The Challenge

This case study is for every broker who's considered buying leads but hasn't pulled the trigger because the risk feels too high. The broker in question is a sole trader based in Yorkshire, two years into running their own mortgage advisory business after leaving a large brokerage network. Their practice was built almost entirely on referrals from friends, family, and a small network of estate agents.

The referral pipeline was producing 5-8 enquiries per month — enough to pay the bills, but not enough to grow. Some months were busy; others were uncomfortably quiet. The broker described the unpredictability as the most stressful part of running the business: 'I never knew if next month would be a good month or whether I'd be staring at an empty diary.'

They'd been considering buying leads for over a year but had three concerns that kept them from starting:

  • Cost risk: As a sole trader, every pound of marketing spend comes directly from personal income. The idea of spending £200-£300 per week on leads that might not convert felt like a significant gamble
  • Quality scepticism: They'd heard from peers that purchased leads were 'mostly tyre-kickers' and 'nothing like a proper referral.' This perception — common among brokers who haven't tried leads themselves — created hesitation
  • Time management: As a sole trader handling everything from advice to admin, they weren't sure they could add lead follow-up to an already full workload

The Approach

We suggested the most conservative possible starting point: 10 leads per week, covering general mortgage leads in Yorkshire and surrounding postcodes. At an average of £25 per lead, this was a weekly commitment of £250, or roughly £1,000 per month. We framed it explicitly as a 6-week test: invest £1,500 in total, track every metric, and make a data-driven decision at the end about whether to continue.

Before the first lead arrived, we helped the broker set up three things:

1. A tracking spreadsheet. Nothing fancy — a Google Sheet with columns for lead name, date received, first contact time, contact status, appointment booked (Y/N), outcome, and revenue. This would provide the data needed to assess ROI objectively rather than relying on gut feel.

2. A follow-up sequence. A simple, written-down plan: call within 5 minutes, SMS if no answer, second call 2 hours later, third call next morning, email day 2, call day 3, SMS day 5. The broker printed this out and stuck it next to their computer. Having a defined sequence removed the guesswork and ensured consistency.

3. Lead delivery via SMS. The broker didn't have a CRM (many sole traders don't), so we set up SMS delivery. When a new lead was verified, the broker received an SMS with the consumer's details and enquiry information. Simple, immediate, and hard to miss.

The First Six Weeks

Week 1 (10 leads): The broker admitted to being nervous about the first calls. They'd spent two years only speaking to warm referrals, and the idea of calling someone they'd never met felt like cold calling. In reality, it was nothing like a cold call — the consumer had submitted an enquiry minutes earlier and was expecting a call.

Of the 10 leads, they reached 7 on the first or second attempt. Two of those seven weren't quite ready (exploring options for later in the year) but had genuine conversations. Two booked appointments. One submitted a mortgage application by the end of the week. Cost: £250.

Week 2 (10 leads): Growing confidence. The broker's call approach improved — they stopped trying to sell on the first call and instead focused on understanding the consumer's situation. Reached 8 out of 10. Three appointments booked. One of the previous week's appointments resulted in a submitted application. Cost: £250.

Weeks 3-4 (20 leads): A consistent rhythm developed. The broker adjusted their diary to keep mornings free for lead calls and appointments, with admin tasks pushed to afternoons. Contact rate averaged 75%. Appointment booking rate: 35% of those contacted. Two more applications submitted, one from a week-3 lead and one from a week-1 lead that had been nurtured via email.

Weeks 5-6 (20 leads): By now, the broker described purchased leads as 'just part of how I work.' The initial nervousness about calling had completely disappeared. Two more mortgage applications submitted. The tracking spreadsheet was filling up with data.

The Results After Six Weeks

At the end of the 6-week test, the broker reviewed their spreadsheet. Here were the numbers:

  • Total leads received: 60
  • Total cost: £1,500 (60 leads at £25 average)
  • Leads contacted: 45 (75% contact rate)
  • Appointments booked: 16 (36% of contacted leads)
  • Mortgage applications submitted: 9 (15% of total leads)
  • Average proc fee: £560
  • Total revenue from leads (completed and in pipeline): approximately £5,040
  • Return on lead spend: 3.4x
  • Cost per acquired client: £198 (including leads that didn't convert, which is the cost of acquiring the 9 that did)

Not every application had completed by the 6-week mark — mortgage completions take time. But the pipeline was clear, the economics were positive, and the broker had a data-backed answer to the question they'd been asking for a year: 'Is buying leads worth it for a sole trader?' The answer was unambiguously yes.

What Happened Next

The broker continued at 10 leads per week — they deliberately chose not to scale up immediately. Their reasoning was practical: as a sole trader, 10 leads per week plus their existing referral pipeline gave them a full but manageable caseload. Scaling to 20 leads per week would require either working longer hours or hiring an assistant, and they weren't ready for either.

Six months after starting, the broker's business had changed materially:

  • Monthly revenue had increased by approximately 40% compared to pre-leads
  • Revenue was predictable — the empty-diary anxiety was gone because they knew 10 leads were arriving every week regardless of referral flow
  • They'd invested in a basic CRM (Pipedrive at £15/month) to manage the growing pipeline, replacing the spreadsheet
  • Referral business had actually increased, because more completed mortgages meant more opportunities for clients to recommend them
  • They were actively considering hiring an administrator to handle initial lead contact and admin, freeing up more time for client meetings and advice

The broker's summary: 'Starting with 10 leads per week was the best decision I made. It was a small enough commitment that the risk felt manageable, but big enough to prove whether the model worked. If I'd jumped in at 30-40 leads per week, I'd have been overwhelmed and probably concluded it didn't work. Starting small gave me time to learn, build confidence, and develop a process. I'd give the same advice to any sole trader thinking about buying leads: start with 10. Just 10. Track everything. And give it at least 6 weeks before you decide.'

Key Learnings

10 leads per week is enough to prove the model. You don't need to commit to 50 leads per week or spend thousands per month to test whether purchased leads work for your business. 10 per week is statistically meaningful over 6 weeks (60 leads total) and financially manageable for most sole traders.

A written follow-up process is essential. The broker's printed follow-up sequence — simple as it was — ensured every lead got the same structured treatment. Without it, follow-up would have been inconsistent, and the results would have been worse.

Tracking changes your perspective. Before tracking, the broker might have remembered the 3 leads that didn't answer and forgotten the 7 that did. The spreadsheet told the objective story: 75% contact rate, 15% conversion, positive ROI. Data defeats anecdote.

Purchased leads complement referrals, they don't replace them. The broker didn't stop building referral relationships. They used purchased leads to fill the gaps in their referral pipeline — providing consistent baseline volume on top of which referrals added variable, high-quality bonus enquiries.

Nervousness is normal and temporary. The broker was anxious about making their first few lead calls. By week 3, it was routine. Every broker we've worked with who's new to purchased leads goes through the same transition. The shift from 'calling a stranger' to 'calling someone who just asked for help' happens quickly once you make the first few calls and realise the consumer is expecting to hear from you.

Patience beats aggression. By staying at 10 leads per week rather than rushing to scale, the broker built a sustainable system that didn't overwhelm their capacity or compromise their service quality. Growth came from improving process, not from throwing more volume at a broken one.