Delivery Configuration

Turning Leads into Revenue

Delivery is where preparation meets execution. After your lead has been validated, enhanced, and priced, it needs to reach the buyer reliably and quickly. LeadConduit's delivery system handles the complexity of various buyer requirements, retry logic, and response parsing - so you can focus on optimization rather than integration headaches.

📍 You are here: Configuring bulletproof lead delivery
🚀 What you'll master: Delivery methods, formats, and reliability
💰 The outcome: Happy buyers and consistent revenue

Understanding Delivery

Delivery Philosophy

LeadConduit delivery follows core principles:

Reliability First - Every lead delivered
Speed Matters - Milliseconds count
Format Flexibility - Match buyer needs
Clear Feedback - Know what happened
Graceful Recovery - Handle failures smartly

Delivery Flow

The journey of a delivery:

Lead Ready for Delivery
    ↓
Select Delivery Method
    ↓
Map to Buyer Format
    ↓
Send to Endpoint
    ↓
Parse Response
    ↓
Handle Success/Failure
    ↓
Update Lead Record

Delivery Methods

Standard HTTP POST

The most common method:

Method: HTTP POST
Configuration:
  URL: https://buyer.com/api/leads
  Headers:
    Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
    Authorization: Basic abc123
  
Format: Form POST
Fields:
  first_name: {{lead.first_name}}
  last_name: {{lead.last_name}}
  email: {{lead.email}}
  phone: {{lead.phone}}
  
Success Response:
  Status: 200
  Body contains: "accepted"

JSON Delivery

Modern API format:

Method: HTTP POST  
Configuration:
  URL: https://api.buyer.com/v2/leads
  Headers:
    Content-Type: application/json
    X-API-Key: {{api_key}}
    
Body: JSON
Template: |
  {
    "lead": {
      "contact": {
        "firstName": "{{lead.first_name}}",
        "lastName": "{{lead.last_name}}",
        "email": "{{lead.email}}",
        "phone": "{{lead.phone}}"
      },
      "metadata": {
        "source": "{{lead.source.name}}",
        "timestamp": "{{lead.timestamp}}",
        "ip": "{{lead.ip_address}}"
      }
    }
  }
  
Success Response:
  Status: 201
  JSON path: result.status = "success"

XML Delivery

Legacy system support:

Method: HTTP POST
Configuration:
  URL: https://legacy.buyer.com/leads.asmx
  Headers:
    Content-Type: text/xml
    SOAPAction: "http://buyer.com/SubmitLead"
    
Body: XML
Template: |
  <?xml version="1.0"?>
  <soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
    <soap:Body>
      <SubmitLead xmlns="http://buyer.com/">
        <FirstName>{{lead.first_name}}</FirstName>
        <LastName>{{lead.last_name}}</LastName>
        <Email>{{lead.email}}</Email>
        <Phone>{{lead.phone}}</Phone>
      </SubmitLead>
    </soap:Body>
  </soap:Envelope>
  
Success Response:
  XPath: //Success = "true"

Email Delivery

Simple notification style:

Method: Email
Configuration:
  To: leads@buyer.com
  From: delivery@yourdomain.com
  Subject: New Lead - {{lead.first_name}} {{lead.last_name}}
  
Body Template: |
    New Lead Received
    
    Name: {{lead.first_name}} {{lead.last_name}}
    Email: {{lead.email}}
    Phone: {{lead.phone}}
    State: {{lead.state}}
    
    Interested in: {{lead.product_interest}}
    
    Lead ID: {{lead.id}}
    Received: {{lead.timestamp}}

Advanced Delivery Features

Dynamic URL Construction

Build URLs dynamically:

Base URL: https://api.buyer.com
Path Construction:
  /leads/{{lead.state}}/{{lead.product_type}}
  
Example Result:
  https://api.buyer.com/leads/CA/auto-insurance
  
Query Parameters:
  source: {{lead.source.id}}
  test: {{flow.environment === 'test' ? '1' : '0'}}
  
Full URL:
  https://api.buyer.com/leads/CA/auto-insurance?source=123&test=0

Conditional Delivery

Route based on data:

Delivery Rules:
  If lead.state in ['CA', 'TX', 'FL']:
    URL: https://api.buyer.com/high-value
  Else if lead.credit_score >= 700:
    URL: https://api.buyer.com/premium  
  Else:
    URL: https://api.buyer.com/standard
    
Different Endpoints:
  Mobile leads: https://mobile.buyer.com/api
  Desktop leads: https://desktop.buyer.com/api

Batch Delivery

Send multiple leads:

Batch Configuration:
  Size: 100 leads
  Timeout: 5 minutes
  Format: JSON Array
  
Template: |
  {
    "batch_id": "{{batch.id}}",
    "count": {{batch.count}},
    "leads": [
      {{#each batch.leads}}
      {
        "id": "{{this.id}}",
        "email": "{{this.email}}",
        "phone": "{{this.phone}}"
      }{{#unless @last}},{{/unless}}
      {{/each}}
    ]
  }

Response Handling

Success Detection

Know when delivery worked:

HTTP Status Success:
  - 200 OK
  - 201 Created
  - 202 Accepted
  
Body Content Success:
  Text contains: "success" or "accepted"
  JSON path: response.status = "ok"
  XML path: //result/success = "true"
  
Advanced Success:
  status = 200 
  AND json.result.accepted = true
  AND json.result.price > 0

Failure Handling

Manage delivery failures:

Failure Types:
  Timeout: 
    - After 30 seconds
    - Retry 3 times
    
  Connection Error:
    - Cannot reach endpoint
    - Retry with backoff
    
  HTTP Error:
    - 4xx: Don't retry (bad request)
    - 5xx: Retry (server error)
    
  Business Rejection:
    - Status 200 but "duplicate" message
    - Don't retry, mark rejected

Response Parsing

Extract buyer information:

Parse Success Response:
  Lead ID: json.response.lead_id
  Buyer Price: json.response.payout
  Confirmation: json.response.confirmation_code
  
Store in Lead:
  buyer.lead_id = {{parsed.lead_id}}
  buyer.price = {{parsed.payout}}
  buyer.confirmation = {{parsed.confirmation_code}}
  
Use Later:
  In receipts
  For reconciliation
  In reporting

Delivery Optimization

Speed Optimization

Make delivery fast:

Connection Settings:
  Keep-Alive: Enabled
  Connection Pooling: 10 connections
  DNS Caching: 5 minutes
  
Timeouts:
  Connect: 5 seconds
  Read: 25 seconds
  Total: 30 seconds
  
Parallel Delivery:
  Max concurrent: 50
  Per buyer limit: 10

Retry Strategy

Smart retry logic:

Retry Configuration:
  Max Attempts: 3
  
  Backoff Strategy:
    1st retry: 1 second
    2nd retry: 5 seconds  
    3rd retry: 15 seconds
    
  Retry Conditions:
    - Timeout
    - Connection error
    - HTTP 500-599
    - Custom: response.retry = true
    
  Don't Retry:
    - HTTP 400-499
    - Explicit rejection
    - Duplicate detection

Load Balancing

Distribute delivery load:

Multiple Endpoints:
  Primary: https://api1.buyer.com
  Secondary: https://api2.buyer.com
  Tertiary: https://api3.buyer.com
  
Strategy: Round Robin
Failover: Automatic
Health Check: Every 60 seconds

Delivery Security

Authentication Methods

Secure your deliveries:

Basic Authentication:
  Username: {{settings.username}}
  Password: {{settings.password}}
  Header: Authorization: Basic base64(user:pass)
  
Token Authentication:
  Header: X-API-Token: {{settings.api_token}}
  
OAuth 2.0:
  Token Endpoint: https://auth.buyer.com/token
  Client ID: {{settings.client_id}}
  Client Secret: {{settings.client_secret}}
  Scope: leads.write
  
IP Whitelisting:
  Add LeadConduit IPs to buyer firewall

Encryption

Protect data in transit:

TLS Requirements:
  Minimum: TLS 1.2
  Preferred: TLS 1.3
  
Certificate Validation:
  Verify: Yes
  Allow Self-Signed: No (production)
  
Sensitive Fields:
  SSN: {{lead.ssn | encrypt}}
  Account: {{lead.account | mask}}

Testing Delivery

Test Mode

Safe testing without consequences:

Test Configuration:
  URL: https://sandbox.buyer.com/api
  Add Header: X-Test-Mode: true
  
Test Behavior:
  - No billing
  - No buyer notification
  - Full response parsing
  - Complete logging

Delivery Preview

See what will be sent:

Preview Shows:
  - Full URL
  - All headers
  - Request body
  - Mapped values
  
Before: {{lead.first_name}}
After: "John"

Before: {{lead.phone}}
After: "5551234567"

Common Testing Scenarios

Verify edge cases:

Test Cases:
  1. Valid lead - Success response
  2. Duplicate - Rejection handling
  3. Missing field - Error response
  4. Timeout - Retry behavior
  5. Server error - Failover
  6. Malformed response - Parsing

Monitoring Delivery

Key Metrics

Track delivery health:

Success Metrics:
  - Delivery rate (target: >95%)
  - Response time (target: <2s)
  - Timeout rate (target: <1%)
  - Error rate (target: <2%)
  
Business Metrics:
  - Acceptance rate by buyer
  - Average price by buyer
  - Revenue per successful delivery

Alerts

Proactive monitoring:

Alert Conditions:
  - Delivery rate < 90% (15 min)
  - Response time > 5s (average)
  - Consecutive failures > 10
  - Buyer endpoint down > 5 min
  
Actions:
  - Email operations team
  - Slack notification
  - PagerDuty escalation

Troubleshooting Delivery

Common Issues

"Connection timeout"

Check buyer endpoint status
Verify firewall rules
Test from different location
Review timeout settings

"Invalid response"

Check response format
Verify parsing rules
Review buyer documentation
Test with curl/Postman

"Authentication failed"

Verify credentials
Check token expiration
Confirm IP whitelist
Review auth method

Debug Tools

LeadConduit provides:

Delivery Log:
  - Full request (headers + body)
  - Full response  
  - Timing breakdown
  - Retry attempts
  
Test Console:
  - Send test lead
  - Modify on the fly
  - See raw response
  - Debug parsing

Best Practices

Delivery Design

Match Buyer Specs
- Follow documentation exactly
- Test edge cases
- Confirm field mapping
- Validate responses
Plan for Failure
- Set reasonable timeouts
- Configure smart retries
- Have failover ready
- Monitor actively
Optimize Performance
- Use connection pooling
- Enable compression
- Minimize payload
- Cache when possible
Secure Everything
- Use HTTPS always
- Rotate credentials
- Encrypt sensitive data
- Audit access

Common Patterns

Multi-Format Support:

Same buyer, different formats:
  - JSON for API
  - XML for legacy  
  - Email for backup

Conditional Routing:

Route by:
  - Geographic region
  - Lead quality score
  - Time of day
  - Buyer capacity

Graduated Retry:

1st failure: Try backup URL
2nd failure: Add delay
3rd failure: Queue for manual review

Your Next Steps

Essential Reading

Response Parsing - Handle buyer responses
Retry Logic - Failure recovery
Testing Guide - Pre-launch validation

Common Tasks

Set up new buyer endpoint
Configure authentication
Map custom fields
Test delivery flow

🚀 Remember: Delivery is where the rubber meets the road. A well-configured delivery step ensures your leads reach buyers quickly, reliably, and profitably. Test thoroughly, monitor closely, and optimize constantly.

Next: Explore Enhancement Integrations to add value before delivery.