Originally Posted by PROJECTHR

For the benefit of my fellow marketers, i would like to provide you a word of caution regarding lead sales services.

I am regarded by many as the top lead producer for home improvement sales. This is an art form that took decades to cultivate and may i save you tons of money, and wasted time, by telling you no computer wiz schmuck taking your money for a piece of paper with a name and phone number has a clue relating to the subject of what constitues a lay down lead.

The art of developing lay down leads covers an entire spectrum of information, much of which is privacy sensitive depending on what type of home improvement operation you provide. For example when you provide financing with your home improvements.

Regardless of wether you do or dont is not important at this point. Suffice it to say that lead sales companies are a complete rip off. First, no matter what they tell you there is no such thing as an exclusive lead. These companies are smart enough to work under numerous names and sell these leads to many contractors as exclusive.

Not to mention most internet lead companies get their consumer names by advertising embellished web sites that offer homeowners the opportunity to get estimates from several contractors as if their consumer protection advocates.

They appeal to homeowners by providing only licensed contractor referrals. At first glance i wont knock it, except for the fact that we all know from experience a license doesnt mean a thing when it comes to quality workmanship.

They havent yet invented the detector that reveals whose a thief and whos not. Homeowners provide information to these services with the expectations that quality individuals in our trades will be provided.


I'll believe that when a full background check is provided at no additional cost that provides unanswered consumer affairs complaints as well as arrest records if any. Back to lead production. These names are then sold to unsuspecting fellow contractors in mass for enourmous numbers, some as high as $125 per lead.

These guys can sell a siding deal better than most closers i know. They hit you up with an array of deals ranging from pay per click to $5000 up front deposits, with a guarantee of x number of leads each month.

The greatest problem lies in how incredibly unqualified these leads are for anything except scott toilet tissue.

Never will you find a lead that both owners have been spoken to. This is rule number one in lead development. Without both its called a one legger and is full of surprises when you get to the house.

To avoid this horror, you need to develop a presentation for door canvassing or telephone marketing , that you have practiced over and over. A pre printed pitch is absolutely necessary, so you follow the same path each and every time to avoid leaving out necessary information that could kill the deal after you arrive.


Knowing the questions to ask is crucial to developing great leads as well as knowing how and when is the right time to ask.

An example is the contractor who speaks to the wife and never speaks to the husband, only to find out later that he is not interested, there getting a divorce, he may be loosing his job or he thinks shes nuts. I been in homes were the husband who was not spoken to couldnt show me the door quick enough for one reason or another.


I could write forever describing the issues that are of primary importance in great lead production. The greatest way to learn however, is from trial and error which is somewhat time consuming, but i promise you, once you realize your lead is dead because the wife just lost her job, which you could have found out by simply asking if they both work, you will never go on a lead again if both husband and wife provide support for the bills and one is unemployed.


Its 100% guaranteed, that when your ready to write the deal, they will tell you " we have to get back to you when my wife goes back to work". Anyway, there is no way the computer schmuck is giving you anything more than toilet paper. Without question some will be closed. But i promise you the probability that you will see god first if better.
I know this was long winded and i hope it help. If your interested in more information on the subject of great lead development i write again.

Originally Posted by rbsremodeling

Put your glasses back on ED

read it and give me the cliff notes version when your done.