What is exclusive leads?

Why it matters for a contractor.

Exclusive does not mean interested. You still pay for the ones who never answer, which is why the appointment is a better unit to buy than the lead.

Exclusivity solves the bidding war and nothing else. The homeowner still may not answer, may have been researching for a project eighteen months out, may live outside your service area, or may have filled the form by accident. You have removed the competitors from the race and kept every other reason a lead goes nowhere.

Ask what the exclusivity actually covers, because the word is used loosely. Exclusive to you for a period of time, after which it is resold, is a different product from exclusive permanently. Exclusive within your trade but sold to an adjacent trade is different again, and for a remodeler that distinction can be the whole value.

The unit is the real issue. Buying leads means paying for the top of the funnel and absorbing every failure below it. Buying qualified appointments moves that failure onto the vendor, which is why it is the harder thing to sell and the better thing to buy.

What to ask a vendor about it.

• Exclusive for how long, and what happens to the record after that?
• Exclusive within my trade only, or across every trade you sell to?
• What percentage of these are reachable on the first attempt?
• Would you sell me appointments instead, and if not, why not?