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A useful enquiry target begins with job economics.
Start with the job, not the platform
A business replacing a roof and a business completing small appliance repairs will not have the same economic room to acquire a customer. Separate your services by average booked job value and contribution economics before estimating an affordable lead price. If you sell several services, do not mix them into one average and assume the answer fits every campaign.
Work backwards from a booked job
Calculate approximate gross profit per booked job by multiplying average invoice value by gross margin. Choose the proportion of that gross profit you are willing to put toward acquisition before considering fixed overhead and agency fees. Multiply that booked job allowance by your estimated enquiry to booking rate to get a planning allowance for each enquiry.
Example, not a quote
A CA$1,500 job with a 40% gross margin yields CA$600 gross profit. If 30% of that amount may be allocated to acquisition, that allows CA$180 per booked job. At a 35% enquiry to booking rate, the implied planning allowance is CA$63 per enquiry. Actual ad auctions, service area and lead quality may make that target unrealistic.
Check what is excluded
The equation does not automatically include fixed overhead, taxes, advertising management, callbacks, refunds, or return customers. Gross profit is not net profit. Validate estimates against real closed jobs, not just the ad platform reporting screen.
Use one model consistently
Record the assumptions, run campaigns against the same definitions, then compare your actual cost per qualified enquiry, booking rate and job economics. Change the plan when the evidence suggests a service or geography is not worth scaling.
Put the measurement to work.
Start with the information you actually have. Document what can be measured, be explicit about what cannot, and use each review to decide the next practical change.
See how Bluewater approaches this work ↗Try the enquiry calculator ↗Calculate an allowance rather than guessing a market price
Here is how to apply the idea to a real local service business rather than treating it as another marketing metric.
- Start with the average value of a completed job, not the largest job on your invoice list. Multiply by gross margin to estimate money left after direct job costs.
- Decide what share of that gross profit can go toward acquiring a booked customer after considering wages, vehicles, rent, tax and agency fees.
- Multiply the budget per booked customer by the proportion of enquiries that actually become jobs. A CA$1,500 job, 40% gross margin, 30% allocation and 35% booking rate implies CA$63 per enquiry before overhead.
- Use the number as a decision boundary, not a guarantee of what Google or Meta will charge. If enquiry quality is poor, lower the effective booking rate and revisit your economics.