Blog · Finance metrics and formulas
Calculate a brokerage's cost per inquiry and qualified lead from campaign and CRM exports. Follow each channel through closed deals and contribution before changing the budget.
Average cost per lead in real estate is campaign spending divided by unique inquiries from the same acquisition cohort. For a brokerage comparing channels, calculate cost per qualified lead alongside it, then follow those prospects through closed deals and retained contribution. A low inquiry cost alone does not establish a good use of the budget.
Use these measures together:
Cost per lead = Channel marketing cost / Unique inquiries
Cost per qualified lead = Channel marketing cost / Qualified leads
Contribution after marketing = Brokerage revenue − Direct deal costs − Channel marketing cost
For this example, a qualified lead is a unique prospect whose service area, intended transaction, timing, and readiness have been confirmed by the brokerage. Apply that definition to every channel. Keep buyer and seller prospects identifiable if their economics differ.
The general cost-per-lead method covers the basic denominator. Here the decision is which brokerage channel produces worthwhile outcomes after qualification and closing costs. For external comparisons, the cost-per-lead benchmark method explains the definitions that must match first.
Take a campaign-cost export, a deduplicated CRM lead export, and the closed-deal register. Keep a stable prospect ID, source channel, acquisition cohort, qualification flag, deal ID, and outcome date. Store brokerage revenue and direct costs against the deal ID. Home transaction value is not brokerage revenue.
Finance should reconcile recorded revenue and costs to the books. The IRS recordkeeping guidance explains that invoices, receipts, paid bills, and other supporting documents substantiate business book entries. Keep those references available when a campaign total or closing amount is disputed.
For the following Excel formulas, put the selected acquisition cohort in J1 and the channel in A2. On the Spend sheet, columns A, B, and C contain channel, cohort, and marketing cost. On Leads, A is a unique lead ID, B is channel, C is cohort, and D is the qualification flag, recorded as Yes or No.
Marketing cost in B2:
=SUMIFS(Spend!$C:$C,Spend!$A:$A,$A2,Spend!$B:$B,$J$1)
Unique inquiries in C2, after deduplication:
=COUNTIFS(Leads!$B:$B,$A2,Leads!$C:$C,$J$1,Leads!$A:$A,"<>")
Qualified leads in D2:
=COUNTIFS(Leads!$B:$B,$A2,Leads!$C:$C,$J$1,Leads!$D:$D,"Yes")
SUMIFS adds amounts meeting multiple criteria, while COUNTIFS counts rows meeting all criteria. Neither removes duplicate lead records for you.
Add closed deals in E, brokerage revenue in F, and direct deal costs in G from the matched deal register. Aggregate deals separately before joining the summary, so one prospect's repeated CRM activities do not multiply revenue.
A Colorado brokerage compares a completed acquisition cohort across paid search, property portals, and local events. Marketing cost includes the campaign invoices assigned to each channel. Direct deal costs include agent payouts and transaction-specific expenses; they exclude the marketing already recorded in B.
| Channel | Marketing cost (USD) | Unique inquiries | Qualified leads | Closed deals | Brokerage revenue (USD) | Direct deal costs (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid search | 12,000 | 240 | 60 | 6 | 72,000 | 36,000 |
| Property portals | 9,000 | 300 | 30 | 2 | 24,000 | 12,000 |
| Local events | 3,000 | 60 | 30 | 3 | 36,000 | 18,000 |
| Total | 24,000 | 600 | 120 | 11 | 132,000 | 66,000 |
Calculate the measures from those rows:
Cost per inquiry: =IF(C2=0,"",B2/C2)
Cost per qualified lead: =IF(D2=0,"",B2/D2)
Qualified-lead closing rate: =IF(D2=0,"",E2/D2)
Contribution after marketing: =F2-G2-B2
| Channel | Cost per inquiry (USD) | Cost per qualified lead (USD) | Qualified-lead closing rate | Contribution after marketing (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid search | 50.00 | 200.00 | 10.0% | 24,000 |
| Property portals | 30.00 | 300.00 | 6.7% | 3,000 |
| Local events | 50.00 | 100.00 | 10.0% | 15,000 |
| Total | 40.00 | 200.00 | 9.2% | 42,000 |
Dollar ratios are rounded to cents and rates to one decimal place; formulas use unrounded values. Property portals have the cheapest inquiries but the highest cost per qualified lead. Local events produce the lowest qualified-lead cost in this cohort. That is a reason to examine capacity and repeatability before moving budget, rather than assuming the next event will perform identically.
The real estate lead-conversion method examines stage progression separately. Keep this channel report focused on cost and the contribution that survives closing.
The combined CPL is 24,000 / 600 = $40.00. Do not average the channel CPLs: (50 + 30 + 50) / 3 = $43.33, which gives unequal lead volumes equal weight.
The contribution check is 132,000 − 66,000 − 24,000 = $42,000. The channel results also sum to 24,000 + 3,000 + 15,000 = $42,000. Both paths must agree, and the underlying spend, revenue, and direct-cost columns must reconcile to their source registers.
This result excludes shared office and management costs. Label it contribution after marketing, rather than company profit. Use customer acquisition cost when the question requires the full cost of winning new clients.
Bring a campaign-cost file, CRM lead export, and closed-deal register, or a Google Sheet containing the same rows. Covirage maps the columns, and its tools compute and check the channel figures; the external AI model explains the results with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account in about a minute and bring a sample of your own data.
See customer profitability for the contribution view behind the channel comparison. Covirage is not affiliated with Microsoft or Google.
Use your own completed cohorts and deal economics to set the threshold. An acceptable inquiry cost depends on qualification, the share reaching closing, and the brokerage's retained contribution per deal. An outside average without those definitions cannot establish whether your channel is profitable.
Use one documented rule for unique prospects. Repeat forms or calls from the same prospect should not inflate the acquisition denominator. Preserve those interactions separately so agents can review follow-up without turning one potential client into several acquired leads.
Define the measure before calculating it. A media-only CPL excludes agent compensation. A broader acquisition measure may include assigned follow-up labor. In the worked example, agent payouts sit in direct deal costs, and marketing cost is reported separately to prevent double counting.
A closing month's transactions can originate from several acquisition periods. Assigning those closings to the current month's advertising disconnects costs from outcomes. Follow leads acquired in the same period through a stated reporting cutoff, and identify any cohort that still has open opportunities.