Cost per lead vs cost per appointment: which metric should leasing brokers measure?

Every leasing broker we talk to has a number in their head for "cost per lead". It's the figure their finance team asks about. It's the figure they compare suppliers on. And it's the wrong metric to optimise.

The right metric is cost per appointment — the amount you actually spend to put one prospect in front of a salesperson. Once you start measuring it, supplier choices look very different.

What's the difference?

Cost per lead (CPL) is what the supplier invoices you, divided by the number of leads they delivered. £50 per lead means just that.

Cost per appointment (CPA) is the cost per lead, divided by the percentage of leads that turn into an actual call or meeting with your sales team. If 80% of your leads become appointments, your CPA is £62.50 (£50 ÷ 0.8). If only 30% do, your CPA is £167.

Same CPL. Wildly different CPA. The supplier looks identical on the invoice and very different on the spreadsheet that matters.

A worked example

Two suppliers, both offering "vehicle leasing leads":

• Supplier A — bought data list: £20 per lead. You buy 100 leads (£2,000). Your team rings them. 25% pick up. 30% of those agree to a follow-up call. That's 7 appointments from 100 leads. CPA = £286.
• Supplier B — telephone-verified, exclusive: £75 per lead. You buy 30 leads (£2,250). 85% of these had agreed to be called and pick up. 90% of those become a real appointment. That's 23 appointments from 30 leads. CPA = £98.

Same outlay (~£2,000). Supplier A looks 75% cheaper on paper. Supplier B produces three times the appointments. CPA tells you the truth that CPL hides.

Why CPL is everywhere despite being misleading

CPL is what the supplier writes on the invoice. It's a single, simple number. Finance teams love simple numbers. The whole industry quotes leads "from £25" in marketing because that's the headline you can compare on.

CPA, by contrast, requires you to track outcomes. You need to know how many of the leads turn into a real conversation. That means logging it in your CRM, and reviewing it monthly. Most brokers don't, which is why most brokers buy on CPL.

How to calculate your CPA

Simple calculation:

1. Take the total spent on leads from a supplier in a month
2. Count the number of leads that became a real appointment (not just rings) — defined as a conversation lasting more than 5 minutes, or a Teams/in-person meeting
3. Divide spend by appointments

Track this per supplier. Within two or three months you'll see clearly which suppliers actually produce results and which produce volume.

Going further — cost per deal

The ultimate metric is cost per signed contract. CPL → CPA → close rate → CPD (cost per deal). The maths gets fiddlier but the principle is the same: cheap leads that don't close are expensive, expensive leads that close are cheap.

A leasing deal at average gross margin in the UK market is worth several hundred pounds in commission to the broker (BVRLA publish industry-wide indicators each year). So a £150 cost-per-appointment that converts at 30% gives you a £500 cost-per-deal — still profitable. A £40 CPA from a CSV list that converts at 5% gives you an £800 cost-per-deal that loses money.

When you next compare leasing lead suppliers, ask for their typical CPA rather than just CPL. A serious supplier will know the answer for their existing clients. If they only quote CPL, they don't know what their leads actually do — which tells you something in itself.