What do qualified leads cost in the Netherlands?

Four products sold under one word

Buying leads in the Dutch market does not always mean buying the same thing. The difference lies in how much work has been done between the enquiry and your first contact, and by whom.

• Raw form: someone filled in their details online. Nobody has checked the phone number or whether they genuinely want a quote.
• Phone-checked enquiry: the requester has been called, the key details have been confirmed, and they have agreed to be passed to a named installer.
• Appointment: a specific time is booked for a call or site visit. It takes scheduling and asks more of the requester, but it can still be cancelled.
• Sale: a signed quote. No enquiry supplier can deliver that; it remains your work.

The further along this chain, the higher the unit price tends to be. A cheaper form is not automatically better value, and a pricier appointment is not automatically worse.

What you are billed for

Ask every supplier exactly when an enquiry becomes billable. At Klantwerf, it is an enquiry that meets criteria agreed in advance, has been checked by phone and is delivered to a single buyer. For insulation, the criteria include: owner or authorised representative, type of insulation and approximate area, municipality or postcode, a project timeline of six months or less, and confirmed interest in a quote.

Check what is not billed as well. Klantwerf proposes a claims window of 7 calendar days after delivery for a false contact, no genuine request, an enquiry outside the agreed area or criteria, or a duplicate delivery for the same project. A valid claim earns a replacement or a credit. A requester changing their mind later, or choosing another installer, is not in itself a fault in the enquiry.

For a 10-enquiry insulation pilot: 10 × €39 = €390 excluding VAT. If 21% Dutch VAT applies, that adds €81.90, making €471.90 in total.

From cost per enquiry to cost per customer

The price per enquiry is what you pay the supplier. Your cost per customer is what it takes to win one job, including your own time. Only you can calculate the second figure, with your own numbers.

Suppose you take a pilot of 10 enquiries at €39 each (€390 excluding VAT). Suppose one enquiry is replaced after a claim, you speak to all ten, and two of them turn into a job. In this example you would have paid €390 / 2 = €195 in enquiry costs per customer won. Add, say, an hour of your own time per enquiry for calls, surveys and quotes, and the true acquisition cost is higher.

This example is entirely hypothetical. How many conversations and jobs you get depends on your area, your pricing, how quickly you follow up and market conditions at the time. Treat it as a way to do the sums, not a forecast.

Comparing suppliers like for like

Prices from different suppliers are only comparable if you are comparing the same thing. Put the same questions to each one.

• Is the enquiry exclusive, or sold to several companies? How exactly does the supplier define that?
• Was there a phone conversation, and what was checked during it?
• Which details were declared by the requester, and which were verified?
• Is the price quoted excluding or including VAT?
• Are you tied to a subscription, a minimum order or prepaid credit?
• When and on what grounds can you claim, and what do you get back?
• How old is the enquiry when it reaches you?

A volume discount or bundle price is not directly comparable with a price per single enquiry. In both cases, work back to what you pay per billable enquiry under the same conditions.

Your own follow-up is part of the cost

A qualified enquiry loses value if nobody calls. Agree internally who receives it, how quickly it is followed up and how the outcome is recorded. Without that record, you cannot judge after a pilot whether your cost per customer is acceptable.

Start small and measurable: one trade, one area, a fixed number of enquiries and a date set in advance to review the results.