from that source that funded in the same period. For example, $9,000 spent on live transfers that produced 5 funded deals is $1,800 per funded deal.
Sources
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Related lessons
- Compliance basicsCalls, texts and Do Not Call: consent basicsConsent for marketing calls and texts, the National Do Not Call Registry, internal DNC lists, opt-outs, calling hours and keeping proof of consent.
- Sales and merchant conversationsThe first call with a merchantHow to run a first call that earns trust: discovery questions on use of funds, revenue, positions and timeline, real listening and honest expectations.
- Owner and admin setupLead sources and contact listsRecord where leads come from and what they cost so the source report means something, and build static or dynamic contact lists of leads and merchants.
- Sales and merchant conversationsReferrals, partners and repeat businessHow to ask funded merchants for referrals, build partnerships with accountants and equipment vendors, and treat renewals as the repeat business they are.
- Help centerImport leads from a spreadsheetBring in a CSV or Excel list of leads, or merchants with their owners: map the columns, choose how duplicates are handled, and assign the rows to reps.