The Real Talk on Different Types of Leads for Movers

I talk to moving company owners every single week, and the conversation almost always circles back to leads. Where are they coming from? Are they any good? Why am I spending so much and closing so little?

Here's the thing -- most moving companies don't have a lead problem. They have a lead quality problem. And that usually comes down to not understanding the difference between the types of leads you're getting and where they actually sit on the spectrum from "total waste of time" to "this person is ready to book right now."

I know this because I lived it. I spent years running and growing My Pro Movers in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area. Twenty-five trucks, over 10,000 reviews. And when we were growing that company, I made every mistake in the book with leads before I figured out what actually works. So let me walk you through the real types of leads in the moving industry and what each one is actually worth.

Shared Leads: The Worst ROI in Moving

Let's start at the bottom. Shared leads are when a lead provider sells the same customer's information to three, four, five, sometimes even more moving companies at the same time. You're all getting the same name, same phone number, same move date. And then it's a race to the bottom -- who can call first, who can undercut the most on price.

I am not a fan. At all.

The close rate on shared leads is terrible because by the time you call, that person has already talked to two other companies. They're comparison shopping on price, not on quality. And you're paying for the privilege of competing against everyone else who bought that same lead.

If you're spending $5,000 a month on shared leads, I'm going to be honest with you -- that money would be better spent almost anywhere else. The math just doesn't work when you factor in the close rate and the average job value you're actually getting from those customers.

Exclusive Leads: Better, But You're Still Renting

Exclusive leads are a step up. You're the only company that gets that customer's information. Your close rate goes up, the lead quality tends to be better, and you're not fighting for scraps with four other movers.

But here's the thing -- you're still renting. You're paying someone else's platform for access to customers that should be finding you directly. The moment you stop paying, those leads disappear. You haven't built anything. You don't own anything.

Exclusive leads can make sense as a bridge, especially when you're growing or filling holes in the off-season. I get that. You have to do what you have to do to keep the trucks moving. But the goal should always be to reduce your dependence on them over time, not increase it.

Lead Platforms (Yelp, Angi, Thumbtack): The Trap

This one is personal for me. In the early days of My Pro Movers, we were a Yelp operation. We were paying Yelp all our budget and getting all our business from Yelp. And that's how a lot of companies start -- they pay money to Angi, to Thumbtack, to whoever is promising them leads.

The leads from these platforms? Affordable. But just terrible. The quality is bad, the customers are price-shopping, and the platforms themselves are borderline extortion in how they structure their pricing once you're dependent on them.

I haven't used them in years, and I don't miss them. But I remember what it felt like to be stuck on that treadmill -- paying every month, knowing the leads weren't great, but feeling like I couldn't stop because where else would the business come from?

The answer is: from channels you actually own. But we'll get there.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Leads: The Auction You Can't Win

PPC -- Google Ads, specifically -- is probably the least efficient place to put your money as a local moving company. I know that's a strong statement, but I can say this for certain with moving.

It's an auction. And think about all those van lines and national companies willing to spend $10,000 a week. If you want to play that game, you want to try to bully people out of your market and throw a bunch of budget at the wall, then you can do that. But if you're not willing to outspend the national brands, you're just trying to bite around the edges with it.

And the off-season? Forget about it. If you're relying on ads through the winter, you're in for a bad time. The cost per click goes up, the volume goes down, and you're fighting for scraps with everyone else who's desperate for work.

Now -- I'm not saying don't do PPC. We run ads at My Pro Movers. I run them for clients. But PPC should never be your primary strategy. It should supplement your organic presence, not replace it. I don't like to give all my money to the biggest corporation in the world when I can basically take five times that value from them without paying them a dime through organic.

LSA (Local Service Ads) Leads: The Better Buy

In a lot of markets, LSAs are a way better buy than traditional PPC. You're paying per lead, not per click. The customer has already expressed intent to hire a mover. And the Google Guaranteed badge adds a layer of trust that helps your close rate.

LSAs aren't perfect -- you still don't own the channel, and Google can change the rules anytime. But if you're going to spend money on paid leads, LSAs typically give you more bang for your buck than standard Google Ads in most moving markets.

Just don't put all your eggs in that basket. Something could change on LSA and then all of a sudden that lead source turns into crap. It's always good to be diversified.

Google Business Profile Leads: This Is Where the Game Is

Alright, now we're talking. Your Google Business Profile -- your GMB -- is where probably 80% of your business is going to come from. This is THE primary lead channel for local moving companies, and it's not even close.

The GMB is what's going to print 100% of the time. When someone searches "movers near me" and your listing shows up in the map pack with a strong rating, real reviews, and good photos -- that person is calling you. They're not price-shopping across five companies. They found you, they trust you, and they're ready to book.

I have seven or eight GMB locations across the DC, Maryland, Virginia area. Each one ranks for 50-plus keywords in its radius. Each one brings in real, high-quality leads from people who are actively looking for a mover right now. When you build a new Google Business Profile, you're ranking for 50-plus keywords at the same time in that radius, at a higher place on the page, in a spot that people have been trained to look for.

The game here is to plant your flag in as many areas as you can. For My Pro Movers, we built about one location every six months to a year. A couple hundred bucks a month for a short period, get a location on Google, and it's bringing in 20, 30, 40 grand a month. That math works every single time.

Organic SEO Leads: The Asset You Actually Own

At the end of the day, the best lead is the one that comes directly from your own online presence. Organic leads -- people who find your website through Google search, read your content, and pick up the phone -- are the highest quality leads you will ever get.

Why? Because they chose you. They weren't sold your information by a lead provider. They weren't clicking on an ad. They searched for a mover, found your website, liked what they saw, and called. That's a customer who already trusts you before you even answer the phone.

This is what I mean when I talk about self-reliance. For me, the most important thing is that I'm generating my own leads. Your website, your money pages, your service area pages -- these are assets that you own. No one can take them away from you. No platform can raise your rates. No algorithm change kills your entire pipeline overnight because you've built something real.

Building organic takes time. It's foundational level work. You're not going to rank overnight. But every dollar you invest in organic is building an asset, while every dollar you spend on paid leads is renting someone else's platform.

Referral Leads: The Cherry on Top

Referral leads -- from past customers, from real estate agents, from local business partners -- these have the highest close rate of any lead type, bar none. Someone trusted you with their move, had a great experience, and told their friend about you.

You can't build a business on referrals alone, but they should be a natural byproduct of doing great work. And here's something a lot of movers miss -- those relationships with local partners can also generate backlinks to your website that are almost priceless. Those links that you get from your local partners, a marketing agency can't necessarily get those for you because they don't have that relationship.

So Where Should You Actually Put Your Money?

When you don't know where your leads are coming from, it's really hard to make good decisions. That's step one -- track everything. Know exactly which channels are producing and which ones are eating your budget.

Then, start shifting. If you're spending everything on shared leads and PPC, start redirecting some of that budget toward building your Google Business Profile presence and your organic SEO. It won't happen overnight, but over time you'll go from renting your leads to owning them.

That's the path I walked myself. I went from being a Yelp mover to generating my own leads through organic and GMB. It took time, but at the end of the day, it's the only strategy that actually builds lasting value.

Consider me a resource on this stuff. Whether you work with us or not, understanding your lead sources is the first step to building a moving company that isn't dependent on anyone else's platform to survive.