(Online) leads are expensive… or are they?

Over the past two weeks, it has once again become clear to me: leads are expensive! Getting opportunities and investing in them through marketing is costly, and the tangible outcome — an online lead — therefore is as well.

How do I come to that conclusion? I have been in Spain for the past two weeks and have been racking my brains about which costs I could cut at Ligier Store Doesburg to become more profitable. Rent, personnel costs, utilities — at a certain point you’ve cut as much as you can, and you inevitably end up looking at the marketing costs.

And honestly: I spend quite a lot on that. Making videos on TikTok, being active on all social media channels, advertising on Marktplaats, ViaBOVAG, AutoTrack, and going full throttle on Google — that simply costs a lot of money. And the result? Those leads are just expensive!

Why are they so expensive?

All leads are expensive… because they do not convert into sales. They simply have a low conversion from lead to sale. Now, we ourselves achieve a conversion of more than 20% from lead to sale, so that is very good. But how does that look at other car companies?

I hear far too often that marketing costs too much money, that portals are too expensive, that Google CPC campaigns are no longer profitable — without people even knowing what the conversion rate on those leads is.

If that conversion is below 13%, then leads do indeed become expensive. But not because marketing spends too much on channel X, Y, or Z. They become expensive because sales does not have the conversion under control. That’s when leads truly become expensive. And that is exactly the message I want to convey this week. See also this article: https://www.pauldevries1972.nl/een-nieuwe-manier-van-roi-berekenen-voor-autoportals/

Online and telephone leads simply cost a car company a lot of money. The Cost per Lead (CPL) is usually a fixed given. But the Cost per Sale (CPS) — that is something you can improve yourself.

A CPL of €50 with a conversion of 20% means a CPS of €250. But with a conversion of 10%, that suddenly becomes €500! That CPL remains €50. You can complain about that — to marketing or the lead provider — but ultimately that won’t get you anywhere.

Why it matters

That is something I have been thinking about over the past two weeks. Because every lead I receive is not only an investment of €50, but also an opportunity to earn €1,500. I therefore see a lead more as a missed opportunity of €1,500 than as an investment of €50.

That’s why I check every lead:

• What have we done with it?
• Was the lead followed up on time?
• Did someone speak to the lead?
• What are the follow-up actions?
• Do I still need to do something myself?

In other words: an “expensive” lead is not expensive, but it is certainly not without obligation either. It is an opportunity to earn €1,500. And if we lose that opportunity, I am happy to be briefed on why that happened. Because no one — absolutely no one — in 2025 leaves their details on a website anymore without being in the market in the coming months. So if you receive a lead? Treat it seriously, because you can earn €1,500.