Are Expensive leads ignoring your calls and beating you down on price?
About JC
I’m a Small Business Sales & Marketing Consultant. Former Marine. Adventure-seeker. Traveler. Fitness aficionado. Dog parent. Comic book collector. Meditator. Blogger.
I combine real-world sales experience with marketing strategy to help contractors create systems that generate, nurture, and close more leads—without relying on overpriced third-party vendors.
The Problem: Overpriced Leads and Underwhelming Results
If you’ve ever spent hundreds—maybe thousands—of dollars on third-party leads, only to get ghosted or haggled down on price, you’re not alone.
You’re investing money to grow your business, but too often the return feels unpredictable—or worse, discouraging.
Most contractors turn to services like Angi, Thumbtack, or Porch because they need consistent opportunities and don’t have time to manage marketing themselves. But the problem is, these lead vendors don’t care whether you close the job. Their job ends when the lead is delivered—yours is just beginning.
If you’re closing fewer than 50% of the leads you’re paying for, you’ll always be chasing your tail—stuck in a cycle of paying for more and more leads to make up for the ones that don’t convert.
Even referrals and repeat customers aren’t guaranteed sales. They may be warmer, but they still need follow-up, differentiation, and reassurance before they commit. Without a clear process, it’s easy to waste time, energy, and money chasing business that never closes.
The numbers don’t lie. Contractors often pay $50 to $300 per lead expecting ready-to-hire homeowners. Instead, they get:
No response. You call immediately—nothing. No voicemail, no reply to texts.
Price shoppers. The first question you hear is, “What kind of discount can you give me?”
Duplicate leads. That “exclusive” contact? Turns out, five other contractors got the same name.
At that point, it’s easy to feel like the game is rigged.
But here’s the truth: most leads aren’t bad—they’re just not ready yet, and they’re not being followed up with strategically.
That’s where strategy makes all the difference.
Why Most Leads Go Cold
Think about how homeowners behave when researching a project. They might be curious about replacing their roof, remodeling their kitchen, or fixing an HVAC issue—but they’re not necessarily ready to pull the trigger today.
They fill out a form online, half out of curiosity, and suddenly they’re bombarded by five contractors calling back-to-back. It’s overwhelming. So they stop answering calls altogether.
That doesn’t mean they’re not interested—it just means they’re not ready yet.
Homeowners move through predictable stages before they make a decision. This process is known as the Buyer’s Journey—and understanding where your prospects are in that journey is the difference between closing 10% of your leads or 50%.
Most contractors only show up in the final stage—when the homeowner is comparing quotes. But by then, the competition is fierce, and the only way to stand out is to lower your price.
The smarter play is to engage earlier and stay visible through consistent, value-based follow-up. That’s how you win the job before your competitors even know there’s an opportunity.
The Solution: A Smarter Follow-Up System
A structured, consistent follow-up process can completely change your business.
Rather than calling twice and giving up, top-performing contractors use a sales cadence—a planned sequence of calls, texts, and emails designed to build familiarity and trust over time.
Here’s what an effective cadence might look like:
Initial Call & Voicemail
Call within 5 minutes of receiving the lead. If no answer, leave a short, friendly voicemail:
“Hey [Name], this is Mike from WeatherGuard Roofing. I just got your request about the roof inspection. I’ll shoot you a quick text in case that’s easier to reply to.”Follow-Up Text
“Hi [Name], this is Mike from WeatherGuard Roofing. Just left you a voicemail about your roofing request. Happy to help with a free inspection—what time works for you?”Follow-Up Email (with Value)
Send a short email that includes:A quick, friendly intro (1 or 2 sentences)
A link to a helpful blog post like “What to Expect During a Roof Inspection”
A call to action to schedule a consultation
Short Term Nurturing (7–14 days)
Over the next week or two, continue with:3–5 more calls and texts
Follow-up emails with testimonials or short educational videos
Light retargeting ads to stay visible while they’re still in research mode
This process doesn’t feel pushy—it feels professional. You’re staying top of mind, adding value, and showing persistence without pressure.
That consistency builds trust—and trust closes deals.
The Next Step: Creating Your Own Leads
Smarter follow-up is just the first step. The next level—the one where top-performing contractors pull ahead—is learning to generate your own leads proactively.
The truth is, the most successful contractors don’t rely entirely on paid lead sources. They create opportunities through outreach, relationship-building, and reputation.
They knock on doors after a storm.
They check in with past customers at seasonal intervals.
They email homeowners with maintenance reminders and helpful tips.
They introduce themselves to new homeowners in the area before anyone else does.
It’s not luck—it’s a systematic approach to staying visible and valuable all year long.
Some of these proactive leads will be ready to move forward right away. Others will keep the conversation going for months—or even years. But just like with paid leads, the secret is consistent, strategic follow-up with light, value-driven touch points.
That’s the long game that wins.
Through my coaching and strategic planning sessions, I help contractors:
Identify the best local outreach methods for their trade and area
Build outreach scripts and follow-up cadences
Plan soft-touch campaigns that keep them on a homeowner’s radar without feeling intrusive
When you shift from chasing leads to creating them, you take back control of your business.
You build a reliable pipeline that belongs to you, not to a third-party vendor.
How Content Makes You the Obvious Choice
Follow-up gets you noticed.
Content gets you remembered.
Most contractors stop at the quote stage, but the smart ones use blog posts, videos, and helpful guides to stay visible between touch points.
Good content does three things at once:
It attracts new prospects through SEO and Google searches.
It nurtures existing leads by answering their questions.
It positions you as the expert, not the salesperson.
Imagine a homeowner researching roof leaks. They find your article “5 Signs Your Roof Needs Repair.”
Next, they see your short video on “How to Choose a Contractor You Can Trust.”
Then they receive a follow-up email from you linking to “The Truth About Warranties & Insurance.”
Now, when they’re finally ready to move forward, who do they call?
The contractor who educated them—not the one who just sent a quote.
That’s the power of combining sales cadence with helpful content—it builds familiarity, authority, and trust all at once.
Email Marketing: Turning Leads into Long-Term Relationships
Once you’ve built initial trust through content, email marketing becomes your most powerful long-term nurturing tool.
A good automated email campaign keeps the conversation going with slow-moving leads and past clients—without requiring constant manual effort.
Here are a few types of emails that can make a big impact:
Educational Series: “5 Mistakes Homeowners Make When Hiring a Contractor” or “How to Tell When It’s Time to Replace Your Deck.”
Seasonal Tips: Reminders like “Spring Maintenance Checklist” or “How to Prepare Your Gutters for Winter.”
Project Highlights: Short case studies showing before-and-after transformations in your local area.
Offers & Promotions: Limited-time discounts or free inspection reminders.
Community Updates: Sponsorships, charity work, or local involvement that builds goodwill.
This type of automation helps you stay top of mind without being pushy. Every email delivers value, builds authority, and strengthens your brand.
I help contractors create automated email sequences and newsletters that work behind the scenes to educate, follow up, and generate new opportunities month after month.
Display Ads: Staying Visible While Homeowners Decide
While email keeps the conversation alive, display ads keep you visible during a homeowner’s research process.
Two types of display advertising work especially well for contractors:
Contextual Ads – These appear on websites or articles related to your trade (e.g., a “How to Fix a Leaky Roof” article on a major site like WikiHow.com might show an ad for your roofing company).
They’re perfect for getting in front of local homeowners who are actively researching the services you offer—right when they’re in the awareness or consideration stage.Retargeting Ads – These follow people who’ve already interacted with your website, social media, or email links.
They serve as gentle reminders—keeping your business in the homeowner’s mind long after the first contact.
Retargeting complements your nurturing strategy by reinforcing your message visually. A homeowner might read your email, watch your video, or visit your site—and later see a reminder ad that nudges them back to you when they’re ready.
That combination of visibility and familiarity builds trust over time, and ensures that when they do decide to move forward, you’re the first one they think of.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Just Chase Leads—Build Relationships
Expensive leads aren’t going away—but your frustration doesn’t have to stay.
The contractors who win in today’s market don’t rely on luck or high ad spend—they rely on systems.
Systems that follow up with consistency.
Systems that nurture through education.
Systems that create new opportunities and keep your name visible year-round.
Once you have a strategy that ties your outreach, follow up, content, email, and ads together, your marketing becomes predictable—and far less expensive.
You don’t need to buy 100 new leads. You just need to maximize the ones you already have—and learn to create more on your own.
Need Help Building a Strategy That Converts?
I specialize in helping small, local contractors:
Develop custom sales systems that turn leads into appointments
Write SEO-optimized blog posts that attract and nurture homeowners
Build email marketing and retargeting campaigns that keep you top of mind
Design proactive outreach strategies that generate your own leads
Everything I do is built around your strengths, your market, and your goals.
If you’re ready to stop chasing leads and start building a reliable, self-sustaining pipeline, let’s talk.
Click here to start the conversation.