Exclusive means a homeowner’s inquiry is routed to one contractor—no parallel selling, no speed‑dial war. You control how fast you answer, how you qualify, and how you price. Shared means the same contact is sold to multiple providers. In practice, that creates simultaneous dials, voicemail collisions, and a race to the bottom on price.
Most comparisons stop at the sticker price per lead. That’s misleading. The metric that drives profit is Cost per Booked Job (CPBJ). A $120 shared lead can look “cheap” until you account for collision losses and time wasted dialing. An exclusive, live call at $220 can be a bargain if your booked‑job rate is double and your team stops chasing ghosts.
| Model | Lead Price | Booked‑Job Rate | CPBJ (illustrative) | Hidden Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exclusive, Live Inbound Calls | $180–$300 | 30–55% | $360–$1,000 | Fewer; one dial per opportunity; cleaner QA |
| Shared Leads | $60–$150 | 8–20% | $300–$1,875 | Collision waste, price compression, staff time on dead ends |
Example: If a $220 exclusive call books 1 in 3, your CPBJ is ~$660. If a $90 shared lead books 1 in 10 after 5 calls and discounting, CPBJ balloons to $900+—and that ignores the labor cost of chasing.
Exclusivity alone isn’t magic. The lift comes from a full system: live inbound routing (no inbox lag), geo/service filters to match your sweet‑spot jobs, and a quality policy that removes invalids before invoice. That keeps your team focused on real opportunities and protects spend on the back end.
Targets: Under 20 seconds to first ring; under 60 seconds to human. Use a rolling on‑call rotation after hours. Track answer times by queue and publish the metric internally—what gets measured improves.
First‑Minute Script (example):
“Hi, this is {{Company}}—you’ve reached our emergency line. Are you safe? Great. Tell me where the water is coming from. We have a certified tech {{Nearest City}} who can leave in {{Time Window}}. Can I text you a link with their name and ETA?”
Why it works: You acknowledge the emergency, establish control, and move the caller toward a confirmed dispatch while your dispatcher verifies coverage and crew availability.
A transparent quality policy is what separates a predictable program from a gamble. Invalid should be defined in writing (wrong service, out‑of‑area, duplicate within a window, spam/solicitation). A clean process—recordings + routing data, a clear submission window, and a documented review timeline—means you never front the cost for junk.
Bottom line: You pay for opportunities, not mistakes. If the call wasn’t a real restoration opportunity by the provider’s criteria, it never hits your bill.
| Metric | Target/Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Answer time (median) | < 60 seconds. If rising, expand rotation or staffing. |
| Booked‑job rate | 30–55% on exclusive calls depending on market and crew capacity. |
| Refund/credit rate | Low and stable = healthy targeting; spikes signal filter or routing issues. |
| CPBJ | Trend down or flat as volume rises. If rising, re‑check scripts and coverage. |
Storm events can create more demand than your exclusive channel produces. If—and only if—you have overflow crews and dialer capacity, you can skim select shared marketplaces. Put a ceiling on price concessions, time‑box your effort, and track CPBJ aggressively. Exit as soon as exclusive volume resumes.
P.S. We built our systems around one promise: We’ll Make Your Phone Ring!
Real Time Lead Gen • 150 E 10th St, Bloomsburg, PA 17815 • (570) 634‑5885 • justin@realtimeleadgen.com