For remodeling companies
Pay-per-appointment vs. pay-per-lead: what bath and kitchen remodelers are actually buying
By the Renolist team · Oct 28, 2026 · 3 min read
A lead is a homeowner's contact details. A booked appointment is time on your rep's calendar. A sat appointment is a homeowner who actually sat down with your rep. The price tags look very different, but the only fair way to compare them is cost per sale: what you spent, all in, to land one signed job.
Three things you can buy
| Lead | Booked appointment | Sat appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A name, a phone number and a few answers | A homeowner on your calendar at a set time | A homeowner who sat down with your rep |
| Who calls and books | Your team | The vendor | The vendor |
| Who carries a no-show | You | Usually you | The vendor |
| What you're paying for | A chance to call | A time slot | A presentation |
Leads: cheapest to buy, most work to use
With leads, the vendor's job ends at the form fill. Your team has to call fast, reach the homeowner, qualify them and book them, and every step loses people. Some leads are also sold to other companies, which turns your first call into a race. Leads can work well if you run a strong call center with fast speed-to-lead. The price per lead just isn't what a lead costs you.
Booked appointments: the calling is done, the risk is still yours
Here the vendor reaches and books the homeowner, which saves your team a lot of work. But if the homeowner doesn't answer the door, cancels the night before or turns out to be a one-legger, you've usually still paid for it.
Sat appointments: you pay for the presentation
A sat-appointment model charges for the thing you actually want from a source: a qualified homeowner at the table with your rep. Some vendors charge when the appointment is booked and credit it back if it doesn't sit. That moves the no-show risk onto the vendor, and gives the vendor a reason to be strict about what it books.
Compare them on cost per sale
For each source, work out what you spent to land one signed job. These are example numbers. Swap in your own.
| Leads | Sat appointments | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $100 per lead | $500 per sit |
| Your team books | 1 in 4 | Already booked |
| Homeowner sits | 4 in 5 | Already sat |
| Your rep closes | 1 in 3 | 1 in 3 |
| Cost per sale | About $1,500 | About $1,500 |
On paper, they come out about even. What the table leaves out decides it: the cost of the team making the calls, the evenings your reps lose to no-shows, and whether you could get the volume you wanted, when you wanted it.
Questions to ask any vendor
- What exactly counts as a billable lead or appointment?
- What happens if the homeowner doesn't show, or isn't qualified?
- Is the homeowner shared with or resold to other companies?
- Who confirms that everyone who decides will be at the appointment?
How Renolist does it
Renolist charges per qualified sat appointment: $500 for bath and $650 for kitchen. We fund the advertising, so you're charged when an appointment is booked. If it doesn't sit, or the homeowner doesn't meet the criteria we agreed on, you flag it in your dashboard within 7 days and get a replacement credit. Every homeowner goes to one remodeler, never shared or resold.