The Home Services industry is changing rapidly—and companies that want to scale need to rethink how they manage leads, technology, and call center morale.

In our webinar “Insights from the field: A fireside chat with home services leaders,” hosted by our Sales Director, Ryan Theisen, and performance marketing expert Senja Spelman of Sisu Synergy, attendees got a front-row seat to an in-depth conversation on optimizing the top of the funnel. From compliance pitfalls to the emotional toll of bad leads on call center agents, the session offered both tactical advice and strategic insights for brands ready to grow smarter.

Key takeaways

Here are the main takeaways from our Home Services-specific webinar:

• Lead quality is everything: 10% of leads are typically junk—filtering for intent, contactability, and duplication is essential to lower costs and boost conversions.
• Call center morale matters: Bad leads hurt performance and retention. Distribute leads wisely and create early wins for new reps.
• Technology is underused: A strong tech stack improves lead filtering, compliance, speed-to-lead, and call center productivity.
• Consent is critical for compliance: Always capture and document consent—especially for event or offline leads—to avoid TCPA risks. TrustedForm helps provide proof.
• Vetting lead vendors is non-negotiable: Ask how leads are generated, require transparency, and use ActiveProspect’s network for new partners.
• Texting > Calling (for many customers): SMS yields higher engagement—consolidate communications into one platform and meet consumers on their preferred channels.
• Own your owned leads: Run even your internally generated leads through the same quality and compliance checks as third-party leads for maximum efficiency and insight.

Let’s take a closer look at the topics presented above.

The power of tech in the call center

Senja didn’t hold back on the importance of technology. “Call center tech stacks are a completely underutilized advantage in our space,” she said. While many see tech as a way to push leads through the funnel, Senja emphasized that the right tools also support training, retention, and morale. From lead filtering to agent performance, the right tech stack can be the difference between burnout and breakthrough.

Ryan added that ActiveProspect integrates with platforms like Blacklist Alliance and Trestle (and many more) to validate leads and weed out known litigators—ensuring call center reps aren’t wasting time on dead-end contacts.

TCPA compliance: Don’t wait until it’s too late

Senja recounted a brush with TCPA risk that didn’t come from typical third-party lead sources—it happened through event marketing. Just because someone gives you their info at a home show doesn’t mean you’re compliant.

Ryan and Senja both agreed: Whether you’re a $5M business or $50M brand, lack of consent documentation is a legal risk. ActiveProspect’s TrustedForm helps mitigate that risk by certifying every lead’s origin and capturing clear evidence of consent. The moral? Document everything, even from in-person events.

Wasted spend: A universal problem

Whether you’re spending $500 or $50,000 on leads, wasted spend is a shared struggle. Senja pointed out that wasted time is just as damaging as wasted money—especially in the call center. “It’s not so much about saving money on leads as it is keeping morale high and saving reps’ time,” she said.

That’s why investing in tech that filters out duplicates, validates phone numbers, and enriches data is critical. Ryan emphasized that automation tools like ActiveProspect’s LeadConduit can flag invalid, unreachable, or duplicate leads in real time—helping you avoid expensive inefficiencies.

Finding—and vetting—the right lead vendors

Senja shared her checklist for evaluating vendors:

• Understand how leads are generated (social, native, paid search)
• Ask for opt-out clauses
• Evaluate actual performance against promised volume
• Check reputations through industry peers
  

She added that if a vendor is transparent enough to work through ActiveProspect, “that automatically gives me a certain amount of trust.”

Morale and retention: Incentivizing success

High-quality leads aren’t just about data—they’re about people. Senja shared several tactics she’s used to boost call center morale:

• Flash competitions with same-day prizes and bonuses
• Gamification through call speed and leaderboards
• Public recognition of top reps and shared wins
• Balanced lead distribution that gives new reps a fair shot
  

She stressed that giving new hires only stale leads is demoralizing—and can increase churn.

A better approach, according to Senja, is to start new hires with older leads—say, 60 to 90 days old—for the first couple of days, and then mix in more promising leads, like those that are 3 to 7 days old. These don’t have to be brand new, but they should be attainable, giving reps a real shot at success.

This staggered approach helps build confidence early on. When new team members see that success is possible, they’re far more likely to stay. In Home Services, where recruitment and retention are some of the biggest challenges, creating that early momentum is crucial.

How ActiveProspect helps streamline lead optimization

As Ryan explains, ActiveProspect is purpose-built to help Home Services companies take control of their lead flow with greater precision, transparency, and compliance.

From the moment a lead is captured—whether from a third-party vendor, an internal campaign, or an in-person event—ActiveProspect’s platform enables businesses to filter, verify, and enhance every lead in real time. Using tools like TrustedForm for consent documentation, and LeadConduit for automated lead routing and enrichment, businesses can instantly reject duplicate or invalid leads, flag high-risk contacts, and ensure only the highest-quality leads reach their CRM or call center.

The result? Less wasted spend, faster speed-to-lead, stronger compliance posture, and happier sales teams who are set up to succeed from day one. Whether you’re scaling your operations or simply looking to squeeze more ROI from your existing campaigns, ActiveProspect equips you with the technology to make every lead count.

What makes a high-quality lead in 2025?

The webinar closed by answering a key question: How has the definition of a high-quality lead changed?

For Senja, intent and recency are more important than ever. Retargeted visitors and repeat form submissions signal higher intent—so they deserve priority handling. And while some businesses still reject leads that are even a few days old, Senja argued for a shorter dupe window (e.g., 7 days) to avoid missing out on re-engaged prospects.

Ryan echoed that every business needs to define quality based on their marketing budget, territory size, and sales funnel. In some cases, a lower set rate with cheaper leads may still yield profitable conversions. The key is knowing your numbers—and having the right tech in place to analyze them.

Final thoughts

The overarching message? Home Services companies that want to scale can’t afford to guess anymore. From lead sourcing to morale management, success comes from building a system that filters intelligently, adapts quickly, and keeps your teams engaged.

Whether you’re buying from partners, generating your own leads, or balancing both—ActiveProspect can help you:

• Automate top-of-funnel filtering
• Document consent with TrustedForm
• Improve vendor accountability
• Reduce compliance risk and wasted spend
  

Watch the full webinar replay to dive deeper into these strategies and hear even more practical advice from two of the industry’s top voices.

If you’re interested in expanding your lead vendor network or optimizing your funnel, book a free demo now!

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