What Is a Closing Rate?
What Is a Closing Rate? A Worked Example
Made-up numbers. In a month, 40 leads come in, each a job with a name, a phone and an address. 14 of them close. Your closing rate is 14 divided by 40, which is 35%. If you spent $2,100 on ads, each lead cost about $52 (2,100 divided by 40) and each booked job $150 (2,100 divided by 14).
The formula is closed jobs divided by leads. A lead is a job with a name, a phone and an address, as set out in What Counts as a Lead?. A click and a bare phone call are not leads, so they are not in the bottom of the fraction.
How HeadHoncho Counts It
Every job on your board starts as a lead, because a job needs a name, a phone and an address. So on the reports in HeadHoncho, the rate is closed jobs divided by every job in the date range, whatever its status. A job that is still open, or was canceled, stays in the bottom of the fraction.
The map and the place tables ask a narrower question: of the jobs that ended, how many closed? There the rate is closed jobs divided by closed plus canceled jobs. A job still open is left out until it ends.
Made-up numbers. 40 jobs in the month: 14 closed, 6 canceled, 20 still open.
| Where you read it | The count | Closing rate |
|---|---|---|
| Reports: closed of every job | 14 of 40 | 35% |
| Map and places: closed of jobs that ended | 14 of 20 | 70% |
Neither is wrong, but never compare one with the other. The label on the screen tells you which one you are reading. Early in a month the map's rate runs high, because the jobs still open have not had the chance to cancel.
How It Is Usually Miscounted
- Calls are the bottom of the fraction. Most calls are not jobs, so the rate looks bad.
- Canceled jobs drop out. The rate looks better, but the cancels are the story.
- Open jobs are counted as lost. A job still on the board has not closed yet. Count the month after it settles.
- Different sources are blended. A rate from Google Ads and a rate from referrals are not the same thing. Split by source.
Related Terms
Cost per Lead, What Counts as a Lead?, Lead Source.
The rate is half of the picture. The other half is what each booked job cost you, which is in How to Work Out Your Cost per Booked Job.