How to get business loan leads in Australia
Seven channels, ranked honestly by speed, cost and quality. Written by a provider that sells business loan leads, which is exactly why we will tell you when not to buy them.
If you need business loan enquiries this month, there are two channels that work: run your own ads, or buy exclusive, verified leads and pay per lead. If you can wait six to twelve months, referral partners and your own database compound into the best pipeline you will ever have. Shared lists and "free" leads are the cheapest option on paper and the most expensive in practice, because you are the fourth broker calling the same owner.
Most brokers should be running two of these at once: one fast channel to fund the business now, and one slow channel that gets cheaper every year.
1. Accountant and bookkeeper referrals
Best quality in the market: the referrer already knows the turnover, the tax position and the purpose. Slowest to build, usually six to twelve months of coffees before it pays, and it rarely scales past a handful of partners.
2. Your own database
Past clients re-borrow. Equipment gets replaced, facilities expire, the instant asset write-off prompts a purchase. A quarterly check-in to every settled client is the cheapest lead source you own and the one most brokers ignore.
3. Aggregator and lender referrals
Inconsistent. Some aggregators run referral programs; most volume skews residential, and the commercial enquiries tend to be vague and slow. Useful as a top-up, not a plan.
4. Google Ads you run yourself
Real intent: someone typed "business loan". The catch is the cost per click on lending terms, the landing page, the qualification form and the SMS verification are all on you, and it takes months of spend to learn what converts.
5. Meta ads you run yourself
Cheaper clicks, lower intent. Works when the funnel asks the hard questions up front: ABN, GST, time trading, amount, purpose. Without that, you pay for enquiries from people who wanted a personal loan.
6. Shared leads and data lists
Low price per record because the same enquiry is sold to several brokers, or because it is a scraped list of ABNs with no intent at all. Contact rates are poor and the conversation starts with "I already spoke to someone".
7. Exclusive pay-per-lead
A provider runs the ads, qualifies the enquiry, verifies the mobile and sells it once, to you. Highest price per lead of the paid options, and usually the lowest cost per funded deal, because every call is a first conversation with someone who asked for finance this week.
Whatever channel you use, a business loan lead is only worth calling if it arrives with the fields that decide whether you can write it:
- ABN and GST status, so you are not discovering a hobby business on the call.
- Time trading, because most lenders draw a line at six, twelve or twenty-four months.
- Loan amount and purpose: working capital, equipment, expansion, a tax bill.
- Timeframe, which separates "this week" from "sometime next year".
- A verified mobile number. If the number was not confirmed by SMS before the lead reached you, assume a share of them are dead.
Ask any provider to show you these fields on a sample lead. If they cannot, you are buying a list, not a lead.
Nobody gives away qualified business loan leads. "Free" in this market means one of three things: a shared list, a referral you pay for in commission splits, or a trial that rolls into a contract. The only genuinely free channels are referrals and your own database, and those cost you months of time rather than dollars. That is a fine trade if you have the runway. If you need settlements this quarter, pay for verified enquiries and keep building the free channels in the background.
The number that kills most lead budgets is not the price, it is follow-up speed. A business loan enquiry called inside the hour converts at a completely different rate to one called the next morning. A solo broker can usually work two to three new enquiries a day properly; a small team can take ten. Buy to your capacity, not to your ambition, and turn the volume up once your contact rate is where it should be.
The backdrop is unusually strong for business lending. Business credit is growing 10.8% year on year (RBA, July 2026) while housing credit cools. The $20,000 instant asset write-off was made permanent for businesses under $10M turnover from 1 July 2026 (passed Parliament 19 August 2026, subject to Royal Assent), which keeps equipment purchases flowing. And the ATO is carrying $35.9bn of collectable small-business debt (ANAO, June 2026), pushing owners into restructure and refinance conversations. More owners are borrowing; the question is who gets the call.
We are channel seven. We run the campaigns, capture ABN, GST status, time trading, amount, purpose and timeframe, verify every mobile by SMS, and sell each enquiry once. Pay per lead, no lock-in contracts, no setup fees. If you want to buy business loan leads that way, book a call and we will quote for what you write. If referrals and your database are already filling your week, you do not need us yet, and we will say so.