The difference between a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) is not just about cost or contact details—it’s about timing, expectation, and strategy. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) SQLs have opted in to a financial review and provided a phone number. In theory, they’re ready to talk to an advisor—now. In reality, appointment rates (often called “sets”) are usually below 30%. SQLs can be exclusive (you’re the only advisor receiving them) or semi-exclusive (shared with up to three firms). Our SQLs are exclusive, powered by our partnership with Unbiased. Note: SQLs are not available for direct purchase through the Anasova marketplace. Overview of SQLs: Typical price: $200 to $1,400 Example: $1M exclusive SQL with phone number ≈ $600 Consumer Expectation: May expect a call—but many won’t answer or follow through Best for: Advisors with strong follow-up and capacity to act immediately SQLs offer speed and exclusivity, but demand tight execution. There’s little room for error. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) MQLs are not exclusive—and they don’t need to be. You receive a guaranteed valid email address from a prospect who matches your target criteria and has engaged in the financial planning process. They are not expecting a phone call, don’t want one, and won’t provide a phone number. What they do expect are emails: content, ideas, and insight. MQLs should be nurtured—think long sales cycle, like those in luxury goods. Consider how the Ritz-Carlton, a high-end auto brand, or a private resort engages prospects: they don’t push for an immediate conversion or pick up the phone to call you. Instead, they build long-term relationships through quality content and brand experience (you've probably even been on their email lists). When the prospect is ready, they take the next step. The best firms understand the power of: Sharing a vision (of financial freedom or success) Building trust over time Staying top of mind until the prospect is ready to act Overview of MQLs: Typical price: $10 to $50 Expectation: No immediate conversion— permission to nurture via email Best for: Advisors building a long-term pipeline with systems for nurturing and automation MQLs are evergreen. It’s not uncommon for them to convert after 6, 12, 24, even 36+ months. Many advisors report conversions after three, five, even ten years. These are the types of prospects who become lifelong clients—not because they were pushed, but because they were nurtured. The Bottom Line If you need immediate conversations and have the time to follow up, SQLs may be the right fit. You can get them through our partner, Unbiased, here. If you want to build a scalable, resilient pipeline with far more margin for error—at far lower cost per opportunity—MQLs give you that option. This is what the Anasova MQL marketplace gives you. Neither is “better.” The question is which one matches your strategy, timeline, and systems. Most successful advisors use a blend.

Executive Summary Growth is not a mystery—it’s governed by supply and demand. The higher the value of a client relationship, the more critical it becomes to understand the market for leads. Technology and AI can change how leads are sourced, but they don’t change the economics. Price, risk, and ROI are set by the market, not by your wishes. At Anasova, we don’t just generate leads—we help advisors understand the supply line, master funnel design, and make smarter, more profitable decisions. This guide breaks down lead types, tradeoffs, and real-world math—so you can stop guessing and start growing. Your Options for Growth: What Every Financial Advisor Needs to Know Growth is not a mystery. It’s economics. Every financial advisor has two goals: grow the business and increase the value of the enterprise. But unlike investing—where a 60/40 strategy once sufficed—growth lacks a single rulebook. The smart advisor studies the market for leads the way they study the market for stocks. The Basics: Supply and Demand Let’s start with a refresher. The demand curve shows what buyers want at a given price. The supply curve shows what sellers are willing to offer at that price. Demand: You want high-quality prospects: people with assets, urgency, and need—at a low cost. That’s your demand. But the market doesn’t respond to what you want. Supply: Lead gen providers. They set their price for the leads. When someone buys the leads at that price (which they are even if you aren't), the market clears. Supply leads the dance. There is a market for leads, just like there is a market for stocks. Prices are set - they don't just adjust to your wishes. Therefore, your success depends not on wishful thinking, but on understanding what’s available and what it’s worth. You must understand the price, value, and risk of each lead type. A Lead Is a Call Option on Future Revenue Let’s make this concrete. Suppose you close a $1M account and charge 1%. That’s $10,000 in annual revenue. If you keep the account for 7 years, retaining 70% of the revenue, that’s roughly $49,000 in value to you over time. Alternatively, if you sold that client’s revenue stream today, a rational buyer might pay 3× revenue, about $30,000. That’s the net present value of a closed lead. Now that you know the value of a closed lead, how much should you pay for the chance to close that account? The Supply Curve: The Price of Each Opportunity First, let's look at the different types of leads available to you. Here’s a simplified list of lead supply and cost: Buy a business or book → 3× revenue (~$30K per $10K in annual revenue) Exclusive SQL (with phone & $1M+ assets) → ~$600 Shared SQL → ~$300 Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) → ~$20–30 (valid email, opted in) Money-in-motion subscriptions → Variable; valuable, but trust takes time Clicks (Google/Facebook) → $2–10, no contact info List data / directories → Pennies At the low end: cold, unqualified. At the high end: expensive, but higher intent. There is no “bad” lead—only mismatched expectations. If you want cheap leads, build the system to nurture them. If you want fast results, be ready to pay. Three Paths to Growth: Comparing the Math Let’s revisit the $1M account worth ~$49,000 in lifetime value. Path 1: Buy the account Cost = $30,000. High certainty, but no margin for error. It must work. Path 2: Buy SQLs Buy 20 exclusive SQLs at $600 each = $12,000. If you close just 1 in 20, your ROI is much higher than buying the account directly. In fact, you’d only need to close 1 in 50 to match the economics of Path 1. Path 3: MQLs Buy 300 MQLs at $20 each = $6,000. Close just 1 in 300 and you’re ahead of SQLs. Even at 1 in 600, you break even. And unlike SQLs, MQLs remain viable for years—with nurturing, you could close 3–5 accounts from that same $6,000 investment in 300 leads over time. That’s why MQLs offer higher ROI and, arguably, lower risk— more optionality, more flexibility, and more time to compound from more opportunities (300 vs 20). The Supply Line Is the Strategy Healthy firms blend supply: SQLs for near-term pipeline MQLs for long-term compounding Organic (referrals, events) for credibility Paid media or SEO for scale Acquisitions for instant volume Your job is not to chase perfect leads. It’s to align capital, time horizon, and operational readiness with the right mix of supply. Stop Wanting. Start Building. Most advisors stay stuck in the demand mindset: wanting more, better, cheaper leads. But markets don’t bend for you. The ROI math is clear. If you can buy a closed account for $30K, then any lead under that cost has potential—if you have the systems to convert. Success comes from mastering the supply line, not chasing the myth of perfect leads. How Anasova Helps Anasova and its partners offer access across the entire supply line: Buy or sell (all or part of) a business through our partner FinLink. Buy exclusive SQLs through our partner Unbiased. Buy MQLs directly through Anasova—valid emails, real intent. Use The FinHive: Growth GPT to guide your funnel design. Leverage ROffice for fractional lead nurturing and business development support. We are proud to be the only MQL marketplace purpose-built for advisors. In this market, that’s the edge. Learn more:

Yes—our ecosystem offers a full suite of tools designed to help advisors grow. Whether you want to do it yourself, use AI, or get hands-on support, we’ve built the infrastructure to meet you where you are. The FinHive: GrowthGPT FinHive: Growth GPT is your personal growth strategist—an AI-powered assistant trained to understand the economics of lead generation, nurturing, and conversion for financial professionals. It can: Growth Strategy Diagnose what’s missing in your current funnel Budget allocation across SQL, MQL, and other channels Help you sort, segment, and group leads based on behavioral or demographic criteria Compare ROI across lead types and campaign structures Build filters for MQL targeting Recommend bidding strategies and set lead values by audience Marketing Strategy & Operations Design email nurture sequences for a single lead or an entire audience Create drip campaigns, newsletters, and outreach flows Automate follow-ups, introductions, and thank-you cycles Write scripts, headlines, CTAs, and content for campaigns Offer pre-built marketing ideas tailored to different types of advisors Suggest ways to repurpose content across channels (email, social, events) Whether you’re launching a new campaign or refining a mature system, FinHive delivers on-demand, custom-tailored growth strategy and content—instantly. ROffice: Fractional Business Development Support When you want real people to execute the work, ROffice is your answer. Their team becomes an extension of your practice and can: Build your MQL pipeline using our filters and data tools: bidding strategy and optimization Review your current funnel and make optimization recommendations Build nurture campaigns and manage automation platforms Design, launch, and monitor email sequences Write content, analyze results, and refine touchpoints Provide live onboarding support and funnel performance reviews Think of ROffice as a fractional CMO and growth team—without the overhead. ROI Calculator You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Our ROI calculator helps you estimate cost and value per lead and per conversion. Use it to set goals, track outcomes, and justify investment decisions with confidence. Try it here. Business & Marketing Plan Generator Need a clear, actionable roadmap? Our planner can help you: Set goals Visualize your required funnel Define lead types Identify gaps and execution resources Give content ideas and inspiration Whether you’re a solo advisor or leading a firm, this tool gives you a structured framework to align your team and focus your efforts. Build your plan here. Together, FinHive, ROffice, the ROI calculator, and our business planner form a complete growth operating system. Use them independently or together—designed to turn qualified prospects into loyal clients, over time.

Most people like a demo. Schedule one here. If you prefer, you can create an account on your own. It is free to explore. Follow the welcome checklist.

Here is a sample of what the consumer receives. You get a copy of each plan. Data from the plan can be mapped to your CRM to facilitate data-driven campaigns.

Anasova is built for compliance by design. Less is more. No PII, phone numbers, account details, addresses, or full names. Just a fully permissioned email—nothing more, nothing less. Users can even mask it if they choose. No lists. Nothing in bulk. Every email is individually permissioned, guaranteed valid, and comes with explicit, time-stamped consent. Gathered one at a time. Delivered one at a time. You control the first contact. The end user never sees your name until you reach out from your system. Unlike matching firms or social media ads, nobody knows you exist until you make the first move. Advisors stay 100% anonymous, eliminating reputational and regulatory risk. No content approval needed—because no content is ever delivered on your behalf via Anasova. Together, these three pillars—strict data privacy, fully permissioned emails with time-stamped consent, and 100% advisor-controlled outreach—set the gold standard for best-in-class compliance. By protecting both advisor and prospect, Anasova ensures a trust-first approach to lead generation. From a compliance perspective, you are purchasing fully permissioned emails, one at a time. There are no bulk lists, no pre-purchased data, and no exposure to unauthorized sharing. Each email is granted individually by the end user, ensuring full transparency and regulatory alignment. This structure minimizes compliance risk across all state, federal, and industry standards—setting the benchmark for trust-first, privacy-centric lead generation. Why no phone numbers? Real prospects don’t want cold calls. They prefer to read, engage, and decide when they’re ready. Advisors using Anasova see 60-80% open rates and unsubscribe rates under 1% (typically <0.5%). How do I access Anasova? Integrated via SSO in Morningstar Advisor Workstation and Schwab Provider Listing (Marketplace). Also available through a simple web portal. Need more details? Ask our team