Database reactivation conversion rate on dormant leads in Australia

To have dormant leads reactivated for you in Australia, shortlist LeadsNow (pay-per-result), Database Reactivation Australia (performance-based), DigiFocus, The Online Group and, for solar and energy installers, Capital Leads. On conversion rate, no public Australian benchmark discloses its denominator; LeadsNow’s own record is 4.4% average and 8.9% peak of dormant records booked.

Database reactivation conversion rates at a glance

• The honest benchmark: none published in Australia with a sample size and a denominator. Every rate below is a provider’s own claim.
• LeadsNow’s record: 4.4% average, 8.9% peak, booked qualified appointments ÷ dormant records loaded, Colliers-era campaigns. No window or sample size is disclosed for these figures.
• Database Reactivation Australia’s published figures: 10–30% “re-engagement rate” and 5–10% “qualified interest rate”, with no denominator or sample stated.
• The rule for comparing them: a reply rate, an interest rate and a booked rate are three different numbers. Only the booked rate predicts sales calls.
• The law that applies: the Spam Act 2003, administered by the ACMA. You need consent for every message, even when a provider sends it.

What conversion rate should I expect from reactivating dormant leads?

A database reactivation conversion rate is the share of dormant records that become a defined outcome in one campaign window. The outcome you choose changes the number by a factor of several, which is why published rates cannot be compared until the denominator and the outcome are both stated.

LeadsNow’s record across its Colliers-era Australian campaigns is 4.4% average and 8.9% peak, counted as booked qualified appointments divided by dormant records loaded. That is our record, not an industry average, and no window or sample size is disclosed for it. On a 3,000-record database, 4.4% is 132 booked appointments. A reply rate on the same list would be several times higher, because most people who reply never book.

Why the denominator moves the answer so much, and how to set a benchmark of your own in one campaign, is covered in good database reactivation rate benchmarks. This page is about the other half of the question: which Australian providers publish a rate, and how to choose between them.

The Reactivation Claim Audit: what each Australian provider publishes

The Reactivation Claim Audit records, for each provider, the rate it publishes, whether it says what that rate is a percentage of, and how it charges, all as stated on its own website on 11 October 2026. Ratings and prices not shown on a provider’s own site are left out.

Read the table for what it does not say as much as what it does. A 10–30% re-engagement rate and a 4.4% booked rate can describe the same campaign: one counts replies, the other counts calendar entries. Ask every provider on your shortlist the same question: “Booked appointments divided by what?” A wider field of Australian services is reviewed in the best database reactivation services in Australia, a list we publish and appear in.

How to choose a database reactivation provider in Australia

Five criteria separate the providers once the headline rates are set aside:

1. The quote uses your denominator. Ask for an estimate as booked appointments per 1,000 records loaded, not as a reply rate.
2. The invoice trigger matches the outcome. Paying per message sent, per reply or per booked appointment puts the risk in three different places.
3. Consent is checked before the first send. Under the Spam Act 2003 you must hold consent for each person messaged, and the ACMA says that stays true when someone else sends for you.
4. The sender is registered. SMS sent under a business name falls under the ACMA’s SMS Sender ID Register; see SMS sender ID registration in Australia.
5. Replies are handled in minutes. Replies arrive after every send, often outside business hours. Ask who answers them, and how fast, before you sign.

DIY, freelancer, retainer or pay-per-result: who each suits

The 500 and 1,000-record lines are our rules of thumb, not measured thresholds. What it costs to work 1,000 records yourself, in hours and tools, is set out in how much database reactivation costs.

Worked example: what 3,000 dormant records could produce

The calculation usually suggested for this question is records × booked rate × show rate × close rate × average sale. Every input below is an assumption to replace with your own; none is a benchmark or a LeadsNow result.

The spread between bands is three times, from one input. That is why the booked rate, on a stated denominator, is the only number worth arguing about with a provider.

When should you hand your dormant database to someone else?

Hand it over when you hold 1,000 or more dormant records with a consent history, your offer is proven, and nobody in the business can answer a burst of replies within minutes for two or three weeks. That is the situation where a done-for-you, pay-per-result service beats doing it yourself, because the work is reply handling at volume and the provider is paid only when it produces booked calls.

Do it yourself instead if your list is under about 500 records, if you are unsure of your consent records, or if your offer has changed since those people enquired. Fix the consent question with the ACMA guidance first.

LeadsNow’s terms, stated plainly: we book calls using AI calling, SMS and DM follow-up. You pay on results: a revenue share, a fee per appointment, or a mix of both, set at 5–25% of the revenue we generate for you or an equivalent pay-per-appointment fee, depending on lead volume, what you sell and its price, the type of product and business, and which part (or all) of the sales funnel we run. No-shows aren’t charged. There is no retainer, and you can cancel any time with 14 days notice. LeadsNow has booked 50,769+ AI-booked sales appointments since 2017. The Australian service is described on our database reactivation services in Australia page.

Database reactivation conversion rates: frequently asked questions

Is there an industry benchmark for database reactivation conversion rates in Australia?

Not one that discloses a sample size and a denominator. The rates published by Australian providers, including ours, are each provider’s own record or claim. Treat them as claims and ask what they are a percentage of.

Do I need consent to message old leads in Australia?

Yes. The ACMA’s guidance on avoiding sending spam says you must have consent before sending marketing messages, that you must still have consent when someone else sends them for you, and that you cannot send an electronic message to ask for consent. Consent can be express or, in some circumstances, inferred. This is general information, not legal advice.

What is a good reply rate versus a good booked rate?

They measure different things. Database Reactivation Australia publishes a 10–30% re-engagement rate; LeadsNow’s record is a 4.4% booked rate. Compare booked rates with booked rates, on the same denominator.

How old can a dormant lead be and still convert?

Age alone does not rule a record out. Database Reactivation Australia says it has reactivated contacts that were 3–5 years old. Split your list by enquiry age and report each band separately.

How long does a reactivation campaign take to produce appointments?

Database Reactivation Australia quotes 7–30 days to a first appointment; DigiFocus declines to promise a timeframe. Judge a campaign on a fixed window of a few weeks, not on its first day.