Most contractors underestimate the value of a lead. This calculator shows you the real number — and how much you should be willing to spend to get one.
A $35,000 kitchen job from a client who later refers two more is worth $70,000+, not $35,000. The referral chain is invisible in most contractor math.
Paying $150 for a lead sounds expensive until you know that lead is worth $12,000 in revenue per inquiry at your close rate. The math changes everything.
Knowing your max cost per lead tells you exactly what you can spend on Google Ads, lead services, or SEO before a channel stops being profitable.
The industry benchmark is around 35–45% — meaning 3–4 out of every 10 inquiries should turn into booked estimates. Top-performing remodelers with strong follow-up processes and fast response times hit 50–60%. If you're below 30%, the issue is almost always follow-up speed or a friction point in the proposal process — not the quality of your work.
Track every inquiry for 30 days: the date it came in, how you first responded, whether you sent a proposal, and whether it booked. Divide booked jobs by total inquiries. Most contractors find their real close rate is lower than they thought — because they're not counting the leads that went quiet before a proposal was sent.
Because a client who refers one more job doubles their value to your business — without any additional marketing spend. If your average job is $40,000 and 1 in 4 clients refers another, the true value of each new client is $50,000, not $40,000. Referral rate is the silent multiplier that most lead value calculations ignore.
Use the "max you should pay per lead" figure as your ceiling for any paid channel. If your max CPL is $400, a lead service charging $200/lead is profitable; one charging $600/lead is not (at your current close rate). This number also tells you how much SEO or content marketing can cost before it stops making sense — divide your annual budget by your max CPL to see how many leads you need to break even.
Three levers: (1) Speed — respond to every inquiry within 30 minutes. Contractors who respond first win the job more often than those who respond best. (2) Proposal timing — send within 24 hours of the initial consultation. Waiting a week means the prospect has already signed with someone else. (3) Follow-up — most contractors follow up once; top closers follow up three or four times across different channels (call, text, email).