Disclosure: We run a competing referral model, judge us by the same five checks. This page exists because the definitions below are routinely blurred by people selling the cheapest of the three products under the name of the best one.
The three definitions
Shared lead
One enquiry, sold to several businesses at once.A homeowner fills in a form; the platform sells that contact to multiple firms; each buyer races to call first and quote lowest. This is the default product of directories and most pay per lead companies, it’s what the complaint themes around Checkatrade and Bark describe.
Exclusive lead
One enquiry, sold to one business. Nobody else gets the number, so the race disappears, which is why exclusive leads price higher than shared ones. But an exclusive lead is still, usually, a raw form-fill: nobody has verified the person answers, asked their timeline, or checked whether they already booked someone. You bought solitude, not certainty.
Referral
A recommendation from a source the customer already trusts.The customer is given one name and told to expect that call. They know who’s ringing and why; they’ve described the job themselves; and exclusivity isn’t a pricing tier, it’s the definition. A “referral” sent to three firms is just a shared lead wearing a nicer word.
Exclusive is a property of the transaction. Warm is a property of the customer. Only a referral gives you both.
The economics: racing 10–20+ firms vs 1 of 1
Start with the prices. In the UK a shared lead typically sells for £15–40; an exclusive, intent-confirmed referral runs £45–120. The gap looks like a saving until you count the race. Checkatrade’s model shares one enquiry with 10–20+ member trades: at most one wins the job, and everyone else paid, in membership, call-backs and quoting time, to lose. The per-lead price of a shared lead is low precisely because the seller collects it several times over. Your real number is never price per lead, it’s total spend divided by jobs won, and a shared race divides your numerator across everyone in it.
The dated, per-platform version of every price on this page lives in lead prices UK and US. The category question underneath, what makes a referral a different product rather than a better lead, is in referral vs lead.
This is not a trades quirk. In US solar, SolarReviews’ own published page states its leads are sold to 2.3 companies on average, with no returns, and that 93–97% won’t close. That’s the seller saying it, not us. In US life insurance, the widely-reported industry figure is that a fresh final expense lead is called by 5–20 agents within the first hour. Same product, same race, different badge.
Affly, a lead-gen blog, runs an illustrative example that makes the arithmetic vivid: shared leads at £2–20 closing at 5–15%, against exclusive leads at £15–80 closing at 25–40%, with contact rates of 30–50% versus 70–90%. Their numbers are an illustration, not a measurement, but run the division either way and the cost per job won inverts. The cheap column loses.
Exclusive flips that: you pay more per enquiry, but a competent business converts an uncontested, live enquiry at a rate a race never allows. And a referral goes one step further, the customer arrives already pointed at you, so the conversation starts at “when can you come?” rather than “I’m getting a few quotes”.
Same word, three products
| What matters | Shared lead | Referral |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses receiving it | Several, often many | One. 1 of 1 |
| Customer expects your call | No, you are one of a pack | Yes, by name |
| Job described | Form categories | Their own words |
| Verified before billing | Rarely | Five published checks, or not billed |
| Price per unit | Low, sold many times | Higher, but priced per job won, it inverts |
(Exclusive leads sit between the columns: one buyer like a referral, raw form-fill like a shared lead.)
The five-check rubric, judge ANY provider with it
We publish our quality bar as The Referral Standard, and the five checks work as a buying rubric for anyone’s product, shared, exclusive, or referral. Put these to any provider, in writing:
- Real & reachable, do you verify the person answers before I’m billed?
- In their own words, do I read the customer’s description of the job, or your form’s?
- Timeline stated, has the customer said when they want the work done?
- Still an open job, do you check whether the work is already done or signed elsewhere?
- One buyer only, exactly how many businesses receive this enquiry?
A shared-lead seller fails check five by definition. Most exclusive-lead sellers fail one to four. A real referral passes all five, and a provider that won’t answer the questions has answered them.
Straight answers
What is a shared lead?
A shared lead is one customer enquiry sold to several businesses at the same time. Each buyer pays for the same contact details, then races the others to call first and quote lowest. Checkatrade, for example, shares one enquiry with 10–20+ member trades: however many buy in, at most one wins the job, and everyone else paid to lose.
What is an exclusive lead?
An exclusive lead is an enquiry sold to one business only. Nobody else gets the contact, so there is no race, but it is still usually a raw form-fill: unverified, no stated timeline, and the customer is not expecting your call by name. Exclusivity fixes the competition problem, not the quality problem.
What is a referral?
A referral is a recommendation, not a record sale. A brand or person the customer already trusts gives them one name and tells them that business will be in touch. The customer expects the call, knows who is calling, and has usually described the job themselves. It is exclusive by nature, a recommendation to three firms at once is not a recommendation.
Why are shared leads so much cheaper than exclusive leads?
Because the seller sells the same enquiry several times, each buyer pays a fraction. In the UK a shared lead typically costs £15–40, while an exclusive, intent-confirmed referral runs £45–120. But your real cost is total spend divided by jobs actually won, and a shared race divides the wins across every buyer. A cheap ticket to a race you mostly lose can cost more per job than an expensive certainty.
How do I judge any lead or referral provider before paying?
Ask five questions of whatever they send: Is the person real and reachable? Did they describe the job in their own words? Did they state a timeline? Is the job still open, or already finished and signed? And how many businesses receive this same enquiry? A provider that cannot answer all five in writing is selling you the gaps.
Are exclusive leads worth the higher price?
Often, yes, one buyer means your response speed and price are no longer racing anyone. But exclusivity alone does not make an enquiry good: an exclusive dead phone number is still a dead phone number. Price any provider on cost per job won, and insist on knowing what gets checked before you are billed.
Where to go from here
If you’re currently on a platform and doing this maths for the first time, start with Checkatrade alternatives for tradespeople , every major option scored on this page’s rubric, and the honest verdict in is Checkatrade worth it for tradespeople. If the referral column is the product you actually want, that’s what we build: exclusive trade leads, one company per area, consumer brands that recommend one business, with every job checked before it’s sent. One partner per area, so the only question left is whether yours is open.
Published 11 August 2026. UK price ranges are from the UK Trade Lead Cost Tracker (22 July 2026) and the platforms’ own published terms. SolarReviews figures are from SolarReviews’ own published page; the final expense figure is a widely-reported industry figure; Affly’s numbers are their illustrative example, not measured data. Platform complaint themes referenced are covered, with sources, in the linked articles.