What a genuinely exclusive solar lead should cost you in 2026
Shared solar leads look cheap until you count the calls. Here is what exclusivity actually costs, and what it saves.
For PV installers and solar sales directors
If you buy solar enquiries, you have almost certainly been offered a £12 lead. You have also almost certainly rung it and found three other installers had already quoted. Price per lead is the wrong number to argue about — the number that pays your fitters is cost per install.
Shared versus exclusive, in money
A shared solar lead sold to four installers converts at a fraction of an exclusive one, because you are quoting against three firms who already had the homeowner's attention. The lead is cheaper, the survey rate is lower, and the discounting is worse.
| Shared (4 buyers) | Exclusive (1 buyer) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per lead | £12 | £45 |
| Contact rate | 48% | 86% |
| Survey booked | 9% | 31% |
| Installs per 100 leads | 2 | 8 |
| Cost per install | £600 | £563 |
Same money, four times the workload. Every shared lead you chase costs a call, a follow-up, and a slot in your surveyor's diary that a real prospect could have used.
What the higher price is buying
- One buyer per enquiry, never resold or recycled later
- A phone-verified homeowner, not a renter or a competitor's form fill
- Property type, roof orientation and rough bill size captured at source
- A consent record with timestamp and source page
- Delivery within seconds of the enquiry being made
“We moved off shared leads in March. Our lead spend went up 40% and our install numbers doubled. My surveyors stopped wasting Saturdays.”
What to ask any supplier before you buy
- Is this lead sold to anyone else, now or in 90 days?
- How was the enquiry generated — your own site, or bought in?
- What happens if the number is dead?
- Can I cap volume by postcode and by week?
- Can I pause without a notice period?
Dan Reeves
Head of Buyer Accounts
Dan runs buyer accounts at Lead Magnet Group and spends most of his week on the phone to sales directors working out what a lead is worth to them. He writes the pieces on lead economics and buying terms.
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