As fast as you possibly can. When a homeowner needs a contractor, they usually contact a few at once and go with the first one who gives them a straight answer. A lead that waits until tomorrow has often already booked someone else.
Why speed matters more than price
Someone with a broken AC or a cracked driveway wants to know it's handled. The contractor who answers first gets to set the appointment, ask the questions and build trust before anyone else is in the picture. Being a little more expensive matters much less than being the one who called back.
Why contractors are slow to respond
It's rarely laziness. You're on a job, driving, with a customer, or it's 9pm. Leads come in through calls, texts, website forms and Facebook, and some of them get buried. The fix isn't working harder. It's setting things up so leads can't slip.
A simple setup that fixes it
- Text back missed calls automatically with a short message saying you'll call back soon. It keeps the caller from dialing the next contractor.
- Cover after hours. An answering service or AI agent can take the details and book the estimate when you can't pick up.
- Get an alert for every new lead on your phone, the moment it comes in.
- Keep every lead in one place so nothing lives only in a text thread or someone's memory.
Follow up on quotes, too
Speed matters after the estimate as well. A quick check-in a few days after you send a quote, and another a week later, wins jobs that would otherwise go quiet. A simple lead board that shows who's waiting on what makes this easy.