Every marketing pitch eventually comes down to a price per lead. If you do not know what a lead is worth to you, you cannot tell a good deal from a bad one.
The numbers that matter
- Your true cost to run a job: labor, materials, fuel, and overhead.
- Your average ticket, and your margin on it.
- How many calls turn into booked jobs.
- What a booked job is worth to you, including repeat work and referrals.
Turn it into a marketing budget
Use your job costs, margins, capacity, and booking rate to discuss a realistic test budget. A price per lead means very little until you know what happened to those inquiries.
Start with completed work
Choose a recent group of completed jobs. Record the amount collected, labor, materials, subcontractors, and other direct costs. Keep unpaid invoices visible so a full schedule does not get mistaken for cash in the bank.
Work with your bookkeeper or accountant to account for overhead consistently. Revenue, gross profit, and cash available to spend are different measures. Pick clear definitions before comparing one month with another.
Follow inquiries all the way through
For each source, record the spend, inquiries, booked jobs, completed jobs, and collected revenue. Include repeat customers and referrals so paid channels do not receive credit for work that would have arrived anyway.
Keep the comparison period consistent. A campaign that produces estimates this month might produce completed work later. Review the actual jobs before deciding a source is good or bad.
Use the numbers to set a limit
Set a test budget and a review date before you commit. Consider job costs, overhead, capacity, and the profit you need to keep. Do not set a budget from the ticket price alone.
If the numbers are incomplete, start by improving the records. The Foundation Checklist helps you spot the tracking and ownership gaps before you add more spend.
Next step: Step 6: Ask Every Customer for a Review
Browse all foundation guides · Print the Foundation Checklist