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Cost Per Lead vs Cost Per Booked Job

Alright. Last course I told you a cheap lead that never books is the most expensive lead there is. Today I prove it. Because here's how good contractors quietly go broke — they chase the cheapest leads they can find, never run the math, and wonder why the busier they get, the less money's left at the end of the month. The fix is two numbers. Just two. Learn these and nobody talks you into a bad deal again.

Number One: Cost Per Lead

Number one. Cost per lead. CPL. Dead simple — it's what you pay to get one person to raise their hand and say, hey, I might hire you. You spend a thousand bucks on ads and twenty people call? That's fifty bucks a lead. Total spend, divided by leads. That's the whole formula. Most guys stop right here, see a low number, and feel like a genius. Don't.

Number Two: Cost Per Booked Job

Because number two is the one that actually matters. Cost per booked job. CPBJ. Not what you paid for a phone call — what you paid for a job that actually pays you. A lead is a maybe. A booked job is money in the bank. And the gap between those two numbers is exactly where your profit lives or dies.

The One-Line Formula

If you only remember one thing, remember this: your cost per booked job is your cost per lead divided by your close rate. A fifty-dollar lead you close one time in five is a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar booked job — fifty divided by twenty percent. That's it. That one line turns any lead price a salesperson quotes you into the real number that hits your bank account, before you ever sign up.

The Worked Example

Let's run it. You spend a thousand dollars. You get twenty leads. Fifty bucks a lead — looking good. But only four of them book. So that same thousand dollars bought you four jobs. That's two hundred and fifty dollars a job. Your cost per lead said fifty. Your real cost — the one that actually hits your bank account — is two hundred and fifty. Five times higher. That's the number nobody puts on the invoice.

The Close-Rate Trap

Now watch what happens when your close rate slips. Same thousand dollars. Same fifty-dollar leads. But this time only two book instead of four. Your cost per lead didn't move an inch — still fifty. But your cost per booked job just doubled, to five hundred. Same ads, same spend, half the money. The leak was never the lead price. It was what happened after the phone rang.

CPL vs CPBJ at a Glance

Same fifty-dollar lead, two very different stories. The left column is what the salesperson shows you. The right column is what your bank account sees. Judge every source by the right column.

Why Cheap Leads Lie

This is why cheap leads are a trap. A shared lead off some app for fifteen bucks sounds like a steal — until you find out four other guys got the same lead, half of them never answer, and maybe one in twenty turns into a job. Do the math, and that fifteen-dollar lead cost you three hundred a job. Meanwhile the expensive, exclusive lead that books a third of the time is the cheapest one you've got. Cheap is expensive. Judge every source by the booked job, never the lead. The math on shared vs. exclusive leads is laid out in full in shared leads vs. direct-call conversion math.

So What's a Good Cost Per Booked Job?

There's no single magic number, because a $300 drain clear and a $30,000 roof can't share a benchmark. The honest rule is a percentage: if getting the job cost you less than 8 to 12 percent of what the job's worth, you're in good shape — and under 5 percent is excellent. In raw dollars, contractor cost-per-booked-job usually lands somewhere between fifty and three-hundred-fifty-plus, depending on your trade and how well you close. The only wrong answer is not knowing your number at all. For real per-trade figures, see the roofing marketing numbers breakdown, and remember that answering fast is the cheapest way to push CPBJ down — that's speed to lead.

Do This Now

Here's your homework, and it's the most valuable five minutes you'll spend this month. Pull up last month. What did you spend to get work — ads, lead apps, all of it. Now count the jobs that actually came from it. Divide one by the other. That's your real cost per booked job. Most owners have never done this once in their entire lives. Do it one time, and you will never look at a marketing bill the same way again.

Close / Bridge To Course 3

That's the whole lesson. Two numbers. Cost per lead is the bait. Cost per booked job is the meal. One tells you a story, the other tells you the truth — and now you know which is which. Next up: where customers actually find you — the five doors, and which ones are worth a dime of your money. And if you want the real benchmark numbers for your exact trade, that's in Real Trade Numbers. I'll see you there.

Watch this lesson (free)

This article is the companion to Lesson 2 of the free Marketing 101 course for contractors — 10 short, plain-English videos. Watch the whole series free on YouTube →

Frequently asked questions

What is the formula for cost per booked job?

Cost per booked job (CPBJ) = total marketing spend ÷ jobs booked. The shortcut version is CPBJ = cost per lead ÷ close rate. Example: a $50 lead at a 20% close rate is a $250 cost per booked job.

What is a good cost per booked job for contractors?

A healthy marketing cost runs under 8–12% of the job's value, and under 5% is excellent. In dollars, contractor CPBJ commonly lands between about $50 and $350+ depending on trade and close rate. The real test: the job still profits after you subtract what it cost to get it.

How much higher is cost per booked job than cost per lead?

Usually 3–5× your cost per lead, because not every lead books. The lower your close rate, the bigger the gap — a slipping close rate can double your CPBJ while your CPL never moves an inch.

Why is cost per lead misleading?

Because a low CPL means nothing if those leads don't book. Two sources at $50 per lead can have wildly different costs per booked job once you factor in close rate. A $15 shared lead that books 1-in-20 is more expensive than a $50 exclusive lead that books 1-in-3.

How do I calculate my cost per booked job?

Take last month's total marketing spend and divide by the number of jobs that actually came from it. Most owners have never done this once. Do it monthly, per source, and judge every lead source by that number — never by the lead price.