The metrics that tell you if your leads are good
"These leads are bad" is usually a feeling, not data. These are the objective metrics that tell you, without argument, whether what you buy is worth it or not.
When a sales team says "the leads are bad", they almost always speak from an impression, not a number. And impressions deceive: sometimes the lead was good and the follow-up was bad. To make decisions about what to buy and from whom, you need objective metrics. These are the ones that matter.
Validity metrics (is the data usable?)
- Bounce rate: what percentage of emails do not arrive
- Valid contact rate: phones and emails matching the contact
- Duplicate rate: leads repeated or already in your CRM
- ICP fit: what percentage meets your criteria
These metrics measure whether what you receive is even usable. A high bounce rate or many duplicates are immediate red flags, independent of how much the rest converts.
Conversion metrics (does the lead advance?)
- Connection rate: what percentage you manage to contact
- Lead → opportunity: what percentage becomes a real opportunity
- Opportunity → close: what percentage ends in a sale
- Cycle velocity: how long a lead takes to close
- Real cost per opportunity = lead cost ÷ opportunities generated
- Compare providers by this, not by price per lead
- Include your team time for the full calculation
- An expensive lead with high conversion can beat a cheap one
Cost per opportunity: the queen metric
Above all is real cost per opportunity: how much it costs you, in total, to generate a qualified opportunity from the leads you buy. It is the metric that lets you compare providers and lead levels fairly, because it integrates quality and price in a single number. Price per lead, in isolation, says almost nothing.
Careful with blaming the lead
Before concluding a provider delivers badly, separate lead quality from your team performance. If the validity rate is high (correct data, good fit) but conversion is low, the problem may be your response speed or follow-up, not the lead. Validity and conversion metrics measure different things and help not to blame the wrong place.
Measure from day one
Start measuring these metrics from your first purchase, even at small volume. Having your own data — not the provider promises — is what lets you negotiate, scale with confidence or change provider with arguments. In capture, those who measure rule.