The anatomy of a qualified commercial finance lead in 2026
Six data points separate a genuine funding enquiry from a form-fill. Here is exactly what every Lead Supplier record contains and why.
Beyond name and phone number
Every lead we deliver contains six qualifying data points collected at the point of enquiry:
- Full name of the decision maker so the first call is never routed through a gatekeeper.
- Registered business name so credit checks can begin before you dial.
- Current annual revenue so the enquiry can be matched to the right lender panel.
- Prior year annual revenue so trend and stability are visible on first contact.
- Loan amount sought so pricing conversations start correctly.
- Trading duration so early-stage businesses are filtered from established SMEs.
Why revenue trend matters more than headline revenue
A business turning over £1.2m this year that did £1.4m last year tells a very different story to one that grew from £800k to £1.2m. Lenders price both on the same rate card, but appetite and speed to yes diverge sharply. Capturing both figures at the enquiry stage removes half the underwriting friction before the first call.
What we deliberately do not ask
We do not ask for bank statements, credit scores, director dates of birth or personal addresses at the enquiry stage. Two reasons: it depresses form-completion rates by roughly 60 percent, and it starts breaching data-minimisation principles that the ICO takes seriously. Those data points belong in your fact-find, not ours.
The three-day promise
From signed order to first lead in the CRM: three business days. That covers criteria intake, funnel build, tracking, consent copy sign-off and a live test lead. Anything longer usually means the supplier is buying data, not generating it.