What is average ticket?

Why it matters for a contractor.

It is the number that decides whether a marketing cost is expensive. The same cost per appointment is a bargain at one ticket and ruinous at another.

This is why cross-trade benchmarks are close to useless. A cost per appointment that would bankrupt a service plumber is comfortable for a pool builder, and quoting a single industry standard without naming the trade is a sign the person quoting it has not thought about it.

It is also more movable than most owners assume, and it moves at the kitchen table rather than in the marketing. Presenting good, better, best instead of one figure, and showing a monthly payment instead of a total, changes which project the homeowner says yes to rather than whether they say yes.

Track it by channel, not just overall. A source producing a lower average ticket is quietly worth less per appointment even at the same cost, and that difference rarely shows up until someone segments it.

What to ask a vendor about it.

• What is my average ticket by channel, not just overall?
• What would a point of margin or a larger scope be worth against my current appointment cost?
• Are reps presenting options, or a single number?
• Which channel brings the biggest jobs, and are we funding it accordingly?