Residential vs. Commercial Energy Leads: Which to Buy?

Two different conversations

Residential leads are households. Commercial leads are businesses, like shops, offices, restaurants and small manufacturers. Both pay a utility for electricity or gas, and in a choice state both can switch suppliers. But selling to each one feels very different.

Residential leads

Residential is a volume game. Each sale is smaller, but there are far more households, and the pitch is simple: here's your current price, here's ours. Door-to-door teams and high-volume call centers usually live here.

Each residential lead has the customer's first and last name, the service address and the phone number, so reps can personalize the first few seconds of the conversation.

Commercial leads

Commercial customers use more energy, so each sale is usually worth more. The conversation takes longer, and you're often talking to an owner or office manager who has to check with someone else first.

Our commercial leads list the business name as one field, not split into first and last name, so your dialer shows "Main Street Bakery" instead of something confusing. Reps know right away they're calling a business.

How to choose

A few quick questions usually settle it:

• Are your plans built for homes, businesses or both?
• Do your reps have experience handling longer sales with decision makers?
• Are you knocking doors in neighborhoods or calling during business hours?
• Does your supplier pay more for commercial accounts?

Mixing both

Plenty of teams buy both and route them differently: residential to door-to-door or evening callers, commercial to daytime reps. Since every lead is tagged with its type and utility, it's easy to split one order into the right queues.

Not sure where to start? Tell us what you sell and where, and we'll suggest a mix.