How Much Do Roofers Pay Per Lead? How to Work Out Yours

Roofing contractors buy leads from lead vendors, Google Local Services Ads and their own Facebook or Google campaigns, and each source prices a lead differently. The sticker price per lead is the least useful number in that list.

What roofers pay per lead depends on the pricing model (shared, exclusive, per appointment, Google Local Services Ads or your own ads) and your market. The number that decides profit is your cost per signed job, which follow-up speed changes more than the lead price does.

Below are the pricing models, the formulas to work out your own costs and a worked example showing how response time moves the numbers.

Why there is no honest single price per roofing lead

Any figure you read for "the average roofing lead" mixes different products. A shared lead sold to four contractors and an exclusive inspection booked on your calendar are both called leads, and they do not compare.

Price also moves with your service area, the season, storm activity and the job type (repair, full replacement, insurance claim or commercial). A number from another market tells you very little about yours.

So skip the national averages. Work out your own cost from your invoices and your CRM, using the formulas in the sections below.

The pricing models roofers buy leads under

Shared leads

A shared lead is a homeowner's request that the vendor sells to more than one contractor. You pay less per lead, and you compete with every other buyer for the same phone call.

With shared leads, whoever calls first usually gets the conversation. If your team calls back two hours later, the homeowner may already have an inspection booked with someone else.

Exclusive leads

An exclusive lead goes to you alone. It costs more per lead, and you get a fair shot at the homeowner without a race against other buyers.

Ask the vendor how the lead was generated (their own ads, a comparison site, a quote form) and whether the homeowner knows which company will contact them. A homeowner who expects your call answers more often than one who filled out a generic form.

Pay per lead

Most vendors charge per lead delivered, shared or exclusive. Read the return or credit policy before you sign: what counts as a bad lead (wrong number, outside your area, renter, duplicate) and how many days you have to dispute it.

Pay per appointment

Some vendors book the inspection for you and charge per appointment set. You pay more per unit, and the vendor carries the work of reaching the homeowner.

Get the definition in writing. Does an appointment count when it is booked, or only when the homeowner shows up? Do they confirm the homeowner owns the property? Is a canceled inspection credited?

Google Local Services Ads

Google Local Services Ads charge per lead, not per click. Google's help page says "You only pay when you get a lead," and offers three bid modes: Maximize leads, Target cost per lead and Max per lead (a manual ceiling on what you pay).

Google also runs automated lead credits. Its help page says leads judged invalid or low quality are not charged, charged leads are reassessed over time and credits usually post within 30 days. Calls and message requests both count as leads, so answering those calls fast is part of what you are paying for.

Your own ads

When you run your own Facebook or Google campaigns, you set the budget and own the leads outright. Your cost per lead is simple:

Cost per lead = ad spend ÷ leads

Leads from your own ads are exclusive by default. The tradeoff is that you (or your agency) handle the targeting, creative and lead form. If you want this done for you, see our Facebook ads for roofers.

Comparison table

The math that matters: cost per inspection and cost per signed job

Cost per lead tells you what the top of the funnel costs. Two more numbers tell you whether the money came back.

Cost per inspection = total lead spend ÷ inspections completed

Cost per signed job = total lead spend ÷ signed contracts

Pull these from your CRM for the last 90 days, by lead source. Count completed inspections, not booked ones, because a no-show costs you a truck roll and an empty slot.

Then compare cost per signed job to your gross profit per job. A cheap lead source with a terrible close rate can cost more per signed job than an expensive one. We cover the appointment side of this math in our post on cost per booked appointment.

A hypothetical: same leads, different follow-up speed

The numbers below are made up to show the math. They are not benchmarks or predictions for your business.

Say you spend $3,000 a month on your own Facebook ads and get 60 leads. Your cost per lead is $50. Every month, 25% of completed inspections turn into signed jobs.

Slow follow-up. Your office calls leads back the next business day. You complete 18 inspections (30% of leads).

• Cost per inspection: $3,000 ÷ 18 = about $167
• Signed jobs: 18 × 25% = 4.5
• Cost per signed job: $3,000 ÷ 4.5 = about $667

Fast follow-up. Every lead gets a text and a call within a minute, at any hour. You complete 27 inspections (45% of leads).

• Cost per inspection: $3,000 ÷ 27 = about $111
• Signed jobs: 27 × 25% = 6.75
• Cost per signed job: $3,000 ÷ 6.75 = about $444

The lead price did not change. The ad spend did not change. The only variable in this example is how many leads turned into inspections, and that is the number follow-up speed works on.

How much speed moves your inspection rate is something you measure, not something to assume. Track it for 60 days before and after a change.

How to lower your real cost per lead

Answer every lead in under a minute

The 2011 Harvard Business Review article "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" found that firms contacting web leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited even an hour longer. With shared leads, that gap is also a race.

An AI agent can text and call an opted-in lead within seconds, ask what damage they are seeing and book the inspection. On StrideOps, agents respond in under 2 seconds. Calls and texts only go to homeowners who requested contact, and your form should carry consent language for calls and texts.

Follow up for more than one day

Many homeowners do not answer the first call. A written cadence over several days catches the ones who were on a job site or at work. After a storm, the timing gets tighter, which we cover in roofing storm lead follow-up.

Confirm and remind before every inspection

Send a confirmation at booking and a reminder the day before. Each no-show raises your cost per inspection without adding a single lead.

Track cost per signed job by source

Tag every lead with its source in your CRM. After 90 days, rank sources by cost per signed job, not cost per lead, and move budget toward the winners.

Ask for credits on bad leads

Keep a log of wrong numbers, renters, out-of-area leads and duplicates. Dispute them under the vendor's policy, and check your Local Services Ads account for automated credits.

FAQ

How much do roofers pay per lead?

It depends on the model (shared, exclusive, per appointment, Local Services Ads or your own ads) and your market. Work out your own number by dividing what you spent on a source by the leads it produced.

Are exclusive roofing leads worth the higher price?

Compare cost per signed job, not cost per lead. Exclusive leads often cost more up front, and they remove the race against other contractors, so test both for 90 days and let the signed jobs decide.

Do Google Local Services Ads charge per click?

No. Google's help pages say you pay per lead (a call or message from a potential customer), and leads judged invalid or low quality are not charged or can be credited later.

How can a roofer lower cost per lead?

Improve the ad and form to get more leads per dollar, then lower your real cost by contacting every lead within a minute, following up for several days and reminding homeowners before inspections.

Turn more roofing leads into inspections

We run roofing lead generation and AI appointment setters that answer every lead in seconds and book inspections onto your calendar. Book a Stride Scaling Call.