Shared, exclusive or your own: what basement waterproofing leads really cost
The price per lead is the smallest part of what a lead costs you. Here’s how to compare shared leads, exclusive leads and leads you generate yourself, using the number that matters: cost per sold job.
“Basement waterproofing leads” gets about 1,000 searches a month in the US (Semrush, October 2026). Most of the companies ranking for it sell leads. So if you searched it, you were probably shopping for a vendor. Before you sign one, here’s what the options really cost.
Shared leads
A homeowner fills in a form on a lead site. The site sells that request to more than one contractor, often several. You’re racing two or three other companies to the phone, and the homeowner is comparing quotes before you’ve seen the basement.
Good for: filling an empty calendar fast, testing a new market.
Watch for: low close rates, price shopping, and the same homeowner telling you “I already have three quotes.”
Exclusive leads
You’re the only contractor who gets the lead, at least in theory. You pay more per lead, and close rates are usually better because you’re not racing anyone.
Good for: contractors who answer fast and close well in the home.
Watch for: how the vendor defines “exclusive,” what counts as a bad lead, and whether you can get credits back for them.
Your own leads
A homeowner searches “basement waterproofing near me” (about 27,100 searches a month in the US) or “crawl space encapsulation near me” (about 40,500), finds your profile or your page, and calls your number. Nobody else gets the lead, and there’s no per-lead price.
Good for: the long run. What you build keeps working.
Watch for: it takes time to build, and you need tracking to prove it’s working.
The only comparison that matters
Price per lead is misleading. Compare cost per sold job. Here’s how to work it out for each source:
| Step | What to calculate |
|---|---|
| 1 | Total spent on the source this month (leads, credits, subscription) |
| 2 | Number of jobs sold from that source |
| 3 | Step 1 ÷ Step 2 = cost per sold job |
To use made-up numbers: if shared leads cost you $2,000 a month and you sell four jobs, that’s $500 a job. If exclusive leads cost $3,000 and you sell eight, that’s $375 a job, even though each lead costs more.
Your own channel gets the same treatment. Monthly SEO cost divided by jobs sold from search calls. You’ll only know that number if search calls have their own tracking number.
A sensible mix
Most waterproofing companies that grow out of lead dependence don’t do it in one move. They keep buying the leads that close best, cut the ones that don’t, and build their own channel alongside. Once calls from search are steady, the lead budget shrinks on its own.
What “your own” takes
- A Google Business Profile with every service listed and real job photos
- A page for each fix: drain tile, sump pumps, wall cracks, bowing walls, encapsulation, dehumidifiers
- A page for each town you want more work in, written about that town
- Reviews that mention the work and the town
- Tracking numbers, so you can do the math above
We build the channel you own, and track it next to the leads you buy, for one waterproofing company per city.
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