Getting high-quality leads is the lifeblood of any successful landscaping and lawn care business. However, navigating the often-opaque world of lead pricing can be a daunting task for both established and aspiring entrepreneurs alike.
Service Direct has been providing landscaping and lawn care businesses of all sizes across the country with high-quality leads for more than 15 years. We aim to help companies like yours reach their goals without breaking the bank.
It’s important to us that our landscaping and lawn care partners understand what to expect when signing up with Service Direct. This blog post will help you unravel the complexities of lead pricing by covering the types of leads Service Direct offers, the factors that come into play, as well as how and why we enable our clients to set and adjust their cost per lead.
There are two primary types of landscaping and lawn care leads to be aware of – pay-per-call phone leads and digital form leads. Each has unique pros and cons and can be an effective option for bringing in new lawn care customers.
The primary form of leads offered on Service Direct’s platform is pay per call, or “PPCall,” phone leads. Targeted ad campaigns that feature a designated phone number instead of a “click here” call to action, prompt potential customers to call in to inquire about landscaping or lawn care services. Service Direct bids on these calls on behalf of our clients. Upon winning the lead, the call is instantly routed to the business’s phone.
Service Direct’s pay per call leads are always exclusive, meaning you won’t compete with other landscaping businesses for calls you’ve purchased. Inbound calls come from potential customers within your service area based on the zip codes you select, and within the cost per lead (CPL) you set (more on that in a bit!).
One of the biggest benefits of PPCall leads is that they provide an instant, live connection with high-intent potential customers. Someone who actively places a call to inquire about lawn care or landscaping services is most likely very close to being ready to make a purchase. With the immediate live connection, PPCall leads tend to be easier to convert into booked appointments. This also means they’re typically a bit more expensive than other lead options.
Form Leads
Another useful lead type to understand is Form Leads. These are generated when potential clients enter information about themselves and their landscaping or lawn care needs into a form on a related website.
Many businesses like form leads for the rich information they provide from the very beginning. However, unlike pay per call phone leads, form leads leave it up to the company to initiate an actual conversation. That’s why form leads tend to be slightly cheaper and have lower conversion potential.
While lacking the direct and immediate connection offered by phone leads, digital form leads provide a way to fill your sales funnel with potential customers who may not be ready to call or who prefer to communicate online.
However, the delay between submission and follow-up may lead to a lower conversion rate than phone leads.
Service Direct now offers form leads for a limited number of verticals. These industries were selected based on careful research, but we are constantly working to expand this offering into more verticals and geolocations.
How much do Service Direct’s leads cost for landscaping or lawn care businesses? It’s up to you! We enable our clients to set their cost per lead (CPL) because the value of a lead depends on their ability to turn that lead into a paid job.
Here’s an example: 10 leads are delivered to Company A, which is only able to get 3 booked appointments from them. Those leads aren’t that valuable. But if those same exact leads are instead purchased by Company B, who manages to turn them into 7 booked jobs, suddenly they’re almost twice as valuable.
By giving you the ability to set your own CPL, we’re inviting you to ask yourself, “How much value do I believe I will be able to get out of incoming leads?”
Of course, you also need to consider your competition when setting your CPL. If they think they can get more value out of our leads, they’ll set a high CPL and outbid you. That’s why, tempting as it may be, it’s not a good idea to set your CPL at the bare minimum. You’d lose every lead to a competitor who values them more highly.
Understanding how to set a competitive CPL will help you achieve success on our platform, and our experts will work with you to determine the right one for your business. Plus, you can also change your CPL at any time.
Adjusting your CPL not only helps you control your lead generation spend, but it’s also a great way to manage your lead volume. The higher your CPL, the more leads you’ll get. Need more leads? Increase your CPL. Overbooked and need to slow things down? Lower your CPL.
The average CPL of billable landscaping and lawn services leads in the United States during the first nine months of 2023 was about $41. However, the CPL varies considerably from state to state.
For example, in Pennsylvania, the average CPL during the same time period was just $15. So landscaping businesses in Pennsylvania don’t need to spend as much as they might in other parts of the country in order to grow. In California, on the other hand, the average CPL during that time was nearly $40.
What does this mean? Simply put, location plays a major role in what qualifies as a competitive CPL in the market for landscaping and lawn care leads. A landscaper bidding $30 per lead in Pennsylvania is going to get more leads than one setting the same CPL in California.
The average cost per lead, along with average lead volume for your service area gives you a clear picture of how well Service Direct might work for your landscaping and lawn service business.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the current average CPL in your business’s service area, your best bet is to schedule a call with one of our account executives!