"Exclusive" is the most used and most abused word in the lead industry. This guide explains the difference between exclusive, shared, hotkey and aged life insurance leads, and which type suits which kind of brokerage.
The four types of life insurance lead
| Type | Who receives it | Freshness | Typical UK price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ExclusiveWhat we offer | One broker only | Real time | £30 to £80 |
| Shared | Three to five brokers | Real time or near real time | £10 to £25 |
| Hotkey transfer | One broker, live on the phone | Immediate | £60 to £120 |
| Aged | Many brokers over time | Weeks to months old | £1 to £10 |
Shared leads: cheap per lead, expensive per sale
With a shared lead, the same customer's details go to several firms at once and the sale usually goes to whoever calls first. That means paying for a dialler-speed race, customers irritated by four brokers calling in ten minutes, and advisers burning hours on people who already spoke to someone else. The low sticker price hides a high cost per policy.
Exclusive leads: one customer, one conversation
An exclusive lead means the enquiry is delivered to your firm and nobody else. You're having the only conversation, so contact rates, quote rates and conversion rates are structurally higher, and the customer gets a better experience. You pay more per lead and less per sale, and your advisers spend their day advising.
Hotkeys and aged leads: the two extremes
Hotkey transfers hand you a live, qualified customer on the phone. They convert well but cost the most and volume is limited by the seller's call centre capacity. Aged leads are cheap because the intent has usually expired; they can work for firms with strong outbound teams and patience, but they are a volume dialling business, not an advice pipeline.
Questions that expose a fake "exclusive"
- Is the lead exclusive forever, or only for 24 hours before it's resold?
- Was the customer incentivised to enquire, or were they actively searching for cover?
- How quickly after the enquiry is the lead delivered to me?
- Will the same customer be sold to another broker if I reject the lead?
What Protection Connect supplies
Every Protection Connect enquiry is exclusive by design: generated through our own Google Search marketing from people actively looking for life insurance, matched against the criteria you set, and delivered to a single broker in real time. It's never resold, recycled or shared. You set the price you're prepared to pay, with no contracts and no minimum spend.
Exclusive by design
Every Protection Connect enquiry goes to one broker only, delivered in real time from our own Google Search marketing.
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