The CLeads Lead Quality Standard
Most lead companies report how many leads they sent. We grade how good they were, every week, with a method anyone can check. This page is the whole method: no hidden weights, no adjusted scores.
Consumer leads
For people who asked to be contacted through a CLeads capture page: homebuyers, policy shoppers, homeowners, and customers of local service businesses.
| Component | Weight | A lead meets it when… |
|---|---|---|
| Contact validity | 25 | Name, valid email, 10-digit phone, and 5-digit ZIP are present and well-formed |
| Qualified | 25 | It meets the client's written rules: reachable, inside the service or licensed area, acting soon (by the industry's definition), not a repeat, and it passed the integrity checks below |
| Exclusive | 20 | Not a repeat within 30 days, and never shared with another buyer |
| Consent on file | 15 | The person agreed to calls and texts; the exact wording, time, and IP are stored |
| Attributed | 15 | The channel that produced it is known (ad, profile, referral link, and so on) |
Business prospects
For clients whose customers are other businesses.
| Component | Weight | A prospect meets it when… |
|---|---|---|
| Reachable | 30 | It has both a phone number and an email |
| Evidence depth | 30 | At least 2 opportunity signals were observed, not just a directory listing |
| Fit strength | 20 | Average fit against the client's profile |
| Exclusive | 20 | Never delivered before, to any client |
Grades: A ≥ 85 · B ≥ 70 · C ≥ 55 · D below 55.
Integrity checks
Every consumer lead is checked the moment it arrives. Nothing is thrown away: a lead that fails is still delivered with the reason, but it's never counted as qualified.
- Never counted as qualified: disposable email domains, test names ("test", "asdf"), repeated-digit or invalid phone numbers.
- Flagged for a second look: phone numbers in the 555-0100 to 555-0199 range (reserved for fiction), and suspicious ZIP codes.
- Repeats: the same phone or email within 30 days is marked as a repeat and not counted twice.
Speed to lead
Leads go cold fast. Each client dashboard shows the median time from a lead's arrival to the client's first logged response, and the share answered within 15 minutes. It measures the client's follow-up, so it's reported next to the Quality Score, not inside it.
Rules we hold ourselves to
- Scores are calculated by code from the week's leads. They are never adjusted by hand.
- Published averages use real client weeks only, anonymized, with permission.
- No trigger leads and no purchased consumer lists. Every consumer lead asked to be contacted.
- Referred people fill out the page themselves, so the consent is always theirs.
Questions
What's the difference between exclusive and shared leads?
A shared lead is sold to several businesses at once, so they race each other to call the same person. An exclusive lead goes to one business. CLeads only delivers exclusive leads.
Why publish the method?
So you can check it. If a vendor won't tell you how they decide what counts as a lead, you can't tell a ready customer from a name on a list.
Does a high score guarantee sales?
No. The score measures the leads. Closing depends on the offer, the market, and how fast and well each lead is followed up, which is why speed to lead is shown alongside it.
How are referrals tracked?
Past customers and partners get personal referral links, and every page asks who referred the person. Each referral is credited to whoever sent it, and the dashboard shows how many of their referrals qualified.