Lead sources
£493,000 spent buying enquiries last year. This is what each pound actually bought.
Spent on leads
£493k
4,180 bought · £118 average
Cost per install
£1,284
+£301 on last year
Spent on never-contacted leads
£212k
1,797 leads
Best source, cost per install
£408
Customer referrals
£212,000 of bought leads were not contacted on the day they arrived. That is not a lead quality problem and no lead seller can fix it. It is the same 41% of enquiries that land in the evening and at weekends, sitting in a queue until somebody opens a laptop.
Cost per install, by source
What it costs in lead spend to get one signed job
| Source | Enquiries | Surveys | Installs | Spend | Per install |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenlight Leads | 1,880 | 263 | 104 | £222,400 | £2,140 |
| EcoMatch | 1,640 | 338 | 141 | £184,200 | £1,306 |
| Comparison sites | 660 | 142 | 61 | £58,700 | £962 |
| Paid search | 1,120 | 402 | 186 | £134,700 | £724 |
| Organic & website | 1,480 | 578 | 288 | £147,500 | £512 |
| Customer referrals | 660 | 471 | 244 | £99,600 | £408 |
Greenlight costs five times what a referral costs and produces fewer installs. Thornbeck has never had this table, so it renews with Greenlight every year on the strength of lead volume.
Is it the lead or the wait?
Greenlight leads, split by how long they waited
Answered inside 5 minutes44%
Answered within the hour29%
Answered the same day17%
Answered the next day or later5%
Greenlight leads answered quickly convert at 44%. The source is not the problem. Thornbeck answered 71% of Greenlight leads the next day or later, because Greenlight sells the same enquiry to four installers and delivers it at whatever hour the homeowner filled the form in.
The negotiation this table makes possible: fewer leads, delivered exclusively, at a price that reflects it — or the budget moves to referrals and paid search, which already cost a quarter as much per install.
Every source, every month
Renewal dates included, because that is when the conversation has to happen
| Source | Terms | Monthly spend | Enquiries | Install rate | Per install | Renews | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenlight Leads | Shared, 4 installers | £18,530 | 157 | 5.5% | £2,140 | 30 Sep 2026 | Renegotiate or stop |
| EcoMatch | Shared, 3 installers | £15,350 | 137 | 8.6% | £1,306 | 14 Feb 2027 | Watch |
| Comparison sites | Pay per enquiry | £4,890 | 55 | 9.2% | £962 | 31 Oct 2026 | Watch |
| Paid search | Own campaigns | £11,225 | 93 | 16.6% | £724 | Rolling | Increase |
| Organic & website | Content and SEO | £12,290 | 123 | 19.5% | £512 | Rolling | Increase |
| Customer referrals | Referral reward scheme | £8,300 | 55 | 37.0% | £408 | Rolling | Increase |
A referral converts at 37% and costs £408 an install. Thornbeck has 1,024 customers with a system on the roof and no systematic way of asking any of them.