Why Are My Leads So Expensive?
The price on the invoice is only part of it. What a lead really costs is everything you spend to win one job, including your time.
The short answer
Because you're paying for access, not outcomes. The price of a lead is only the start of what each job costs you.
Leads feel expensive because the number on the invoice isn't the real cost. You pay for every enquiry, but you only earn from the ones you win. If several trades are sent the same customer, or the enquiry was never properly qualified, you need to buy many leads to win one job, and the cost of all of them lands on that one job.
On top of that, the busiest trades and areas cost more, because more contractors want the same customers. Add the hours spent calling, visiting and quoting for jobs that don't go ahead, and a lead that looked cheap becomes one of the biggest costs in the business. The useful part is that most of these drivers can be measured, and several can be changed.
Published figures
What UK contractors pay for enquiries
The published ranges, before conversion is taken into account, and what they add up to once it is.
Platform pricing as published by Trades Grow, One Base Media, Sleepless Tradesman and SwiftLead, 2026. Rates change, so check current pricing before relying on these figures. Google Ads figures as published by PositionWorks (2025 UK home services benchmarks, roofing) and Aimpro Digital (2026). Click prices vary by area, service and how well the account is run.
The cost drivers
Where the expense really comes from
Shared enquiries
When the same customer is sent to several trades, your chance of winning each one falls. You're paying full price for a fraction of a job.
Weak qualification
Enquiries with no clear budget, timescale or scope turn into visits that go nowhere. Each one still counts against your spend.
Competitive trades and areas
Where lots of contractors want the same customers, the price of each enquiry tends to rise with that demand.
Slow response
The first credible reply often wins the conversation. Leads answered late convert less, which quietly raises the cost of every job you do win.
Quotes that don't land
A rushed or unclear quote loses to a clearer one, even at a similar price. Every lost quote pushes the cost per job up.
Your own time
Calls, visits, pricing and chasing are hours you're not paid for. They rarely appear in the lead price, but they're part of it.
Bringing it down
Five ways to lower what each job costs you
Measure cost per job won
Add up everything you spent on leads in a period and divide by the jobs you won from them. That's the number that matters, not the price per lead. The method is in true cost per job won, and the basics in what is cost per lead?
Narrow what you pay for
Tighten your areas and job types to the work you win most often and earn most on. Paying for enquiries you rarely convert is usually the quickest saving available.
Reply faster
Set a rule for how quickly enquiries get a response, even if it's a short message to book a call. Speed is one of the few advantages you control completely.
Make your quotes easier to say yes to
Itemise the scope, state what's included, set out your warranty and give a clear start window. Customers choose what they understand.
Build channels you don't pay per enquiry for
Referrals, repeat customers and a well-kept Google Business Profile take time to build, but cost little per job once they're working.
Most contractors underestimate the admin behind each lead. If you're spending evenings on calls and quotes that don't convert, that time is part of the price. The admin cost of winning work shows how to count it.
Another route
Work without paying per enquiry
Mortaro Group runs a contractor network with no upfront cost to the contractor. We generate the enquiries ourselves, appoint one contractor to each, and handle the qualification, site-visit booking, quotation, follow-up and payment administration. You price the job at trade rate; our fee is added on top in the customer's quotation, and you're paid your rate in full.
It doesn't replace every channel and it doesn't suit everybody. Work depends on your area, your trade and your track record, and we don't promise volume. How the fee-free model works is set out in no upfront lead fees, explained. For every other option, see how do I stop paying for leads?
Straight answers
Lead cost questions
Is a cheaper lead always better value?
No. A cheap lead that rarely converts can cost more per job than a pricier one you usually win. Compare cost per job won, not price per lead.
Why do leads cost more in some areas?
Price usually follows competition. Where more contractors want the same customers, each enquiry costs more. Costs vary by trade and area, so test small and measure what each job actually costs you. The published ranges are gathered in how much do construction leads cost?
Should I stop buying leads because they're expensive?
Not on price alone. Measure cost per job won first. If it sits well below your margin, an expensive-looking source may be one of your best. If it doesn't, read when should I stop using lead sites?
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.