Calculator
Contractor Lead Cost and Break-Even Calculator
Cost per lead is the wrong number. What matters is cost per booked job and whether the maths works. Run yours below.
At $75 per lead and a 25% booking rate, each booked job costs $300 to acquire and still nets $2,200. You could pay up to $625 per lead and break even — there is room to bid for more volume.
Planning estimate based on your inputs. Real results vary by market, channel and season.
Why cost per lead misleads you
A cheap lead that never books is expensive. The number that decides whether advertising works is cost per booked job — cost per lead divided by the share of leads that actually book — measured against your profit per job. This calculator does that maths and shows your break-even lead cost: the most you can pay per lead and still come out ahead.
How to use the result
If your current cost per lead is well under break-even, you have room to bid more aggressively and win more volume. If it is above break-even, the fix is rarely cheaper clicks — it is a higher booking rate through better conversion and follow-up, or a higher average job value. Move those levers and the whole picture changes.
Want this applied to your business, specifically? The Free Custom Ad Campaign is a written plan for your market — competitor scan, offer, one ad concept, landing page and follow-up. See the offer →
Questions
What booking rate should I use?
Use your real number if you track it — booked jobs divided by leads. If you don’t track it, that is the first thing to fix, because it is the lever with the most leverage. As a rough placeholder, many contractors sit between 15% and 40% depending on trade and follow-up.
What counts as profit per job?
Your gross profit on an average job — revenue minus the direct cost to deliver it — before marketing. It is what each booked job actually contributes toward overhead and ad spend.
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