Short answer: a shared lead is sold to more than one business, and an exclusive lead is sold to one. The word on the invoice does not settle which you are buying. The provider's written terms do: how many businesses can receive the same contact, for how long, and what happens when a lead is resold, disputed or never answered. Get those terms in writing before you spend anything.
This article explains what the two labels usually mean, why the difference changes your costs, and what to ask a provider so that you know what is actually being sold. It does not name or rate any company. For a side-by-side view, see our page on shared vs exclusive contractor leads.
What "shared" and "exclusive" usually mean
A shared lead is one contact, such as a phone call or a form submission, that the provider delivers to several businesses. Often the businesses compete to respond first. An exclusive lead is delivered to one business only. In practice the words are used loosely, and some providers use "exclusive" to mean "exclusive for a short window" or "exclusive within one product tier." That is why the wording of the terms matters more than the marketing label.
It also helps to separate two things that get mixed together: the type of contact and the number of buyers. A phone call and a web form can each be shared or exclusive. A phone call tends to be a stronger signal because the person chose to talk to someone right now, but a call can still be sold to more than one business if the provider rings several numbers or forwards the caller list.
Why the difference changes your costs
When a lead goes to several businesses, each of them has to follow up quickly, and not every one will win the job. The person on the other end may receive several calls within a few minutes and may stop answering. When a lead goes to one business, there is no race, but the price per lead is usually higher because the provider sells it only once.
So the price on a rate card is not the number to compare. The number that matters is what you pay for each job you actually complete. That depends on how many leads you must buy, how many you reach, how many become quotes and how many of those you win. Two providers with very different rate cards can end up close together on that final figure, and which one comes out lower depends on your market and how fast your team responds.
Where the leads come from
Leads come from a few common sources, and the source tells you something about how many businesses may receive them.
- Lead marketplaces collect requests from homeowners and pass them to businesses that have signed up. How many businesses receive each request is set by the marketplace's own terms, so read them rather than assuming.
- Local websites built for a city and a service can send calls to one business that holds the territory. The number of buyers depends on how the owner of the website chooses to sell the calls.
- Your own advertising produces leads that are yours alone, but you carry the whole cost of the ads and the management, whether or not anyone calls.
None of these is automatically better. Each one trades cost, control and effort differently.
Questions that show what you are buying
These questions work with any provider. Ask them in writing and keep the answers.
- How many businesses can receive the same lead, and does the answer change by city or product?
- Is exclusivity permanent, or does it expire after a number of days or hours?
- Is the territory defined by ZIP codes, a radius or a city, and can a competitor in the next ZIP code receive leads from the same source?
- What counts as a billable lead? Is a missed call, a wrong number or a caller outside your area billable?
- Do you get a credit or a refund for leads that are invalid, and how long do you have to report them?
- Do you hear or see the lead before you are charged, or only afterward?
- Is there a contract length, a minimum spend or a cancellation fee?
A provider that answers these plainly is easier to plan around than one that answers with a slogan. If an answer is vague, ask for the sentence in the terms that supports it.
A way to compare cost per job, with example numbers
The following figures are examples only, chosen to show the arithmetic. They are not market prices and not a forecast for your business.
Suppose a shared lead costs 40 dollars and you complete one job for every ten leads you buy. Your cost per completed job is 400 dollars. Now suppose an exclusive lead costs 110 dollars and you complete one job for every four. Your cost per completed job is 440 dollars. In this example the cheaper lead is slightly cheaper per job, but the gap is small, and a change in your close rate would reverse it. If you completed one job in five of the shared leads, the shared figure would drop to 200 dollars, and if you completed only one in fifteen, it would rise to 600 dollars.
The point is not which side wins. The point is that you cannot know without your own numbers. Track how many leads you buy, how many you reach, how many become quotes and how many jobs you complete, and do this for a few weeks before committing more budget.
When shared leads can still make sense
Shared leads can fit a business that has staff waiting to answer within minutes, a low cost to quote, and enough capacity to take on jobs that arrive in bunches. They can also work as a way to learn what a market looks like before you commit to a territory. Exclusive leads tend to fit a business that has limited office staff, a higher cost to quote, or a high job value where one lost call matters. Neither choice is wrong in itself. The mistake is to pay for one and assume you received the other.
What to do before you pay
Read the full terms, not the summary page. Ask for a plain definition of a billable lead. Ask what exclusive means in the contract, in days and in geography. Start with a small amount, log every lead by source, and compare cost per completed job after a few weeks. If the provider cannot give you the terms in writing, that is information too.
At Local Lead Generators, each territory is served to one business, and a qualified call is defined in plain terms before you start. Call volume depends on the city, the season, the industry and how long the lead asset has been live, and no result is guaranteed.
If you would like to talk it through, chat on WhatsApp at +1 (929) 450-3261 and tell us your industry, your city and your service area.