What Counts as a Lead? (Hint: Not the Robocall)

Most agencies count every ring as a 'lead.' Here's how to count leads the way you count jobs, and what a real lead should cost in your industry.

Open the monthly report from most marketing agencies and you'll see a big proud number: 147 leads! Ask what's in it, and things get quiet. Robocalls. Solar telemarketers. A supplier calling about an invoice. Someone looking for a company two states away with a similar name.

You'd never count a job that way. A homeowner waving at your truck isn't a job. A signed contract is a job. Leads deserve the same honesty.

Our rule is simple: a lead counts only when it's a first-time contact, from a real person with a relevant problem, inside your service area, for work you actually do. Run last month's report through that filter and the honest number is usually 40 to 70% of the raw one. That stings once, and then it changes everything, because now you can steer: you can compare channels honestly, budget against reality, and know what a booked job actually costs you.

That's why we report qualified leads only. Not because the smaller number is fun to present, but because it's the only number you can build a growth plan on.

We've written up the whole methodology (the four-part checklist, the channel-by-channel math, what a real lead should cost in your industry, and the questions to ask your agency this week) as the full guide in our Learning Center.