Every contractor eventually gets the pitch: pay us, and we’ll send you customers. Sometimes it works well. Sometimes it’s an expensive way to race three competitors to the same phone number. The difference is understanding what you’re actually buying.
Three kinds of leads
| Shared lead | Exclusive lead | Owned lead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | A marketplace sends the request to several pros | A service sends the request only to you | The homeowner finds you directly |
| What it costs | A fee per lead, whether or not you win it | A higher fee per lead | The cost of your website and reviews |
| Who wins | Usually the fastest response or lowest price | You, if you answer | You, because they chose you |
How the marketplaces work
Angi (formerly Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor) charges pros for leads matched to their services and area, and a request can go to more than one pro. Thumbtack charges for leads too, with prices that vary by job type and location, and lets customers compare pros side by side. Both change their pricing and rules often, so check your own dashboard and contract rather than anyone’s average.
When marketplaces make sense
- You’re new and need jobs while your reviews build up.
- You have a slow season to fill.
- You answer fast, every time. Shared leads reward whoever calls first.
- You track every dollar spent against jobs won.
When they don’t
- You’re paying for leads that turn out to be price shoppers.
- Your margins can’t absorb paying for leads you lose.
- You’re building their brand instead of yours. Customers remember “I found someone on Angi,” not your name.
Your own website, the slower asset
A homeowner who finds you directly isn’t comparing you with three others on the same screen. They read your prices, see your trucks, and call. Nobody else paid for that lead. The trade-off is time: a new site and profile take months to build up search traffic and reviews. Every review you collect and every page you add keeps working.
How do you measure whether a lead marketplace is worth it?
Track three numbers for each source, every month: what you spent, how many jobs you booked, and the revenue from those jobs. Divide spend by booked jobs to get your cost per job, and compare it with your average job value and margin. Most field service software can record a lead source on each job; use it consistently or the numbers won’t mean anything.
| Source | Track |
|---|---|
| Lead marketplaces | Spend, leads, booked jobs, revenue |
| Google Local Services Ads | Spend, leads, booked jobs, revenue |
| Website and Google profile | Calls, forms, booked jobs, revenue |
| Referrals and repeat customers | Booked jobs, revenue |
How do you win more shared leads?
- Respond within minutes. Speed decides most shared leads.
- Have a short, friendly first message ready, with your name and a next step.
- Send people to your website so they see your prices, photos and license.
- Ask every customer for a Google review, so future customers find you directly.
When should you cut back on marketplaces?
When your own website and Google profile bring in enough calls to keep your schedule full at a lower cost per job. That shift takes time, which is why it helps to start building your own presence while the marketplaces are still filling gaps.