Selling leads: how lead brokering works, vertical by vertical

A lead is a record of a person or business that has shown interest in a product, with permission to be contacted about it. Insurers, lenders, solar installers, contractors and law firms all buy them, because finding the customer is often the most expensive part of their sale. A lead broker sits between the places where that interest is captured, such as comparison sites, quote forms, call centres and publishers, and the businesses that want to make the call.

That makes it a specialised branch of data brokering, with two differences that matter. Leads lose value within hours or days, so speed and delivery are part of the product. And the consent behind each record is what makes it legal to use, so a lead without provable consent is a liability rather than an asset.

Searches like lead generation companies or buy leads come mostly from businesses shopping for a supplier. We don't sell leads, so this hub is written for the other side: people who want to understand how leads are sourced, priced and sold. Buyers still get something useful from each page, which explains what a fair price and a clean consent record look like in that vertical, but nothing here is an offer of inventory.

• Telephone Consumer Protection Act: marketing calls and texts to mobile numbers using an autodialer or prerecorded voice need prior express written consent, and the consent record has to name the seller who will call. Keep the form, the disclosure text, the timestamp and the IP address for every lead.
• Do Not Call: numbers on the national registry can't receive telemarketing without consent or an established relationship, and several states keep their own lists and calling-hour limits.
• State laws modelled on the TCPA, such as Florida's and Oklahoma's, add their own consent and timing rules and private lawsuits.
• CAN-SPAM for email leads: honest headers and subject lines, a working opt-out and a physical address.
• Industry rules on top: insurance licensing, Medicare marketing rules, lending disclosures, attorney advertising rules. Each vertical page covers its own.

Each page in the table above covers one vertical in the same order: who buys these leads and what they pay for, price ranges with their sources, how the leads are generated and consented, the rules specific to that industry, the red flags buyers look for, and where the course and tools help. Start with the vertical you know: a broker who has worked in insurance or home services already knows the buyers, which is most of the battle.