1. Define the billable appointment
Ask the provider to define the exact event that creates a charge. Separate an inquiry, a reached contact, a qualified lead, a scheduled appointment, a completed visit, and a sold job. The proposal should say which one is billable and what record proves it.
An ad-form submission is not automatically a scheduled service visit. For example, Google Ads lead form assets collect contact details from an ad; ask what additional steps turn a response into an appointment the customer has confirmed. Google Ads: About lead form assets
Questions to ask
- Does “booked” mean a time was agreed to by the customer and entered on a calendar?
- How are duplicate requests, wrong numbers, unreachable people, out-of-area addresses, and unsupported jobs handled?
- What happens when a customer cancels, reschedules, or does not answer the door—and how long do I have to dispute a charge?
2. Compare the full cost
Write the monthly total as billable appointments multiplied by the quoted cost per appointment, plus every separate charge. Ask whether ad spend, setup, management, call tracking, landing pages, software, creative, taxes, and minimum commitments are included or billed separately. A fixed cost per lead does not, by itself, answer what the total monthly bill will be.
Questions to ask
- Who pays the advertising platform, and whose account holds the campaigns and billing history?
- Is the per-lead amount the same across service types and locations? What can change it?
- Are there setup fees, minimum spend or volume, overages, taxes, or other charges? When is each amount due?
3. Check service-area and job fit
Compare the proposed coverage with the places your crews actually serve. On Google Ads, location options can include people in or regularly in a target area and people who have shown interest in that area. If a proposal uses Google Ads, ask which setting it uses, then check the customer’s service address against your coverage; ad location settings and your service eligibility are different checks. Google Ads: About advanced location options
Name the work you want and can take on. Repair, replacement, installation, and maintenance can have different capacity and economics. Ask how the provider screens for the service requested, property type, urgency, and any job categories you exclude.
Questions to ask
- Which cities, ZIP codes, or other boundaries are targeted, and can I review or change them?
- How are customer addresses checked against my service area before an appointment is billed?
- Which services, job types, and customer requests qualify—and which do not?
4. Understand lead handling and reporting
Map what happens from the first response through dispatch. Confirm who contacts the prospect, when follow-up happens, who books the time, how confirmations or reminders work, and how missed contacts are retried. Agree on the fields and timestamps you will receive so your team can act on each record.
Ask where records go and who can access or export them. Google Ads, for example, supports lead retrieval through CSV downloads and integrations such as webhooks or a CRM connection. Confirm the specific delivery route in the proposal and test that the record reaches the system your team uses. Google Ads: Download leads
A useful report should let you reconcile billed appointments with your own calendar or CRM, then follow them through completed visits and sold work. Ask how the provider assigns a lead to a campaign, what attribution window is used, and how corrections are made when your records disagree.
Questions to ask
- Who responds to inquiries, during which hours, and what happens when the first attempt gets no response?
- What delivery method, customer details, timestamps, and source information will I receive?
- Can I see counts for booked, completed, cancelled, and sold appointments—not only inquiries?
5. Read the term and cancellation rules
Before signing, put the commitment period and exit steps in writing. Review any initial term, renewal, notice period, pause option, early termination amount, and process for disputing or crediting a charge. Ask what happens to campaigns, phone numbers, landing pages, customer records, and reporting access when the work ends.
Questions to ask
- How long am I committed, how does renewal work, and what notice is required to cancel?
- Can service pause when my schedule is full or my crews cannot cover the area?
- Which accounts, campaign assets, numbers, and lead records stay accessible to my business after cancellation?
6. Check the economics against your own records
Use your own recent jobs for the relevant service mix and area. Calculate gross profit per sold job after direct job costs, then use your records to estimate what share of booked appointments are completed and what share of completed visits become sold jobs. Keep the time period and lead sources consistent when comparing providers.
A simple ceiling for break-even all-in marketing cost per booked appointment is: gross profit per sold job × your completed-appointment share × your sold-job share among completed appointments. This is before overhead and any profit target. Compare all-in costs—not only the stated per-lead amount—and include cancellations, unserviceable requests, and other exclusions in the same calculation.
Questions to ask
- What do my own records show for completed appointments, sold jobs, and gross profit by service type?
- Does the calculation include ad spend and every provider fee for the same period as the appointments?
- What cost per booked appointment still leaves room for my overhead and target profit?