RULE: Politely decline GC prospects under 5 employees, "just give me leads" framing, active 12-month directory lock-in, or no published projects beyond stock photos

Rule: Politely decline GC prospects who match any of:

• Under 5 employees with no office manager (no admin to sustain a content cadence).
• Opening sentence is "I just need leads" (mindset mismatch — they want a directory replacement, not an owned channel).
• Active 12-month HomeStars/Angi lock-in with no willingness to plan an exit.
• Existing small-claims judgments or BBB complaints in the F range (the website won't save them — see BBB 2022: General Contractor was the 3rd-highest US inquiry category — 4,084 complaints, ~53% "unable to pursue" / "not settled").
• No published projects beyond stock photos (no content substrate to work with).
• Cash-flow stress signals (slow payment to subs, judgments visible in court records).
• Pure-trade subs (electrical, HVAC, plumbing) unless they routinely act as primes on full home renovations.

Why: These prospects either won't convert, or convert and then fail to deliver outcomes that produce a case study. Both outcomes drag the average. The category has been worked aggressively by US contractor-marketing agencies, so the niche isn't green-field — focus on prospects where Candid's methodology actually wins.

How to apply: route to the 60-second disqualification script (RULE: 60-second GC disqualification script — four questions on team size, lead source, regulatory status, and last website history) at first call.