Jerome Rappel"Why pay more for an exclusive lead when I can buy three shared ones for the same money?" It's the most common question we hear from UK trades - and the answer comes down to one thing: how many jobs you actually win.
What's the difference?
A shared lead is sold to several companies at the same time. The homeowner submits one enquiry and three or four firms all receive it, then race to call first. An exclusive lead is sold to a single firm - you - so the provider delivers that enquiry to your business only. The prospect can still request quotes elsewhere independently.
Why exclusivity changes the maths
A shared enquiry can produce calls from several suppliers. Exclusivity prevents the lead provider reselling the same enquiry to another buyer. It does not establish a particular close rate, and the homeowner may independently request other quotes.
Compare each source using your own cost per booked job, sales time and job margin. No fixed performance advantage is assumed in this guide.
A quick worked example
For an illustrative £900 monthly budget, assume these prices and close rates. These are hypothetical inputs, not measured results:
- Shared: 60 leads at £15, closing at 5% = 3 jobs. Cost per job: £300.
- Exclusive: 20 leads at £45, closing at 20% = 4 jobs. Cost per job: £225.
The second scenario has a lower cost per job under these assumptions. Different observed close rates could reverse the result; use your own data.
When shared leads make sense
Shared leads aren't useless. If you have a sales team with capacity and a brilliant speed-to-lead process, cheap shared volume can top up your pipeline. The key is to track close rate and cost per job separately from your exclusive leads, so you can see what each is really worth.
Our take
Leads Bank supplies 100% exclusive enquiries: one lead, one buyer. Start with an agreed volume, measure contacted leads, quotes and bookings, and decide whether the results work for your business.