How a shared lead works
On most shared-lead sites, one homeowner fills in one form and the site sends it to several local companies. Each company pays for the same lead.
The site earns more each time the lead is sold again. You earn only if you're the one who wins the job.
That isn't a scam. It's a business model that works better for the site than for you.
Four ways it hurts you
Each of these gets worse as more companies share the same lead.
- A speed race. The first company to call often wins, so you drop what you're doing every time your phone buzzes.
- A price race. The homeowner gets several quotes at once, so the lowest number tends to win, not the best work.
- You pay to lose. You're charged whether you win the job or not, so much of what you spend buys jobs for someone else.
- Leads that were never a fit. Wrong area, wrong service, a tiny job, or someone just browsing. You still pay.
Do the math on one shared lead
These are example numbers, not industry figures. Say a lead costs $40 and goes to four companies, and you win one in eight of those leads. You spend $320 in lead fees for each job you book.
Now say your first job is worth $250. You're behind on the first visit and need the customer to come back before you make anything.
For a sourced comparison: WordStream/LocaliQ's 2025 home-services search ads report, as written up by a third party, puts the average cost per lead for cleaning companies on Google search ads at about $47. That's one lead, and it still isn't a booked job.
What to look for instead
Whoever you buy from, ask for these in writing before you pay.
- Exclusive. The lead goes to you and nobody else.
- A reason why now. A home just sold, a permit was filed, a storm hit. A reason tells you what to say.
- A source you can check. Where the lead came from, and when.
- A fit check. Your area, your service, not already your customer, not on your do-not-contact list.
- Clear rules for bad leads. What happens when a lead is plainly wrong, and how fast.
- Your own numbers. A way to mark leads booked, won or lost, so you can see your cost per booked job.
An honest note about our leads
ReadyKnock leads are exclusive: each one goes to one client and is never resold. Each comes with its source and a plain-English reason it's ready now.
But they're earlier signals, like a home that just sold, not a person already asking for a quote. Fewer of them will book than a hot quote request, and homeowners are reached by mail and ads, never cold calls or texts.
So judge us on cost per booked job, not cost per lead. Track it for a month and compare.