Inspired by Bodhi (@irentdumpsters). Original post: buying Angi leads is renting customers. This is a new Tygart article for restoration contractors. We kept the mechanism, added first-party field knowledge, and did not reprint the thread.
The mechanism is simple. A marketplace sells the same name to three or four companies. You bid against shops that already have the same address. The homeowner has no loyalty to any of you. An organic call is the opposite: they searched, found your listing, and dialed one number.
Restoration already lives inside that product. Storm-lead vendors, shared water platforms, and some TPA overflows work the same way as Angi. You paid for a name that two other trucks also have. The first crew that answers and can roll wins. The other two paid for a conversation that never happens.
What “own the lead” means on a water job
- Maps, Apple Business Connect, and a tap-to-call page you control.
- A plumber, roofer, or property manager who sends you the loss because last time you documented it cleanly.
- A commercial agreement that does not reset every storm.
- A review file that makes the next homeowner tap you instead of the shared list.
Rented leads can fill a dry week. They should not be the growth plan. Every dollar that only rents a name is a dollar that is not building the pin, the photo file, or the referral source you still have in October.
Measure close rate by source. If marketplace water closes at half of Maps water, that is not a sales problem. That is three trucks on the same driveway.
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