There's a point where buying the job costs more than it's worth.
There is a point where buying the job costs more than doing it is worth. Most owners find it late, by feel.
There is a point where buying a job costs more than the job is worth. Nobody tells you when you have crossed it.
A handyman put it well on a forum. Once the lead cost eats the margin, you are basically renting jobs.
Most people find that line late, by feel, usually after a bad month. It is easier to find it on paper first.
The sum
Three numbers, all of which you have.
- What a lead costs. Say £25.
- How many leads become a job. Be honest. One in five is common on shared leads.
- What a job leaves you. After materials, fuel and your own time. Not the invoice total.
At £25 a lead and one in five, every job costs you £125 in lead spend before you pick up a tool.
If that job leaves you £200, you have just worked a day for £75. If it leaves you £900, it is a good trade. Same platform, same price, completely different answer.
Why small jobs are where it goes wrong
The lead costs the same whether the job is worth eighty pounds or eight thousand.
So platforms work well for people doing big jobs and badly for people doing small ones. If your average job is under a couple of hundred pounds, the maths is against you from the start and no amount of being good at your work fixes it.
Three things that move the line
Win more of them. Going from one in five to one in three cuts your cost per job from £125 to £75. Usually it just means answering faster.
Buy fewer, better leads. Tighten your filters so you stop paying for jobs and areas you do not want. Most people set these up once and never look again.
Make each customer worth more than one job. If a bought customer comes back twice, the £125 was spread over three jobs. This is the biggest lever and the least used.
The trap in the third one
A repeat customer only counts if they come back to you directly.
If they go back through the app, you pay again, and your cost per job never improves. You are still renting the same person.
So give every bought customer something that makes coming back directly easier than reopening the app. A card, a saved number, a message a few months later. Whatever fits how you work.
Do the sum before the quiet month
The worst time to work out your numbers is a slow February, when buying leads feels like the only lever you have.
Do it now, while you are busy and thinking clearly. Write the figure down. Then in February you will know whether you are buying work or buying comfort.
Written by the team at hailera — we help small businesses answer customer questions without being there.