The 7 Lead Generation Metrics Every Contractor Must Track
Most contractors track the wrong numbers. They obsess over cost per lead — a metric that tells you nothing about whether a lead source is profitable — while ignoring the numbers that actually determine whether a marketing channel works.
Here are the seven metrics that matter.
1. Cost per job won (not cost per lead)
The single most important metric in contractor marketing. It answers: for every dollar I spend on this lead source, how many dollars do I win in revenue?
Formula: Total spend ÷ Jobs won = Cost per job
Example: You spend $1,200 on a lead source in March. You win 4 jobs. Cost per job = $300.
Is $300 a good cost per job? It depends on your average job value. A roofing company averaging $8,000/job would find $300 excellent. A gutter cleaning company averaging $400/job would find it unsustainable.
Target: Cost per job should be 3–8% of average job value for most home service trades.
2. Close rate by lead source
Formula: Jobs won ÷ Leads received × 100 = Close rate %
Track this separately for each lead source. A 15% close rate from one source and a 4% close rate from another tells you which source sends higher-intent prospects.
Benchmarks by lead type: Exclusive pay-per-call: 20–40%. Shared marketplace leads: 3–8%. Appointment setting: 50–70%. Referrals: 60–80%.
3. Speed-to-lead
The time between a lead being delivered and your first contact attempt. This is the metric most contractors ignore, and it's one of the highest-leverage levers you have.
Research benchmark: Leads contacted within 5 minutes convert at 5x the rate of leads contacted at 10 minutes. See the full speed-to-lead guide.
Track this by logging call timestamps and comparing to lead delivery timestamps. If your average speed-to-lead is over 30 minutes, fix this before spending more on leads.
4. Cost per lead (secondary metric)
CPL matters — but only in context of your close rate. A $25 lead with a 3% close rate costs you $833 per job. A $90 lead with a 30% close rate costs you $300 per job. See the full CPL breakdown.
Use CPL for budgeting and channel comparison. Never use it as your primary quality metric.
5. Appointment set rate
Formula: Appointments scheduled ÷ Leads received × 100 = Appointment rate %
This metric reveals contact and qualification efficiency. If you receive 100 leads and set 30 appointments, your appointment rate is 30%.
Benchmark: 25–45% for self-managed follow-up. 65–80% with professional appointment setting.
6. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Total all marketing spend — not just lead generation — and divide by new customers won. This is your real cost to acquire a customer and the number to compare against LTV.
Formula: Total marketing spend ÷ New customers = CAC
7. Customer lifetime value (LTV)
Especially important for trades with repeat business: HVAC, pest control, lawn care, mosquito control. A one-time roofing job has LTV equal to the job value. A recurring pest control plan at $150/month has LTV of $1,800/year.
The LTV:CAC ratio tells you how profitable your marketing is over the customer relationship. Target: LTV:CAC of 3:1 or higher.
How to track these metrics
A spreadsheet works. Create columns for: lead source, leads received, appointments set, estimates run, jobs won, total revenue, total spend. Update weekly. Calculate the ratios above.
Most contractors who do this for the first time discover they've been over-investing in low-quality lead sources while under-investing in their best performers.