Owning a business in the home service industry is stressful. The constant pressure to keep your schedule full and crews busy increases the need for more leads and jobs booked, ASAP. It’s tempting when lead generation companies promise to fill your pipeline with a list of “qualified” leads at a reasonable price. After all, who doesn’t want a shortcut to finding new customers?
Why Do People Buy Leads?
Let’s be honest, buying leads sounds like the perfect answer when you’re trying to grow your home service business. Unfortunately, paying for pre-sourced leads is not all it’s cracked up to be. Here’s why many contractors and home service businesses fall into the lead-buying trap:
- It seems quick and easy: You pay money, get your leads, and start making calls
- It feels less complicated than marketing: No dealing with ads or managing your website
- It provides immediate contacts: No waiting for those marketing efforts to pay off
- It appears cost-effective: A fixed price per lead looks good on paper
- It promises “qualified” prospects: Companies claim that their leads are pre-screened
But here’s the truth—if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. While it looks like a great solution on the surface, buying lead lists can hurt your business more than it helps it.
Here’s seven reasons to not waste your hard-earned money on buying leads:
1. You’re competing against your neighbors
The lead list of “homeowners needing HVAC services” or “recent emergency plumbing requests” you just bought? That exact same list was most likely sold to many other local contractors in your area.
Now you’re in a bidding war with several other plumbers or HVAC companies all competing for the same exact jobs. One of you will end up cutting your prices just to win it.
2. These leads are usually ice cold
Unlike someone who finds you through Google or Yelp when they actually need service, purchased leads can be several months old when they land in your hands.
By the time you call that AC repair lead, they’ve either already fixed the problem, hired someone else, or are simply fed up with being bombarded by cold calls. The last thing you need is your team wasting time calling dead-end leads instead of serving actual customers and following up with real prospects.
3. Quality issues waste your resources
Leads that don’t meet the necessary criteria to be served by your business are unqualified leads. This can be due to a variety of reasons like bad phone numbers, wrong addresses, people who moved months ago, or leads wanting services you don’t even offer. When you’re running a busy home service company, calling dead-end leads eats up your valuable time and money.
4. The real cost adds up fast
Let’s do the math: If you’re paying $30-$50 per lead but only converting 5-10% of them (which is common with purchased leads), you’re spending anywhere from $300-$1,000 per new customer. When we look at cost per lead of home service businesses that own their own marketing strategies, we see that their cost goes down over time, not up.
5. You’re missing out on emergency service opportunities
While you’re working through a list of cold leads, homeowners in your service area are searching online for immediate help with their emergency needs. For contractors who handle emergency services, these are the valuable leads you want. They are people that need your services right now, not someone who might have been interested three months ago.
6. No control over types of jobs
Companies selling lead lists often send whatever leads they can get, regardless of whether or not they match your specialty. If you’re an HVAC company that focuses on installations, you’re likely not going to find much benefit in a purchased list of random small repairs that may not be profitable for your business.
7. No brand awareness benefit for your company
Every dollar spent on purchased lead lists is a dollar not invested in building up your own brand. While your competitors are building trust through Google LSA, Yelp reviews, and SEO-optimized websites, you’re spinning your wheels chasing cold contacts.
How to Get Leads Without Buying Lead Lists
Start building your own marketing system.
This sounds daunting at first, but seriously, it will pay off in the long run. Instead of buying questionable leads, invest in marketing channels you actually own and control:
- Create a professional website that shows up when people search for your services
- Optimize for local SEO so you appear in “near me” searches
- Maintain an active Google Business Profile (and start getting reviews)
- Establish a presence and positive reputation across home service directory websites (Yelp, Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, etc.)
- Run targeted ads that reach people actively looking for help
- Utilize social media to showcase your work and build trust
Focus on Quality Leads
It’s better to have five leads from homeowners actively seeking plumbing services than 50 random contacts from a bought list who might need plumbing work someday. When you own your marketing, you control the quality of leads coming to your business.
Track What Works
Unlike bought leads which keep you in the dark, using your own marketing and lead generation strategy lets you see exactly which channels bring in the best customers. This means you can invest more in what works and cut what doesn’t. This is how you build your very own marketing strategy. As time goes on, you will have even more insights and be landing even more leads.
Ready to Start Getting Leads that Convert?
Start building up your brand and marketing system! If you’re starting from scratch, take a deep breath. The hardest part is getting started.
VIIRL Marketing has helped countless home service businesses transition from buying cold leads to generating their own customers with intent. Our team specializes in creating customized marketing solutions that bring in real customers who want your services.
We know the home services industry inside and out and can help you build a marketing strategy that delivers genuine results without wasted time and money on bad leads. If you’re ready to set yourself up for lasting success, consider partnering with VIIRL to get you there.
