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How a lead is actually made

There is no clever technology in this. It is a good script, screened data, agents who have been briefed properly, and somebody checking the output before it leaves the building.

Stage one

The script does most of the work

Almost every disappointing lead campaign we have been asked to rescue had the same problem: a script written to produce leads rather than to find out the truth. Ask “would you like to save money on your energy bills?” and everybody says yes. Ask “who pays the energy bill in your household, and what did you pay last month?” and you learn something you can sell against.

So we start from your disqualifiers, not your target. Tell us who wastes your sales team's time — the wrong age band, the tenant who cannot authorise work, the person who bought six weeks ago — and we will write questions that find them early and end the call politely.

Four people standing at a whiteboard covered in notes, seen from behind — Nothing goes live until the client has signed off the wording. The pilot usually changes something — a question that confuses people, or a filter that kills more records than expected.

Stage two: the data we dial

Nothing goes to the dialler until it has been screened against the Telephone Preference Service and, for business numbers, the CTPS. Your own suppression file goes on top of that if you have one. Numbers that have been dialled recently on another campaign are held back, because the fastest way to burn a file is to call the same household four times in a month.

Stage three: the call

UK-based agents, working from a briefed script with branching logic, on recorded lines. Calling hours are 9.00am to 8.00pm on weekdays and 10.00am to 5.00pm on Saturdays, and we do not call on Sundays or bank holidays. Calling line identification is presented on every call and the number it presents is answered by a real person during office hours.

The consent statement is read at the end, in full, once the respondent knows what they have told us. Agents are not paid a bonus per lead — they are measured on the proportion of their leads that survive the quality check, which pushes in the opposite direction to exaggeration.

A man at an office desk speaking on a telephone beside a window with venetian blinds — Calling hours are 9.00am to 8.00pm on weekdays. The consent statement is read at the end, in full, once the respondent knows what they have told us.

Stage four: the check nobody enjoys

Every positive record is re-read against your written criteria before release. A quality team listens to a sample of recordings each day, and to every recording behind a lead you query. Records that fail are suppressed, and the agent is re-briefed. This is the stage that costs us volume and is the reason the leads work.

Stage five: delivery

Leads reach you in whichever way suits your system: an HTTP POST into your CRM within seconds of the call ending, a file on your SFTP, a scheduled CSV by email, or a live transfer into your sales line. Real-time delivery matters more than people expect — contact rates fall measurably for every hour a lead sits waiting.

Operating rules

Calling hours: Mon–Fri 9.00am–8.00pm, Sat 10.00am–5.00pm
No Sunday or bank holiday calling
CLI presented on every call, and answered in office hours
Calls left to ring at least 15 seconds before clearing
Abandoned-call rate kept below the 3% threshold in Ofcom's persistent misuse guidance
Recordings kept 12 months, then deleted
Opt-out actioned on the call, within 24 hours across all campaigns

Replacement policy

We replace a lead if, within 48 hours of delivery, you can show that:

it falls outside the written criteria; or
the contact details are wrong or unobtainable after three attempts at different times of day; or
the person denies taking part in the survey and the recording does not contradict them.

We do not replace leads that simply did not buy.

Reporting

What you get told, and how often

A daily delivery report and a weekly campaign review. Both are dull documents that prevent expensive arguments.

Report	Frequency	Contents
Delivery report	Daily	Every record supplied, with reference, timestamp and the campaign it came from — the document your invoice is reconciled against
Campaign review	Weekly	Calls made, contact rate, survey completion rate, leads passed, leads rejected at quality check, and the reasons
Question analysis	Weekly	Drop-off by question, so you can see which filter is costing you the most volume and decide whether it is worth it
Query log	As raised	Leads you have queried, the recording reference, our finding, and whether it was replaced
Compliance log	Monthly	Opt-outs actioned, complaints received and how each was resolved, screening dates

Getting started

The first fortnight

Days 1–2

Criteria and paperwork

We agree the qualifying criteria in writing, sign the data processing terms, and check your FCA authorisation if the product needs it. You tell us your daily capacity honestly — under-delivering into a floor that cannot work the volume helps nobody.

Days 3–5

Script and integration

Script drafted, sent for your sign-off, and amended. In parallel we map the record layout to your CRM and send test posts until they land correctly in your system.

Days 6–8

Pilot

A few hundred calls at low volume. You work the leads immediately and tell us what the conversations were like. We adjust the script and the filters on what you report.

Days 9–14

Volume

Ramp to the agreed daily figure, with the weekly review from the first Friday. Most campaigns get one more script change around day ten and then settle.

Start with a pilot

A few hundred calls will tell you more than any pitch. Send us your criteria and we will scope one.

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