The Nail the Match Blog
What Counts as a Matching Lead? Our Definition, In Plain English
Ask ten lead companies what a "matching lead" is and you'll get ten answers — most of them written by lawyers, all of them convenient for the company selling the leads. Ours fits in two sentences, and it's the same definition on our pricing page, in our FAQ, and in this post. If a lead doesn't meet it, it doesn't count as a matching lead.
The definition: two things must be true
1. The person fills out our form and requests your service. Every lead starts as a real request submitted through Nail the Match — a homeowner or property owner who told us what they need, where they are, and how to reach them. Nothing is scraped, purchased from a data broker, or recycled from an old list.
2. We place that person in contact with you. The request gets matched to your services and territory, and the connection is made — their information comes to you so the conversation can start. A name sitting in a spreadsheet isn't a lead; a person placed in contact with your company is.
When both are true, the lead is a matching lead. That is the entire test.
The one case that never counts
There is exactly one automatic exception, and it's mechanical, not a judgment call: a request whose phone number AND email address are both invalid doesn't count as a matching lead. Both have to be bad. If the phone is wrong but the email works, you have a real way to reach a real person — the lead is valid. If the email bounces but the phone rings, same thing. Only when there's no working way to contact the person at all does the request fail to count as a match. No disputes process, no screenshots, no "submit a claim within 48 hours."
What a matching lead is not
A matching lead doesn't mean guaranteed work. It is a real person, with a real request, placed in contact with you — whether they hire you depends on your response time, your price, and your conversation, the same as any referral a past customer sends your way. And a matching lead isn't an exclusivity promise: unless a pro holds exclusivity for the service in that ZIP or county, a request may go to a small number of pros. The definition never changes — only how many companies receive the request does.
Why we keep it this simple
Complicated definitions always bend toward whoever wrote them. A two-part test — real form request, placed in contact — can be checked by both sides in seconds, and the both-contacts-invalid rule removes the one argument that poisons every other lead program. If you're comparing lead sources, ask each of them for their definition in writing before you spend a dollar. Ours is also spelled out on the FAQ page and in the Q&A below.
Questions & Answers
What exactly makes a lead a matching lead at Nail the Match?
Two things: the person fills out our form and requests your service, and we place that person in contact with you. When both are true, the lead counts as a matching lead.
When does a lead not count?
Only when the lead's phone number and email address are both invalid — there is no working way to reach the person. If either contact method works, it's a real request that counts as a match.
Does a matching lead mean the customer will hire me?
No — a matching lead means a real person with a real request was placed in contact with you. Winning the job depends on your follow-up, price, and fit, just like a referral from a past customer.
Is the definition different if a pro holds exclusivity?
No. The definition is identical. What changes is how many companies receive the request — a small number normally, or only the exclusivity holder for that service in that ZIP or county.
Can I dispute a lead I think was bad?
The both-invalid rule is automatic, so there's rarely anything to dispute: if the phone and email were both dead, it never counted as a match. If you believe a match was wrong, contact us and we'll review it against the same two-part definition.
Ready to put this to work?
Apply once, pick your services and your radius, and start receiving matching leads on a monthly keyword plan — no per-lead charges, no contracts.
Start Your ApplicationStephen George writes for Nail the Match.