Lead generation
Lead generation is bringing in people who get in touch because they have a specific question or job, such as a quote request or call-back request. The goal isn't as many leads as possible, but leads that become customers.
- 3 min read
What is lead generation?
Lead generation is everything you do to get people with a specific question to get in touch. For a trade business a lead is almost always a Quote request, a call-back request, a phone call or a WhatsApp message from someone with a job. In Dutch it's called leadgeneratie.
A lead isn't a customer yet. It's someone saying: tell me more, come and have a look, what will it cost. What happens next is down to your follow-up and your quote.
What exactly is a lead?
A lead is a person or business that shows interest and leaves their details so you can get in touch. A visitor on your website isn't a lead yet. Someone who fills in the quote form with their name, phone number and a description of the job is.
Not every lead is worth the same. An enquiry for a complete roof renovation in your own region is different from a question from someone three hours' drive away who only wants to compare prices. That's why lead qualification is just as important as the number of leads.
Why lead generation matters for a trade business
Without a steady flow of enquiries you depend on word of mouth and the season. That works until it goes quiet one day. With your own lead generation you decide how many enquiries come in, from which region and for which kind of job.
The difference with a Lead platform is ownership. A platform often sells the same enquiry to several businesses, and as soon as you stop paying the flow stops. Enquiries through your own website are yours alone. Read the difference in lead platforms or your own enquiries.
How lead generation works
Lead generation consists of three parts that have to fit together.
1. Traffic with a question
You need visitors who are looking for something right now. For trade businesses that mostly comes from Google: Google Ads for immediate visibility, SEO for lasting visibility and your Google Business Profile for searchers nearby. People search for the trade or the job, as shown in our search data for 34 trades.
2. A page that convinces
A visitor decides in a few seconds whether you're the right company. A good landing page shows what you do, where you work, what previous customers say and how easy it is to get in touch. A short form and a visible phone number do more than a long text.
3. Fast follow-up
A lead is only worth something if you follow it up. Whoever calls within the hour has a much better chance of winning the job than whoever calls back the next day. That's called speed to lead. A fixed way of working for lead follow-up stops enquiries from being left lying around.
A real-world example
Say a heat pump installer wants more enquiries in their own region. Google Ads targets search terms such as warmtepomp laten plaatsen and warmtepomp kosten, only within the service area. The ad leads to a page with a price indication, reviews and a short form. Every enquiry arrives in one overview, the planner calls within the hour, and the monthly figures show how many enquiries became a signed job.
Only with that last step do you know what lead generation really delivers. For that you measure all the way to the quote with conversion tracking.
Common mistakes
- Steering on quantity instead of quality. A hundred enquiries outside your region deliver less than twenty good ones.
- Only measuring forms. With trade businesses, a large share of customers call. If you don't measure your phone calls, your cost per lead look higher than they are.
- Following up slowly. An enquiry that sits for a day often goes to the competitor who called straight away.
- Loose parts. A good campaign on a slow website delivers little. Traffic, website and follow-up have to work together.
How do you approach lead generation?
Start with your numbers: how many enquiries do you get now, where do they come from and how many become customers? Then improve your website and your follow-up first, because more traffic to a page that doesn't convince is money wasted. Only then do you add extra traffic. That's also how our Growth System: insight, traffic, Conversion, follow-up and steering as one whole.
Frequently asked questions
Don't see your question here? Call, WhatsApp or email us. You'll get an answer within one working day.
What is the difference between lead generation and acquisition?
With acquisition you go out to find the customer, for example by calling or visiting. With lead generation you make sure the customer finds you and gets in touch themselves. That makes lead generation easier to scale, and the conversations start warmer.
What is a good lead for a trade business?
An enquiry from your own service area, for a job that suits you, from someone who wants to decide fairly soon. Whether a lead is good, you only see once you measure how many enquiries become a signed job.
How many leads do I need?
Work back from your revenue target. If you know what an average job brings in and how many of your quotes get signed, you know how many enquiries you need per month. That number is the starting point for your budget.
More on leads and follow-up
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How customers of trade businesses search in 2026
Search volumes, click prices and seasons for 34 trades, from roofer to heat pump.
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