What the two words actually mean
An exclusive lead goes to one business. You are the only person the supplier sent that enquiry to.
A shared lead is sold to several businesses at once, commonly three to five. Everyone receives the same name and number within seconds of each other, and the customer's phone starts ringing.
Suppliers are often imprecise about which they are selling, because the language is easy to blur. "Matched with trusted local providers" is shared. "You will be one of a small number of quotes" is shared.
What happens to the customer
This is the part most tradies underestimate, because they think about it from their own side of the phone.
The homeowner filled in one form. Within ten minutes four businesses ring them. They did not ask for four calls and they are now irritated, defensive and certain of one thing: they are being sold to. The next three calls get shorter answers, and by the fourth they are asking for a number over the phone just to end the conversation.
You did not create that situation but you are paying to inherit it.
What it does to your close rate
If you close one in three exclusive enquiries, you will not close one in twelve of the same enquiries shared four ways. You will close considerably worse than that, for three compounding reasons.
The customer has been primed to compare on price, because four quotes arriving together makes price the only visible difference. You are one of several identically-sourced calls rather than a business they chose. And the fastest dialler, not the best operator, takes a disproportionate share — which is a race you will sometimes lose to someone with a call centre.
So the lead is not worth a quarter of an exclusive one. It is worth considerably less than a quarter, while frequently being priced at half.
What it does to the price you can charge
Shared leads drag quoting toward the bottom. When four businesses arrive at the same kitchen table within a week, the conversation is about the number, not about whether the job is being done properly.
Operators who do careful work and charge accordingly tend to lose those jobs and lose them slowly, after doing the site visit. That is the worst outcome available: you paid for the lead, spent an hour quoting, and lost to someone who will do it cheaper and possibly badly.
Why we sell exclusive only
Our lead generation service licences a territory to one business per trade. It is not charity — it is that the shared model produces clients who churn inside three months and blame the supplier on the way out, and that costs us more than the extra revenue is worth.
The consequence is that territories genuinely run out. If your postcodes are taken, we will tell you they are taken rather than quietly adding you as a second recipient. The trades and areas we currently run are on the industries page.
Checking a supplier properly
Ask three questions and insist on written answers.
How many businesses receive each enquiry? Are my postcodes exclusive to me, and what happens if you sign someone else in the same area? And what is the written definition of a billable lead, including what you will not charge me for?
A supplier who answers all three plainly is worth dealing with regardless of which model they run. One who deflects on any of them has told you what you need to know. More on the terms worth pinning down is in how pay-per-lead works.
Pricing it properly
Whatever you are offered, hold it against your own ceiling figure from what a lead is worth — and for shared leads, discount your expected close rate hard before doing the sum. If the arithmetic only works at an optimistic close rate, it does not work.
Our own pricing variables are on the pricing page, and the circumstances where you should not buy from anyone are in when pay-per-lead is the wrong model.
Frequently asked questions
How do I tell whether a supplier is selling shared leads?
Ask directly how many businesses receive each enquiry and get the answer in writing. Then ask whether your postcodes are exclusive to you. Vague answers about matching customers with trusted local providers almost always mean shared. A supplier selling genuine exclusivity will say so plainly and put it in the agreement.
Are shared leads ever worth buying?
Occasionally. If you are extremely fast on the phone, quote on the spot, and have idle capacity you would otherwise waste, shared leads at a low enough price can work as filler. They are a volume game with thin margins and they are a poor foundation for a business, not a strategy.
Why do shared lead platforms have so many complaints?
Because the model produces predictable friction. Customers get four calls they did not expect, tradies pay for enquiries that were already lost, and the platform is incentivised to sell each enquiry as many times as it can. None of that requires anyone to behave badly for the experience to be poor on both sides.
Does exclusivity guarantee I win the job?
No. The customer may still ring two businesses they found separately, or decide not to proceed at all. Exclusivity means you are not competing against people who were handed the same enquiry by the same supplier. It removes an artificial disadvantage rather than creating an advantage.