Detailing lead value calculator: what is a lead worth to your business?
Four numbers you already know: job value, margin, close rate, leads a month. You will see the value of every enquiry, the jobs and profit that follow, and the most you could sensibly pay per lead.
Your numbers
Rough figures are fine. Everything on the right updates as you drag.
Average revenue per completed job. A full detail might be $350–$500; a coating $1,000–$2,000.
Your gross profit percentage on the work — what's left after materials and labour.
The percentage of leads that become paying customers. Roughly 1 in 3.
Exclusive leads a month. The detailing accounts we run produce 30–90+ a month depending on budget and market.
The value of each lead sent, won or lost. At $450 a job, a 40% margin and a 30% close rate, every enquiry is worth about $54 in gross profit on average ($135 in revenue).
From 20 leads at a 30% close rate.
$86,400 a year, if it holds.
$34,560 a year, before marketing costs.
Pay less than this per lead and every enquiry adds profit, not just turnover.
How a month would look
Leads in, jobs won, revenue banked, profit kept — at your numbers.
What if those leads cost…
Cost per lead varies by market and service, so here are three scenarios rather than one promise. Across the detailing accounts we run it has averaged $10.81. Each shows what 20 leads a month would cost, and the profit left after paying for them.
Cost here means ad spend plus management. Where your market lands depends on competition, your radius and how fast enquiries get answered, which is what we work out on the call.
Estimates from the numbers you entered — not a forecast or a guarantee of leads, jobs or revenue.
Why lead value is the number that matters in detailing marketing
Most detailers judge marketing on cost: "$25 a lead sounds expensive." A lead is not a cost until you know what it is worth. If you win one enquiry in three, the average job is $450 and you keep 40% as gross profit, every lead, including the ones you lose, is worth about $54 in profit on average. A $12 lead against a $54 lead value is a very different conversation to a $12 lead against a $100 wash.
That is the number at the top of this page, and the one to carry into any conversation with any marketing company. Ask what they expect a lead to cost in your market and compare it with what a lead is worth to you. If the gap is wide, the marketing pays for itself many times over. If it is thin, the fix is usually to sell more coatings and correction, or to answer the phone faster, both of which move the number more than shaving a dollar off cost per lead.
The break-even figure is the ceiling: pay less than that per lead and the marketing pays for itself in profit, not turnover. Across the detailing accounts we run the blended cost is $10.81 per enquiry; the results page shows each account, and the revenue goal calculator turns a monthly target into the leads it takes.
Want these numbers checked against your market?
Tell us your city and services. We will check whether your territory is open and show what detailing leads have cost in comparable markets.
- Australia (03) 6315 9112
- USA & Canada (619) 436 1017
- One detailer per territory