Tired of paying for shared leads? How to get calls that are only yours

Shared leads cost more than their price tag because you compete with other contractors for every one of them and pay whether you win the job or not. Exclusive calls come from people who found you directly: on Google, in the map pack, in AI answers, or through a referral. Building that takes a few months, so keep the platforms while it grows and cut back as direct calls rise.

Why shared leads get expensive

Lead platforms such as Angi, HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack can send the same homeowner to several contractors, depending on the platform and plan. Each of you pays for the lead; one of you gets the job. So the real cost of a job is the lead price divided by how often you win, plus the time spent calling back people who already booked someone else.

Work it out for your own business with last quarter's numbers:

1. Add up what you spent on lead platforms.
2. Count the jobs you won from those leads.
3. Divide the first number by the second. That's your real cost per job.

If that number is comfortable, the platforms are doing their job. If it isn't, read on.

Where exclusive calls come from

A homeowner who searches "water heater replacement Broken Arrow", taps your listing in the map pack and calls you is not shopping your quote to three others yet. The same is true when ChatGPT or Google's AI answer names your company, or a neighbor passes on your number. Those are the channels to build:

• Google Business Profile and the map pack. Usually the first thing a local searcher sees. Start with our 12-point checklist.
• Service pages on your own site for each job and the towns you want, so you rank for the searches that pay. See service pages that rank.
• AI search. ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews name a few businesses per answer. See how to get recommended by ChatGPT.
• Reviews and referrals, which feed all of the above.

A realistic switch-over plan

Dropping every platform tomorrow is how contractors end up with an empty schedule. Shift gradually instead:

1. Months 1 to 2: fix your Google Business Profile, add service pages for your three most profitable jobs, make sure AI crawlers can read your site, and start asking every customer for a review.
2. Months 3 to 4: add pages for your main towns, publish price ranges and answers to the questions customers ask, and match your details on Bing Places, Apple, Yelp and the BBB.
3. Months 5 to 6: compare direct calls with platform leads. Reduce spend on the platform with the worst real cost per job first.

Track where every call comes from. A simple "how did you find us?" on the phone, written in a spreadsheet, is enough.

What it costs to do it yourself versus with help

Most of the work above costs time but little money: a Google profile, Bing Places and review requests are free. Writing pages and fixing technical problems is where contractors usually want help. Agencies typically charge $1,000 to $5,000 a month for SEO; Realo's prices start at $600 a month after a free audit.

Common questions