How to Read Your ROI Page
Your ROI page is where you decide where to spend your lead budget next month. Read it right and you reallocate spend toward what's working. Read it wrong and you keep paying for leads that aren't paying you back.
In this guide:
- The 4 main sections of the ROI page
- How to read the provider comparison
- What the waterfall chart actually shows
- How to read the time-to-close histogram
- The 2 questions to ask every month
Time to read: 7 minutes Best for: Owners, ops managers responsible for lead spend.
Where do I find the ROI page?
Click "Leads" in the sidebar or go to Dashboard → Leads. The ROI page is the main landing view — it shows all your lead providers ranked by performance.
What are the 4 main sections of the page?
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Provider ranking table | Every provider, ranked by ROI |
| Waterfall chart | Earnings broken down from premium to net profit |
| Spend vs. return timeline | How much you spent and earned each month |
| Time-to-close histogram | How long leads took to bind |
How do I read the provider ranking table?
Every row is one provider, ranked top to bottom by ROI.
Columns:
- Provider — EverQuote, QuoteWizard, Referrals, etc.
- Leads — how many you received
- CPL — cost per lead
- Quote rate — percent that quoted
- Close rate — percent of quotes that bound
- Cost per policy — what each bound policy cost you in lead spend
- ROI — return on what you spent
Color coding on the ROI column
| Color | What it means |
|---|---|
| 🟢 Green | Strong ROI (3x or better) |
| 🟡 Yellow | Breaking even (1–3x) |
| 🔴 Red | Losing money (under 1x) |
Rule of thumb. If a provider has been red for 60+ days, cut it. If it's been green for 60+ days, consider spending more.
What does the waterfall chart show?
How your lead spend flows from premium at the top to profit at the bottom.
It's called a waterfall because each bar shows what was left after subtracting something:
- Total premium bound — the policies your leads became
- Minus commission rate — what the agency actually earns
- Minus lead spend — what you paid for the leads
- Minus service cost — rough cost to service the policies
- = Net profit
Why it matters. Most agencies look at total premium and think they're winning. The waterfall shows what's actually left after paying for the leads. Sometimes the gap is surprising.
How do I read the spend vs. return timeline?
Two lines over time — lead spend and earned commission.
If the commission line is above the spend line, you're making money. If it's below, you're losing.
Look for three patterns:
- Spend line flat, return line rising — strong. Your existing budget is converting better.
- Spend line rising, return line rising more slowly — yellow flag. You're scaling but the new leads aren't converting as well as the old ones.
- Spend line flat, return line dropping — red flag. Lead source is getting worse. Investigate.
What does the time-to-close histogram show?
How long your leads typically take from first contact to bound policy.
Each bar is a range of days: 0–7 days, 8–14 days, 15–30 days, and so on.
A healthy histogram has a big spike in the 0–30 day range and a long tail beyond. That matches industry patterns: most policies bind in the first month.
Click any bar to drill in. You'll see every lead that closed in that window — useful for finding patterns (which producer closes fast? which provider has a long tail?).
What different shapes mean
| Shape | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Big spike early, quick tail-off | Fast-closing leads — good provider |
| Flat across all buckets | Leads that drag — weak intent |
| Big spike at 60+ days | Long-cycle products or reluctant producers |
What 2 questions should I ask every month?
Question 1 — Which providers are above/below my CPP target?
Set a cost-per-policy target (usually 25% of first-year commission). Any provider above it for 2 months running should get a conversation — reduce spend or cut it.
Question 2 — Is my total ROI trending up or down?
Month over month, your total lead ROI should be stable or climbing. If it's dropping for 2 months straight, something changed — leads got worse, close rates dropped, or service cost went up. Dig into which.
Can I filter the ROI page by date range?
Yes. The date picker in the top-right scopes everything on the page — table, waterfall, timeline, histogram.
Common ranges:
- Last 30 days — operational check
- This quarter — strategic review
- Year to date — big-picture ROI
Can I export the ROI page?
Yes — two ways:
- PDF — click Export in the top-right for a full printable report
- CSV — each table has its own Download CSV button for detailed analysis in Excel
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is one provider showing blank ROI?
Usually means no sales are matched yet — the leads are too new or too few. AgencyIQ hides ROI until the provider meets the minimum threshold (300 leads, 60 days, 10 bound policies).
Why does my total ROI look lower than the individual provider ROIs?
Because totals include providers that have lost money. If Provider A made 5x and Provider B lost money, the blended number is between them.
How often does the ROI page update?
Live. Every time you upload new sales or new leads, the numbers refresh on the next page load.
What if I don't trust the service cost estimate?
AgencyIQ uses 10–15% of premium as the service cost rule of thumb — the same range most independent agencies use when they calculate this by hand.
Does the page include commissions from renewed policies in ROI?
Year-1 renewals, yes. Year-2 and beyond are considered organic. Lifetime ROI is a separate view for agencies that have been running providers 18+ months.
Stop guessing which lead source is worth the spend
AgencyIQ is free during beta for Founding Members. One page, every provider ranked by actual profit — including the retention signal most agencies skip.
Founding Members get grandfathered pricing when we launch paid tiers later this year.
Last updated: 2026-04-18