Lead vendors with real reviews: how to read a review, and the questions that expose a bad vendor

Every lead vendor has testimonials. Most of them are from the vendor's best month or the vendor's cousin. Here's how agents on the floor read a review, and what to ask before you buy.

Reading a review.

• A review with numbers is worth ten without. 'Great leads' means nothing. 'Contact rate 28 percent, four apps from sixty leads' is a review.
• A review from an agent whose name and market you can find is worth more than an anonymous five-star.
• A review that mentions the bad weeks is more credible than one that doesn't.
• Reviews that all appeared the same month were solicited. Not fake, necessarily, but solicited.

Questions that expose a bad vendor.

1. Show me the consent language and a sample consent record for a lead.
2. How many times is this lead sold, and to whom?
3. What's your refund or replacement policy on disconnected numbers and wrong numbers?
4. Can I buy a small batch first, and is the price the same on the small batch?
5. What's the average age of the lead at delivery?
6. Where do the leads come from, specifically? Which platform, what ad, what form?

A vendor who answers all six plainly is probably fine. A vendor who answers with a pitch is telling you what the leads will be like.

Post a vendor question that saved you money. Vendor names are fine here as long as the numbers come with them.