Where do a duct cleaning company’s leads come from, and are they steady?
Ask for a lead log that records how each customer first found the business, then group it by source: paid ads, coupons, partner referrals, repeat customers and word of mouth. Steady leads come from several sources the owner does not have to keep feeding. Check which ones would continue after the sale.
Duct cleaning is bought rarely, so a company usually has to find new customers all the time. That makes the source of its leads one of the most important things to understand. Ask the seller for a booking log that records where each job came from, and for the advertising invoices that sit behind it.
Separate the sources. Paid search and flyers can be turned on and off, which gives control but also dependency. Partnerships with realtors, property managers or home service companies can be steady, but they often rest on a personal relationship. Referrals and reviews are slower to build and tend to last. Look for timing patterns. Many bookings come in waves around seasons, home sales or promotions. Ask how the business copes with quiet weeks and what it spends to fill them. Check ownership of the assets that attract leads: the website, phone numbers, listings and review pages. Make sure they transfer with the business, and ask your lawyer to confirm it.
Finally, ask what would happen to each source if the owner stepped away tomorrow.
Key takeaways
- Build a lead log by source, then compare against advertising invoices.
- Separate paid, partner and referral leads, since they last differently.
- Confirm the website, phone numbers and listings transfer to you.
- Ask what would happen to each lead source if the current owner stepped away tomorrow, then plan around the answer.
Related reading
15 pages on the same subject, grouped by topic.
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Due diligence
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Selling
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentAfter buying a business, what is the next step?
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