1.What UCC leads are
When a business takes certain kinds of financing, the funder files a UCC-1 statement with the state. Lead vendors collect these filings and match them with owner names and phone numbers. The result is a list of business owners who have recently used financing, which makes them strong prospects for a merchant cash advance or a renewal.
2.A filing is not consent
A UCC filing is a public record. It is not permission to send marketing texts. Before you text a list, ask the vendor how the phone numbers were collected and what consent comes with them, keep that answer on file and have your counsel review it. Our compliance guide covers the rules that apply.
3.Scrub every list before it goes out
- Opt-outs. Anyone who ever replied STOP to your shop must never be texted again, whichever rep or list they came from.
- Known bad numbers. Numbers that came back as nonexistent or landline last time will fail again and drag your delivery rate down.
- Duplicates. Vendors sell overlapping lists. The same merchant on three lists should get one text, not three.
- Do Not Call. Scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry and any internal do-not-contact list.
4.Pace the send
Dropping a whole new list on your numbers at once is the fastest way to get filtered. Send through the day at a steady pace, and give each new list a day or two to go out rather than an hour.
Watch the first few hundred results. If the error rate jumps, stop and look at the list before it costs you numbers. The error code guide explains what to look for.
5.Learn which lists work
Lists from the same vendor can perform very differently. Track replies, applications and funded deals by list, not only by vendor, and look at how many texts each one takes to get a reply. Buy more of the lists that turn into deals and stop buying the ones that only turn into errors.
BlastWiz scrubs every send against your stop list and known bad numbers, paces sends so each number stays within healthy limits, and sets aside numbers that keep failing. Talk to our team about your lists.
Questions brokers ask
- How fresh does a UCC list need to be?
- The fresher the better. A recent filing means a merchant who just took funding and may want more. Older filings have more dead numbers, more owners who have moved on and lower reply rates.
- Should I trust the line type the vendor gives me?
- Treat it as a hint. Vendor labels for mobile or landline are often wrong. The delivery result of your first send is the real answer, so let the error codes decide which numbers to drop.
- What should happen to a number that fails?
- A number that is switched off may work next week, so it deserves a few more tries. A number that does not exist or is a landline should be set aside so you stop paying to text it and stop hurting your delivery rate.