Why vetting matters more than price
Most firms that get burned did not overpay — they under-asked. They compared sticker prices and skipped the questions that actually predict whether the leads convert. Many of the firms we speak with have already been burned by recycled or shared "junk leads," and nearly all of them could have caught it up front.
When firms tell us their buying criteria, three things come up again and again: volume, exclusivity, and reviews of the company. The checklist below expands those into the questions that separate a real operator from a reseller. For the pricing side of the decision, pair this with how much personal injury leads cost.
1. Does the vendor generate its own leads, or resell them?
This is the first and most revealing question. An operator runs its own advertising, captures claimants directly, and knows exactly where every lead came from. A reseller buys leads from other sources and marks them up — often with no visibility into how they were generated or how many times they've already been sold.
The distinction predicts almost everything else. An operator can control quality because it controls the whole chain; a reseller can only pass along whatever it bought. When quality slips with an operator, there is one party accountable for fixing it. With a reseller, the problem disappears into a chain of middlemen nobody can name.
- Ask: "Do you run your own campaigns, or do you buy leads from other sources?"
- Ask: "Can you tell me the channel a given lead came from?" An operator can; a reseller usually can't.
- Kurios is an operator — we generate every lead in-house. See how our MVA lead program works.
2. Are the leads exclusive or shared?
Exclusivity is the single biggest driver of whether leads convert, and it is the thing serious buyers probe for first. A shared lead sold to five firms will bury your intake team in a race they mostly lose.
- Ask: "Is this lead exclusive to my firm, or is it sold to other firms too?"
- Ask: "Do you ever resell, recycle, or re-age leads after the first sale?"
- The full breakdown is in exclusive vs. shared leads. Kurios delivers every lead to one firm only — never shared or recycled.
3. What are the exact screening criteria?
"Qualified" is a marketing word until the vendor defines it. Make them state the specific facts they verify before a lead is delivered. Vague answers mean no real screening — and a lead that wasn't screened is just a contact you paid a premium for. The good vendors will rattle off their criteria without hesitation, because screening is where their value actually lives.
- Ask: "How recent does the accident have to be?" A viable claim generally means within the last year.
- Ask: "Do you confirm an actual injury, or just an accident?"
- Ask: "Do you confirm the claimant was not at fault?" No liable party, no case.
- Kurios screens every lead for a recent accident, a real injury, and not-at-fault before delivery.
4. How fast are leads delivered?
Speed-to-lead decides conversion. Firms consistently report that if you are not calling within about 60 seconds, the claimant is effectively gone. A lead that arrives by email digest ten minutes late is a lead you'll rarely reach.
Pin down the mechanics, not just the promise. "Real-time" means different things to different vendors, and the difference is the whole game. A direct API push into your CRM lands a lead in seconds; a batched email or a spreadsheet drop can lag by minutes or hours, which is the same as never for a claimant fielding calls from your competitors.
- Ask: "How does the lead reach my CRM, and how fast?" Real-time API beats email or spreadsheet drops.
- Ask: "Do you integrate with Filevine, Litify, or Salesforce directly?"
- Kurios pushes every lead into your CRM in under 10 seconds so 24/7 intake can call immediately.
5. What happens when a lead misses the criteria?
This question flushes out a vendor's confidence in its own leads. Some firms would prefer a straight refund, and many vendors in this market only replace bad leads rather than refund — so it is worth asking exactly what you get when a lead misses. The real signal is not "refund vs. replace" in the abstract; it is whether the vendor screens leads up front so that a miss is rare in the first place.
Here is the distinction that actually matters. A "replacement treadmill" happens when the leads are systemically junk: you get credited more leads, which you also have to work, which also miss, which generates more credits — an endless loop of swapping bad leads for more bad leads. That treadmill is a symptom of no real screening, not of replacement itself. When leads are exclusive and screened for a recent accident, a real injury, and a not-at-fault claimant before delivery, a miss is uncommon — so a replace-the-rare-miss policy is a fair backstop, and you only pay for leads that actually qualify.
- Ask: "If a lead misses the agreed criteria, do I get a refund or a replacement — and how often does that actually happen?"
- Ask: "What's the window and what qualifies?" Get it in writing.
- Kurios credits any off-criteria lead — because every lead is screened up front, a replacement is a rare, fair backstop, so you only pay for leads that qualify.
6. What are the contract terms?
Long lock-ins and retainers exist to protect the vendor, not you. The best test of a vendor's confidence is whether they'll let you leave. A vendor certain its leads perform has no reason to trap you — the results do the retaining. One that insists on a long minimum is telling you it expects you'd leave once you saw the numbers.
- Ask: "Is there a minimum term, a lock-in, or a retainer?"
- Ask: "Can I start small and scale only if the numbers work on my own intake?"
- Kurios starts with a 3-month test batch of 50 exclusive leads a month — month-to-month, cancel anytime within the three months. If it doesn't perform, you walk.
7. Can you verify the proof — or better, generate it yourself?
Reviews of the company are the third stated buying criterion for a reason. But a testimonial page is easy to fake, and a newer vendor simply won't have a long reference list yet. The honest test isn't "how many testimonials" — it's whether any proof is independently checkable, and whether the vendor makes you bet on their word at all. The strongest proof isn't a review; it's your own cost per case on a batch you can walk away from.
- Look for specifics you can check: which states, which accident types, what actually changed in a firm's cost per case — not vague praise.
- Be skeptical of screenshots you can't verify. Unverifiable testimonials aren't evidence either way.
- Best of all, insist on proof you generate yourself: a small, cancel-anytime pilot where your own numbers are the evidence — no testimonial required.
- Kurios is a newer operator and won't hand you a wall of testimonials — by design. Instead of asking you to trust reviews, we start with a 3-month test batch you can cancel anytime, so the proof is your cost per case, not our marketing.
Red flags that should end the conversation
Some answers are disqualifying on their own. If a vendor does any of the following, treat it as a signal to walk:
- Can't say where leads come from. A vendor who won't or can't name the channel is almost always a reseller marking up someone else's leads.
- Dodges the exclusivity question. Vague language like "we limit sharing" or "lightly shared" means shared. Exclusive is a yes-or-no fact.
- Sells "aged" leads. Aged leads are old shared leads that already failed to convert for other firms. You are buying someone else's leftovers.
- Replaces bad leads but never screens them. If a vendor's only answer to quality is swapping one unscreened lead for another, you're on the treadmill. The fix is up-front screening — recent, injured, not-at-fault — so misses are rare in the first place.
- Demands a long lock-in or retainer up front. Confidence looks like "try a small batch first," not "sign a twelve-month minimum."
- Fake or unverifiable "proof." Testimonial screenshots you can't check aren't evidence. A newer vendor won't have a long reference list yet — that's fine as long as they let you prove it yourself on a small, cancel-anytime pilot instead of asking you to trust their word.
How to run a low-risk trial
Even after a vendor passes the checklist, prove it on your own intake before you scale. A good vendor will welcome this; a bad one will resist it.
- Start with a small, month-to-month batch — enough volume to judge quality, not enough to bet the firm on.
- Track the metrics that matter: connect rate, sign rate, and cost per signed case — not just how many leads arrived.
- Test your own speed-to-lead against the delivery. If leads land in your CRM in seconds and you still can't reach people, the problem is the leads, not you.
- Only scale after the cost per case clears your target. If it doesn't, walk — that's the whole point of a no-lock-in pilot.
- For how to run the cost-per-case math, see how much personal injury leads cost.
Run the checklist before you sign
Put every vendor through the same seven questions and the field sorts itself fast. Operators with exclusive, screened, fast-delivered leads and honest terms will answer plainly. Resellers get vague around origin, exclusivity, and refunds — which is exactly where firms get burned.
If you want to see what good answers look like, that is the Kurios model by design: in-house operator that generates every lead itself, never aggregating leads or reselling a shared pool, exclusive to one firm, screened for recent-injury-not-at-fault, under-10-second delivery, and a 3-month test batch of 50 exclusive leads a month you can cancel anytime within the three months. Start with personal injury leads for attorneys or the specific type you run, from car accident to truck accident leads.
One last principle: a good vendor should be comfortable being vetted. If asking these questions makes a salesperson defensive or evasive, that is the answer. The vendors worth working with expect the checklist — they built their offer to pass it. Compare your finalists against the wider market on best MVA lead companies, then run a small pilot and let the cost per case decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important question to ask a lead vendor?
Whether it generates its own leads or resells them. An operator that runs its own campaigns knows where every lead came from and how it was screened. A reseller usually can't tell you either — which is where junk leads originate.
How can I tell if leads are truly exclusive?
Ask directly whether the lead is sold to any other firm, and whether the vendor ever resells, recycles, or re-ages leads. Get the answer in writing. Exclusivity is the biggest driver of whether leads actually convert.
What screening criteria should a good MVA lead meet?
A recent accident (within the last year), a real reported injury, and a not-at-fault claimant — so there is a viable claim and a liable party to pursue. If a vendor can't state its criteria specifically, it isn't really screening.
Should I accept a replacement policy instead of a refund?
It depends on whether the leads are screened. Some firms prefer a straight refund, and many vendors only replace rather than refund. The real question is up-front screening: on unscreened leads, a replacement policy can turn into a treadmill of swapping bad leads for more bad leads. On exclusive leads screened for recent-injury-not-at-fault, misses are rare, so crediting the occasional off-criteria lead is a fair backstop and you only pay for leads that qualify.
How fast should leads be delivered?
In real time. Firms report claimants are effectively gone if you're not calling within about 60 seconds, so leads should hit your CRM within seconds, not via a delayed email or spreadsheet. Kurios delivers in under 10 seconds.
Are long contracts a red flag for lead vendors?
Often, yes. Lock-ins and retainers protect the vendor. A confident vendor will let you start small on a month-to-month basis and scale only if the leads perform on your own intake.
How do I verify a lead vendor's reviews?
Ask for references you can actually call — firms in your practice area — and look for specifics like states covered and changes in cost per case. Cross-check testimonials against a neutral comparison before signing.