Definition
A shared roofing lead is a homeowner enquiry that a lead seller delivers to more than one roofing company. Each contractor pays for the same contact and then competes to reach the homeowner first.
Why it matters
Shared leads are the cheapest roofing leads on the market and the most expensive way to buy a job. The homeowner gets three to five calls in an hour, tunes out, and treats the whole thing as a price comparison. Your estimator drives out, documents the roof, writes a bid, and loses it to whichever company undercut them by a few hundred dollars. The lead price looks small next to the cost per signed job once you count the drive time, the estimates written, and the bids that never come back.
How it works
- A lead seller runs ads or forms and captures homeowner enquiries
- The same enquiry is sold to several contractors in the area
- Every contractor is notified at once and races to call first
- The homeowner fields multiple calls and often books two or three inspections
- The job usually goes to the lowest bid rather than the best scope
Shared leads can still work in narrow cases: a crew with idle capacity, a very fast phone response, and a willingness to sell on price. What they do not do is build a predictable calendar, because your volume depends on how many other contractors bought the same list that week.
The alternative is a booked appointment model. Instead of buying a contact and racing for it, you receive a qualified roof inspection that is on the calendar with a confirmed homeowner who expects your estimator.
Four roofers buy the same storm enquiry. Three of them drive out and write bids. One signs the job, and the other three absorb the lead cost, the drive, and the estimate for nothing.
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