Cost per booked job:
the number that matters

Follow the money to the booked job

Every campaign follows the same path: money spent, homes reached, calls, booked jobs, and profit. Most reports stop early. Here is a 10,000-piece mailing followed all the way through.

Two numbers change the result most: response rate and close rate. Cut either one in half and your cost per job doubles. Improving how you handle incoming calls is usually the cheaper fix.

What a healthy number looks like

Compare cost per booked job to the profit on the job, not the price. Our rule of thumb:

• Under 20% of profit: strong.
• 20% to 50%: workable, especially if customers come back.
• Over 50%: only worth it if customers are worth much more over time.

On a $450 job with $225 in profit, under $45 per booked job is strong, and over $113 needs a closer look.

Find your break-even before you spend

For the mailing above: $3,935 ÷ $225 rounds up to 18 jobs. At a 35% close rate, that takes about 52 calls, a break-even response rate of 0.50%.

Compare that to the 0.5% to 1% we plan around. If your break-even comes out above 2%, change the offer, the area, or the piece before you pay for printing.

Measure it accurately

• A tracking number for each campaignUsed on that campaign only.
• A dedicated web pageSo online leads get counted too.
• Ask every new customerRecord how they heard about you when the job is booked.
• Wait 30 daysResponses arrive for several weeks after the mail lands.