What a countertop lead actually costs
Everyone quotes a cost per lead and nobody shows their arithmetic. Here is ours, including the sample size, the parts that flatter us and the parts that don't.
Our real cost is about $30 per lead: 48 leads in 30 days for roughly $1,440 in ad spend, at BedRock Countertops in Calgary. 54% of those leads booked a measure. That is one shop, one city, one month, so treat it as a data point and not a benchmark. Your break-even is gross profit per job multiplied by the share of leads that close.
"Cost per lead" is the most abused number in contractor marketing. Agencies quote it without saying what counts as a lead, over what period, in what city, or how many of those leads were the same person filling the form twice.
So here is ours with the working shown.
The actual funnel
What we are not telling you, and why
You will notice the funnel stops at booked measures. That is deliberate.
We have closed deals from these leads, but a close rate calculated over a single month is time-censored: most of the leads are still open. Countertop jobs do not close in a week. Publishing "our close rate is X%" off a 30-day window would be measuring the fast decisions and quietly ignoring everyone still thinking about it. The number would look good and it would be wrong.
This is one shop, in Calgary, over 30 days. It is not a study, it is not an industry benchmark, and we are a young company saying so out loud. Anyone quoting you a cost per lead without this paragraph attached is selling you something.
How to work out your own break-even
Forget everyone else's cost per lead. The only number that decides whether marketing works for you is this one:
Break-even cost per lead = gross profit per job × share of leads that become jobs
Work it through with your own figures. Say a typical job leaves you $1,200 gross profit after material and labour, and one lead in ten turns into a job:
- $1,200 × 10% = $120 break-even per lead
- At $30 a lead you would be making $90 per lead, or 4× your money
- At $120 a lead you break exactly even and are working for free
- At $150 a lead you are paying for the privilege
Now do it with a worse close rate, because that is the honest stress test. One lead in twenty:
- $1,200 × 5% = $60 break-even per lead
- $30 a lead still works, at 2×
- $80 a lead loses money on every single one
The three things that move cost per lead most
1. Speed of reply
The gap between a lead arriving and a human responding does more damage than any other single factor we have seen. A lead you answer in five minutes and a lead you answer tomorrow afternoon cost you exactly the same to buy and are worth wildly different amounts. This is why our system has an AI backup that steps in if nobody has replied within an hour: not to replace the call, but to stop the lead going cold while you are under a slab.
2. What counts as a lead
If an agency counts every form fill, every click-to-call that rang out, and every duplicate as a lead, they can quote you a very impressive cost per lead. Ask what the denominator is. Ours is people who asked for a quote and left real contact details.
3. Season and city
Renovation demand is seasonal and local. A number from Calgary in one month tells you very little about Phoenix in another. This cuts against us as much as anyone: do not assume you will get $30.
What this costs to run
For context on the spend side: we size ad budgets to what a shop can actually install, which for a small crew is usually $1,000 to $2,000 a month. There is no point generating 90 leads for a two-man shop that can fit eight jobs. Overbuying leads is the most common way this goes wrong, and it makes your cost per lead look fine while your reputation quietly takes the hit from everyone you never called back.
StoneMagnet runs this system for countertop shops - website, ads, lead board and the AI follow-up backup - at $1,987/month on the founding rate, with the ad budget separate and on your own card. First month is 20 leads or you don't pay. One shop per city.
The numbers on this page come from BedRock Countertops, which is our own shop and the system's first tenant.
Common questions
What is a good cost per lead for a countertop company?
There is no universal number, because a lead is only worth what your close rate and average job make it worth. Our figure is about $30 across 48 leads in 30 days in Calgary. What matters is whether that sits comfortably below your gross profit per job multiplied by your close rate.
How do I calculate my break-even cost per lead?
Gross profit per job multiplied by the share of leads that become jobs. $1,200 gross profit with 10% closing gives $120 break-even. Anything under that makes money; anything over loses it.
Is $30 a lead realistic for countertops?
It is our real number in one city, from one shop, over 30 days. It is not a benchmark and we will not present it as one. Cost per lead moves with city, competition, season and offer quality.
Why does the funnel stop at booked measures?
Because a close rate measured over 30 days is time-censored - most leads are still open, so you would only be counting the fast decisions. We would rather publish nothing than publish a flattering number we cannot stand behind.