The phrase pay per leads hides the most important question in these contracts, which is what counts as a lead. A form submission, a connected phone call, a booked appointment and a qualified enquiry are four different units and they are all billed under the same phrase at wildly different rates.
Four units, four prices
A form submission is the cheapest and the noisiest. A connected call filters out everybody who never answers and costs more for that reason. A booked appointment costs more again because somebody has committed to a time. A qualified enquiry, where budget or scope has been checked, is the dearest and the rarest. Published tiers in this record price form-style leads between $80 and $225 depending on trade and exclusivity; nothing published prices calls or appointments.
Why the unit beats the rate
A $60 form lead where one in five answers costs $300 per conversation. A $150 connected call costs $150 per conversation by definition. The unit changes the effective price by more than any rate negotiation, and it is the first thing to establish when comparing two quotes that both describe themselves as pay per lead.
Getting the definition in writing
Ask for the billable event, the minimum duration if it is a call, the service-area test, and whether a repeat customer contacting your tracked number is billable. None of the sources in this record publishes any of these, so they are negotiated rather than compared, and getting them wrong is how a contract bills you for wrong numbers at emergency rates.
Questions people ask about pay per lead services
What are pay per lead services charging for?
One of four units: a form submission, a connected call, a booked appointment or a qualified enquiry. They differ in price by multiples and are all described as pay per lead.
Which unit is best value?
Whichever gives the lowest cost per conversation, which depends on your contact rate. A cheap form lead you cannot reach is dearer than an expensive call you can.
What should be defined in the contract?
The billable event, the minimum call duration, the service-area test and whether repeat customers count. None of these is published anywhere in this record.
Are published prices for forms or calls?
Every published tier in this record prices form-style leads. Nothing published prices calls or appointments, so those are negotiated without a benchmark.