The sample lead checklist: what to check on a sample before you buy

A sample lead is one enquiry record, usually with identifying details blacked out, that a provider shows you so you can see what their form captures and how a lead looks on arrival. It is the only part of a sales conversation you can inspect rather than take on trust, so treat it as evidence: when it was submitted, where it came from, whether the mobile was confirmed before release, which fields are filled, whether they agree with each other, and whether it would land in your CRM without re-keying.

A sample cannot tell you everything. It says nothing about contact rate, consistency across a month of volume, or how exclusivity is enforced; those are questions for the provider, and they are covered further down. But if the sample fails the checklist, nothing the provider says afterwards should rescue it.

Most providers will send a sample the moment you ask. What you learn depends on what you asked for, so be specific.

• A real, recent enquiry from the flow you would buy. A business loan sample tells you nothing about a commercial refinance flow, and a record from last year describes last year's form. Ask for something submitted in the last few weeks, with personal details redacted.
• More than one. Two or three records show whether the fields are consistently filled or the first sample was hand-picked. Ask for one that did not pass the provider's stated criteria as well; how they describe the line tells you where it sits.
• In the format you would receive it. If leads arrive by email, ask for the email. If they go to a CRM, ask for the export. A tidy spreadsheet built for the sales call is not the product.
• With the source attached. Which channel, which campaign, which form. A provider generating its own enquiries can answer in a sentence. A reseller usually cannot.

Hesitation at any of these is a finding in itself. The rest of the conversation is in questions to ask a finance lead provider.

Work through the record in this order. Each item is a yes or a no.

• Submission time and release time. Both should be on the record. The gap between them is the provider's verification and review step. No timestamp, no way to check anything else about timing.
• Source. The record should say where the enquiry originated: a search ad, a social campaign, a page the provider runs. Enquiries from incentivised surveys or aged lists look different once you know to ask.
• Verification evidence. Look for an explicit note that the mobile was confirmed by SMS code, and when. A tick labelled "phone verified" with no method behind it is not evidence. The distinction is set out in verified vs unverified leads.
• Every universal field filled. Full name, mobile, email, finance or loan type, loan amount, loan purpose, estimated timeframe, and the prospect's own notes. Blanks, "N/A", or the same default value on every sample mean the form is not asking or people are not answering.
• The niche fields for that flow. A business loan record should carry ABN, GST status and time trading; a commercial record adds property type, approximate value and an LVR range. The full list by product is in data fields a finance lead should include.
• Internal coherence. Do the fields agree with each other? A hypothetical example: a $2M refinance against a property valued well below that, with a timeframe of "this week", is a mis-keyed form or a guess. One incoherent sample is noise; three is the form design.
• Notes in the prospect's words. Free text typed by the enquirer reads differently from a summary written by the provider. The first tells you how to open the call; the second tells you what the provider wants you to think.
• Qualification trail. Which stated criteria the record was checked against, and whether that check was automated, human or both. A provider who cannot show the trail is asking you to do the qualification on your own time.
• Duplicate check. Any marker that the record was screened against the provider's other clients before release. If exclusivity is a promise rather than a process, nothing on the record will show it, and you should ask how it is enforced.
• Format. Consistent field names, one record per lead, values that map to your CRM without manual clean-up. A sample that needs re-keying is a sample of your admin cost.

A sample that passes the checklist is only useful if you could place it. Run the amount, purpose, entity details and timeframe on the record against the lenders you actually use, not the panel you could in theory access. If the sample is a deal you would decline, more of them will not help, and the targeting needs to change before you buy, not after.

Do this separately for each flow. A working-capital or equipment enquiry looks nothing like a commercial property refinance with a facility behind it, and the fields that decide placement are different. The commercial standard is in what a qualified commercial finance lead includes. If you write both, ask for a sample of each and hold each to its own list.

Then ask one more question: does the record let you open the first call with a structure, or would you be asking the prospect to repeat the form? If it is the second, the sample has shown you exactly what you would be paying for.

Every enquiry La Vitesse releases carries the universal fields on this checklist, full name through to the prospect's notes, plus the niche fields for that flow. Each one is confirmed by SMS code before it ships, scored automatically, reviewed by a person against the stated criteria, sold once, dedup-enforced across all clients, and delivered in real time to your inbox or CRM. Our published contact rate is 72.5%. To hold one of ours against this list, ask on the call; the business loan flow is set out on business loan leads.