# "15 More roof jobs a month." Real lead vendor or pay-upfront pitch? > Buying leads can be a real marketing choice for a roofer or remodeler, so not every lead call is junk. Screen with three questions, do the cost-per-job math, and send everyone else a written stop. By Elie Mendlow · Published November 9, 2026 Section: Brokers & Harassment › From the Notebook · Series: Stop the Calls (https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/stop-the-calls) Canonical: https://mcafax.com/notebook/contractor-lead-vendor-calls Source: MCAFax, The Broker's Notebook (https://mcafax.com/notebook). MCAFax is not a lender or a law firm. --- Is the "15 more roof jobs a month" caller worth hearing? Maybe. For a roofer, remodeler or HVAC shop, buying leads can be a real marketing choice. Decide with three questions: legal company name and callback, written terms before any payment, and a written credit policy for bad leads. Everyone who fails gets a written stop. General info, not legal advice or financial advice. ## Why aren't all lead-vendor calls junk? Plenty of contracting shops buy leads on purpose. A homeowner who asked for a roof quote is worth money to a roofer, and some vendors sell those requests by the lead or by the month. The question is never "leads or no leads." It is whether this vendor, at this price, beats what a job costs you now. The calls that make owners angry look different. Contractors in recent threads describe weekly texts promising jobs in trades they don't do, from rotating out-of-state numbers that won't give a company name. That pattern fails the screen below in the first minute. ## What 3 questions screen a lead vendor on the first call? Ask them in order and write each answer in your call log: https://mcafax.com/notebook/toolkit/call-log-template 1. "What is your company's legal name, and what number or address can I reach it at?" The FCC rule at 47 CFR 64.1200 requires telemarketing callers to give the caller's name, the company they call for, and a phone number or address. That duty is written for residential subscribers, so a business line gets less protection. A real vendor answers anyway. 2. "Can you email me the terms before I pay anything?" Ask for what counts as a lead, exclusive or shared and with how many shops, the price per lead, any monthly minimum, the contract length and how to cancel. 3. "What is your credit policy for bad leads, in writing?" Wrong numbers, homes outside your service area and trades you don't do should be named in that policy. No company name, no written terms or a demand for payment before terms means you are done. Rule text: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200 ## How do I run the math before buying leads? Turn the vendor's price into a cost per job, then compare it with what a job costs you today. ### Worked example All names and numbers are made up. A vendor offers shared roof leads at $65 each, sent to up to 4 shops. Summit Roofing closes about 8% of shared leads. That makes the cost per signed job $65 divided by 0.08, or about $812. Summit's yard signs and referral program cost about $600 per signed job last year. At $812, the leads only make sense if Summit has open crew days it can't fill another way. Summit asked for a 30-day trial with the credit policy in writing. The vendor declined, so Summit passed. Rerun this with your own close rate. A vendor quoting "15 more jobs a month" should be able to show how many leads that takes. ## How do I make the rest of the calls and texts stop? Send a written company-specific stop request to every caller who gave a company name. The template and the send routine are in Part 2: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-2-written-stop-request . The same FCC section, with the same residential scope, says a telemarketer must honor a do-not-call request within 10 business days and keep it for 5 years. For automated texts that name a real company, replying "stop" counts as a reasonable way to revoke consent under the same section. Screenshot the reply for your log. For texts that name no company, don't reply. Block the number, then follow the text steps in Part 7: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-7-texts . Report what keeps coming at https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html , or at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov if money changed hands. When the same pitch comes back under a new name, Part 9 shows how to tie it together: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-9-same-pitch-new-name . Where your number came from in the first place is Part 6: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-6-lead-sellers ## What goes on this week's lead-call checklist? - Print the 3 questions next to the office phone. - Add "vendor name," "terms received" and "credit policy" columns to the call log. - Run the cost-per-job math before any trial. - Send written stops to every named caller who failed the screen. The full stop-calls playbook: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-mca-broker-calls . The contractor funding guide, when you want to look on your own schedule: https://mcafax.com/notebook/construction-business-loans ## Questions readers ask **Is it a red flag if a lead vendor wants a card on file?** Not by itself, since many vendors bill per lead. The red flag is paying anything before you have the written terms and the bad-lead credit policy in hand. **What is the difference between exclusive and shared leads?** An exclusive lead is sold to one shop. A shared lead goes to several shops at once, so you are racing other contractors to the same homeowner. Ask for the maximum number of shops in writing. **I already signed up and want out. What now?** Read the cancellation terms, send your cancellation in writing, and keep the confirmation. If charges continue after the cancellation date, take that record to your card issuer. **Does replying to a nameless lead text make it worse?** Some contractors report more texts after replying to senders that never name a company. If a text names no company, do not reply. Block it and report it.