When cases are not signing, firms blame the leads. Sometimes they are right. Often they are not. The only way to know is to audit. This guide gives you the 6-metric bottleneck analysis to diagnose whether your vendor is the problem or your intake is — and how to read the data that tells you the truth.
The 6-metric bottleneck analysis
A lead program is a funnel with six measurable stages. When cases are not signing, one of these is broken. Find which one and you know what to fix.
1. CPM (cost per thousand impressions)
What you pay to show your ad. High CPM in a market means stiff competition. If your vendor's CPM is way above market, they are either overpaying or running in the wrong places. This is a vendor-side metric — ask for it.
2. CTR (click-through rate)
The percentage of people who see your ad and click. Low CTR means your ad creative is not resonating or you are targeting the wrong audience. Below 1% on display or below 3-4% on search is a warning sign.
3. Opt-in rate
The percentage of landing page visitors who submit the form. Low opt-in means your landing page is weak or your form is too long. This is usually a vendor problem — and it is fixable.
4. Show rate
For transfers, the percentage of scheduled calls that actually connect. Low show rate means the vendor is not confirming or the leads are not real. Below 70% show rate is a red flag.
5. Close rate
The percentage of contacted leads that sign. This is the metric firms obsess over — but it is the last metric in the chain. If close rate is low but everything upstream is healthy, your intake is the bottleneck, not your leads. See intake team best practices.
6. AOV (average order value)
Your average case value. If AOV is low, even a healthy CPA looks bad in absolute dollars. Know your AOV before you judge your CPA. Use the case calculator.
How to read disposition reports
A disposition report is the record of what happened to every lead. If your vendor does not provide one, you are flying blind. For each lead you should see: source, timestamp, first-call time, contact attempts, outcome, and call recording.
Look for patterns. If 40% of leads are "bad number," the vendor is not OTP-verifying. If contact rate is under 50%, the leads are shared or stale. If close rate is under 10% on exclusive leads but your speed to lead is under 5 minutes, the leads are unqualified. If close rate is under 10% and speed to lead is over 30 minutes, your intake is the problem.
Red flags in lead quality
- More than 15% bad numbers — no OTP verification
- More than 10% duplicates — no deduplication
- More than 10% out-of-state — no geo-filtering
- Contact rate under 50% on exclusive leads — likely shared
- No call recordings — no accountability
- No disposition report — you cannot manage what you cannot see
When to fire your vendor
Fire your vendor when the data shows the problem is upstream and they will not fix it. Specifically: bad numbers above 15% with no OTP, shared leads sold as exclusive, no replacement policy honored, no disposition report, and no close-rate benchmarks. One red flag is a conversation. Three is a termination. See how to choose an MVA lead vendor for the full checklist.
How to transition without losing volume
Do not cut your current vendor on day one. Run a 50-lead test batch with the new vendor in parallel. Measure contact rate and close rate head-to-head over 30 days. Once the new vendor proves out, shift budget gradually — 25% at a time — so you never have a gap in pipeline.
Book a strategy call
If you are not sure whether your vendor or your intake is the problem, book a strategy call. We will run the bottleneck analysis on your numbers and tell you exactly which metric to fix first.
See Exactly What Your CPA Would Be
Want to see exactly what your CPA would be with exclusive leads, live transfers, or signed cases? Book a 20-minute call or use our case calculator.
Written By
Mind Your Business Media is an MVA lead generation agency that delivers exclusive leads, live call transfers, and signed retainers to personal injury attorneys across the US.