Why Lead Costs Are Exploding for Home Service Businesses (And How Smart Contractors Are Adapting)

What AI, Marketing Shifts, and 40 Years in Roofing Taught Mike Feazel About Surviving the Next Decade.Most contractors are feeling it right now: leads are getting more expensive, Google is changing the rules, and the old ways of marketing aren’t producing the same results.But very few people in the roofing industry have the history, perspective, and data to explain why — and what comes next.That’s why this episode with Mike Feazel, CEO and founder of RoofMaxx, is so important.Mike has been in roofing for over 40 years. He built one of the top residential roofing companies in the country, went through the chaos of insurance-driven work, saw the margins collapse, and instead of giving up — he invented an entirely new category: roof restoration, now with over 380 dealers nationally.In this conversation, Mike breaks down the massive shifts happening right now in home services, including:– The “Zero-Click” Crisis: How Google’s AI Overviews are stealing traffic, rewriting search results, and reshaping how homeowners find contractors. Why even high-review companies are being summarized as “mixed reviews,” and what that means for your reputation.– Why Lead Costs Are Exploding: How paid traffic is drying up, why SEO is becoming unpredictable, and why diversification is now mandatory — not optional.– AI’s Immediate Impact on the Trades: How Mike is already using AI for: call centers, training, content, KPI dashboards, sales workflows, assistant agents for scheduling and estimating, and why AI won’t replace contractors — but it will replace any company that ignores efficiency.– The Financial Reality Contractors Must Face: Why most roofing companies get stuck at $2–3M in revenue. – The importance of knowing your CAC, gross margin, and lead-to-sale math– How Mike almost lost his business by focusing on revenue instead of economics– Why Roof Restoration Is Now Its Own Category: How RoofMaxx gives homeowners a third option, not repair or replace, but restore and how that solves a pain point in today’s economy.– Where the Industry Is Going: The next 5 years of roofing and home services– Why brand trust and education matter more than ever– Why contractors must become students of AI, not spectatorsThis episode is for the contractor who wants clarity: climate change in marketing, rising costs, AI disruption, operational efficiency, and the financial discipline required to thrive in the coming decade.If you're serious about staying relevant and profitable in this changing landscape, you’ll want to hear every minute of this conversation with Mike Feazel.