The word is used loosely in this market. A supplier can call a lead exclusive because it was sent to one firm today, then sell the same record as aged data in three months. Ask what the word covers before you buy.
What a shared lead does on the phone
A shared list sells one enquiry to several firms at once. Each of them rings the same investor inside the hour. The investor answers the first call, half listens to the second, and lets the third and fourth go to voicemail. Whoever called first sets the frame for the conversation, and everyone else is a follow up.
The price of a shared lead looks better because it is being paid several times over. The cost per client won is what matters, and on a shared list it is carried by every firm that did not get the first call.
Three questions that expose a shared list
A supplier who sells exclusive leads will answer all three in writing without hesitating. One who will not is selling a list with better branding.
- Is this record sold to anyone else, today or later, under any campaign name?
- What happens to the record after ninety days: deleted, kept, or resold as aged data?
- If the same investor enquires again through a different ad, who gets that enquiry?
Does exclusive have a shelf life?
It should not, and with us it does not. A lead delivered to you is yours. We do not resell it as aged data and we do not recycle it into a later campaign. If the same investor enquires again, it is checked against what you already hold and treated as a duplicate, not a fresh sale.
Ask any supplier to put the same in writing. The answer tells you what you are actually buying.
Why exclusive costs more and wins more
An exclusive lead costs more per record because one firm is paying for the advertising that produced it. It wins more because you are the only adviser calling, so you can ring when you are ready to have a proper conversation rather than racing three other firms to a voicemail.
For an advisory whose product is a plan rather than a single purchase, that first call is the sale. A considered call to an investor who has spoken to no one else is a different conversation from the fourth pitch of the morning.
What we put in writing
Every lead is delivered to one advisory. It is never shared, never resold and never held back for a second buyer. If a lead turns out to be a wrong number, a duplicate, outside your markets or not an investor enquiry, flag it within five business days and it is replaced or credited. We do not contact the investor after delivery.