Specify the purchased deliverable
Ask whether the offer is an inquiry, a screened lead, a connected call, a signed retainer or another defined service. Those are different products. A proposal should identify the exact event that triggers billing and the information delivered with it.
Request an example packet using synthetic data. Your intake team should be able to understand what it will receive, what remains unverified and what work it must complete. Avoid comparing two prices until the deliverables are comparable.
Understand how interest is generated
Ask which channels and partners may supply the campaign. Clarify whether traffic is generated by the provider, a publisher or another acquisition partner. Agree on permitted sourcing and how material changes are approved.
Define the source identifiers and permission evidence required with a delivery. A blanket claim of compliance is less useful than a concrete record your firm can review. Counsel should approve the campaign’s applicable advertising, contact and data-handling requirements.
Separate screening from verification
A screening question can capture a person’s reported diagnosis or exposure history. Medical records, product identification and legal eligibility may require additional work. Establish who performs each step and what the acceptance decision actually requires.
- Which answers are mandatory, and which disqualifiers stop delivery?
- Which facts are self-reported and which have supporting documents?
- Who owns records collection and later follow-up?
- How are criteria updates approved and versioned?
- What does the receiving firm do when information is incomplete?
Make exclusivity and credits precise
For exclusivity, define the parties covered, any resale restrictions and the period to which the promise applies. Supplier exclusivity does not mean the prospective claimant has never spoken with another firm.
For credits, specify duplicate matching, contact-data failures, screening mismatches, submission deadlines and required evidence. Distinguish an objective delivery defect from a later rejection based on case merits or records. Avoid a dispute process that neither team can administer consistently.
Agree on useful outcome reporting
Keep delivered, contacted, retained and accepted counts separate. Connect those outcomes to a source and delivery cohort where possible. Record reasons for rejection so the next decision addresses the actual issue.
Review total acquisition spend after credits against the same cohort’s results. If your firm wants a fully loaded cost, add intake labor and downstream expenses separately and consistently. Be clear about which stages are mature enough to compare.
Bring a practical brief to the first meeting
Bring the tort, hard disqualifiers, geography, intake hours, required evidence, proposed cap and the people who approve spend and operations. Ask the provider to come back with a scoped delivery model and sample handoff.
TortHarbor coordinates inbound calls, exclusive & shared leads and traffic around that brief, with AI-qualified call transfers available as an additional option. Lead programs can deliver raw leads, qualified leads or retainers. We agree on the scope before launch; your firm retains control of legal decisions and case acceptance.
Plan the next step with your intake team.
Turn your claimant profile into specific questions, acceptable answers and hard disqualifiers. A shared brief gives sources a consistent standard and helps keep your team from spending time on known mismatches.
- Identify exposure or product, relevant dates, reported injury, geography and representation questions.
- Separate information needed before delivery from evidence your team will collect later.
- Choose the format, distribution terms, budget, daily cap and staffed delivery hours.
- Name the people who approve criteria, receive deliveries and reconcile outcomes.
A clear handoff gives your staff a useful starting point, helping them avoid repeated basic screening and focus on the next step. Agree on the fields and supporting material for each purchased format.
- Specify contact fields, inquiry or delivery time, campaign and source identifiers.
- For qualified programs, request screening answers, the criteria version and the context needed at handoff.
- For retainer programs, define approved signed documents and the required supporting packet.
- Agree on permission evidence, a delivery method and a sample using fictional claimant data before launch. System connections are confirmed during scoping.
Outcome feedback turns intake experience into acquisition decisions. Track the same group of deliveries over time so we can identify where prospects stop progressing and discuss changes to sources, screening or handoff.
- Keep delivered, contacted, screened, retained and accepted counts separate.
- Record why an inquiry did not progress, such as unreachable, screening mismatch or insufficient supporting evidence.
- Allow for your intake and records-review cycle before comparing results.
- Use reconciled outcomes to discuss source mix, questions, delivery timing and capacity for the next phase.
Questions before you start
What should a pilot agreement cover?
At minimum, discuss the criteria version, source permissions, delivery model, cap, billable event, exclusivity, required fields, review window, credits, payment and reporting. The firm’s counsel should review the agreement.
What should I ask when a provider says “verified”?
Ask which facts were checked, against which evidence, by whom and when. Verify that the purchased scope includes the checks your firm actually requires.