Aged MCA Leads vs. Intent Signals: What to Measure
Aged lists or intent-timed leads? The four numbers MCA agencies should track to compare any lead source fairly, and why timing moves them more than volume.
Most MCA agencies buy leads on price per record and judge them on gut feel. That is how floors end up dialing the same aged names as every other shop in town. If you want to know whether a lead source is working, stop counting leads and start measuring what happens after the dial.
This post covers the difference between aged lists and intent-timed leads, and the four numbers that let you compare any source fairly, including ours.
What an aged lead actually is
An aged lead is a merchant record sold after the merchant first raised their hand: an application, a form fill, a call. “Aged” can mean thirty days or a year. The important part is what happened in between:
- The merchant may have already funded with someone else.
- The same record has often been sold to several agencies, so the owner has heard the pitch many times.
- Contact details drift. Numbers change, owners stop answering unknown callers.
None of that makes aged data useless. It is cheap, plentiful, and a disciplined floor can work it. But the price per record hides the real cost, which shows up later as dials that go nowhere.
What an intent signal is
An intent signal is a sign that a business owner is looking for capital now. Lexicon watches business credit profiles with AI for that kind of activity, scores each merchant with our models, and delivers the strongest to your agency.
The difference from an aged list is not the data source alone. It is the timing. An aged list tells you who wanted money once. An intent signal tells you who is deciding this week.
The best lead is the merchant who is still making up their mind.
The four numbers to track for every source
Whatever you buy, from us or anyone else, track these per source, per month, on the same reps.
1. Contact rate
Of the merchants you dial, what share pick up and have a real conversation? This is the first place timing shows. An owner who is actively shopping for capital is more likely to answer, and more likely to stay on the line.
2. Qualified hit rate
Of the merchants you reach, what share fit your funders’ boxes and want to move forward? A source can produce plenty of conversations that never qualify. This number separates talk from pipeline.
3. Funded deals per 1,000 dials
This folds contact, qualification and closing into one figure your floor can feel. It is the cleanest way to compare sources that come in different shapes, because dials are the one input every source shares.
4. Cost per funded deal
Take what you spent on the data and divide it by the deals it funded. Price per lead tells you nothing on its own: a cheap list that funds rarely can cost far more per deal than a pricier source that funds often.
How to run a fair comparison
A comparison is only as good as its setup. Keep it simple:
- Same reps, same hours. Split one team across both sources, or alternate days, so talent and schedule don’t decide the result.
- Same length. Give each source at least a full month. One good week proves nothing.
- Track by source in your CRM. Every record carries its source tag from the first dial to funding.
- Compare the four numbers, not the feeling. Reps remember the great call and forget the hundred dead dials.
Where timing changes the math
If two sources cost the same per record, the one with better timing usually wins on all four numbers at once: more owners answer, more of them are actually in the market, more submissions get approved because the need is current, and cost per funded deal falls as a result.
That is the bet Lexicon is built on. We deliver data only, and your reps make every call, so the only fair way to judge us is by what your floor funds. If you want to see what intent-timed leads would look like next to what you buy today, book a strategy call or read how Lexicon works.
Questions brokers ask
What is an aged MCA lead?
An aged lead is a merchant record sold after the merchant first applied for funding, usually weeks or months later and often to several agencies at once. By the time you call, the need may already be met.
How should an MCA agency compare lead vendors?
Run each source on the same reps for the same period and compare contact rate, qualified hit rate, funded deals per 1,000 dials and cost per funded deal. Ignore lead counts and price per lead on their own.
What is an intent signal in MCA lead generation?
An intent signal is activity on a business credit profile suggesting the owner is looking for capital now. Leads built on intent signals are timed to the decision rather than pulled from past applications.
