What Is a Good Lead? (And What Makes a Lead Bad?)

A lead is a person who might want to pay you for a job. That is it. For a pressure washing business, a lead could be someone who wants their driveway or house cleaned. For a tree company, it could be someone who wants a tree trimmed or cut down.

A lead is not a customer yet. They become a customer when they say yes and pay you. Your whole goal is to turn leads into customers.

A good lead is easy to turn into a paying job. A good lead usually:

• Is a real person with a phone number that actually works.
• Is exclusive to you only, never shared with 4 or 5 other pros.
• Wants the work done. They are not just looking around for fun.
• Lives in your area, so the drive is worth it.
• Knows you are coming. A time is already set, so they are expecting you.
• Needs the kind of work you do.

When a lead is like this, you just show up, give a price, and often win the job. That is a good lead.

A bad lead wastes your time and your gas. A bad lead usually:

• Has a wrong or dead phone number, so you can never reach them.
• Never asked for anything, so they are surprised you called.
• Lives too far away to be worth the drive.
• Wants a service you do not offer.

Here is the good news. With StingLeads, if a lead is bad like this (a wrong number, the wrong area, or the wrong service), just report it the same day and we replace it for free with a fresh lead. You never pay for a bad lead, only for real, usable ones.

This one is big. Some lead companies sell the same person's phone number to 4 or 5 pros at once. That is called a shared lead. It is like 5 kids all grabbing for one toy. You have to call first and drop your price to win, and most of the time you lose.

An exclusive lead is yours and only yours. Nobody else got it. No racing, no fighting over price. Every StingLeads lead is exclusive to you.

A cold phone number means you still have to call, convince the person, and set a time. A lot of them never even answer.

A pre-booked appointment is different. The visit is already on your calendar, and the homeowner is expecting you. You do not chase anyone. You just show up and give your price. That is what StingLeads sends you: booked appointments, not cold phone numbers.

Simple. You pay one flat fee for each pre-booked appointment we send you. That is the pay per lead model. No contracts, no monthly fee you are stuck with, and you can pause or stop anytime.

All payments are handled securely by Stripe, the same company that powers checkout for millions of businesses. StingLeads never sees or stores your card or bank details. And if a lead turns out to be a bad one (a defect like a wrong number or the wrong area), you do not pay for it.