September 30, 2026 · 7 min read

What a booked estimate really costs vs. a shared lead

Cost per lead is the number on the invoice. Cost per booked estimate is the number that decides whether your marketing works. They are rarely the same number.

Ask a contractor what a lead costs and you'll get the invoice number: "$50." Ask what a booked estimate costs — a real homeowner, qualified, with a time on your calendar — and you'll usually get silence. That silence is where marketing budgets go to die.

The only formula that matters

Cost per booked estimate = total lead spend ÷ estimates actually booked

That's it. Everything else is decoration. Let's run three honest scenarios for the same $1,000/month.

Scenario A: Shared leads

• 20 leads × $50 = $1,000
• Each lead also sold to 3–4 competitors
• You book 2 estimates (10% — typical for shared leads in competitive trades)
• Cost per booked estimate: $500

Scenario B: Your own Google Ads

• $1,000 in ad spend at ~$10.70/click ≈ 93 clicks (LocaliQ roofing benchmark)
• At a 5% click-to-estimate rate: ~4–5 booked estimates — and every one is exclusive to you
• Cost per booked estimate: ~$200–$250

Higher cost per lead on paper. Half the cost per booked estimate in practice. The difference is the denominator: nobody else is calling your leads.

Scenario C: Google Local Services Ads

• ~$79 per roofing lead, ~39% booking rate (SearchLight Digital, Q1 2026)
• $1,000 ÷ $79 ≈ 12–13 leads → ~5 booked estimates
• Cost per booked estimate: ~$200 — plus Google-screened trust badge

Benchmarks: Revved Digital / LocaliQ; SearchLight Digital LSA benchmarks

Why the invoice number lies to you

Three things the per-lead price hides:

• Competition. A shared $50 lead you're 10% to win is a $500 expected cost. An exclusive $150 lead you're 40% to win is a $375 expected cost. The "expensive" lead is cheaper.
• Your time. Chasing 20 shared leads to book 2 estimates burns hours of call-backs. Ten exclusive leads to book 4 doesn't.
• Speed decay. Every lead you can't touch in 5 minutes (because you're working) quietly becomes $0. Shared leads decay fastest because four other contractors can touch them.

Do this tonight

Open last month's numbers and compute it honestly: total spend on every lead source, divided by estimates you actually ran. Write the three numbers down — shared marketplaces, your own ads, referrals. Most contractors who do this exercise for the first time find their "cheap" leads are their most expensive channel, and their "expensive" ads are their cheapest. Then reallocate accordingly.

And whatever channel wins — answer it in under five minutes. A $200 booked estimate that never gets a callback is the most expensive lead of all: the one you paid for and never met.

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