Home services is more competitive than ever. And that’s not going to change any time soon. So how do you compete with other home service businesses with more resources than you? You get scrappy, dig in, and make a name for yourself in your community. More than ever, speed to lead – how quickly you respond to a new inquiry – is what determines whether you win a job or it goes to the competition.
The home services speed to lead playbook
In the home services speed to lead playbook you’ll learn:
- What is speed to lead and why is it important?
- The technology you need
- How to increase your speed to lead
- Examples of how to follow up.
What is speed to lead and why is it important in home services?
Speed to lead is all about the time it takes to get in touch with prospective clients. The speed of your lead follow-up could be the difference between new business and a missed opportunity. Research suggests you could be 100 times more likely to convert if you make contact within the first five minutes after an inquiry has been made. Leads can come in from a range of sources, such as inbound calls, website inquiries, social media, and third-party lead gen suppliers such as Angi and Thumbtack. Wherever you get your leads, it’s vital you consider a fast, efficient lead follow-up to turn more of them into paying jobs. In the world of home services, jobs are often urgent. With increased speed to lead, you can ensure your business is there when people need it, making you a name they can trust in the future.
- Follow-ups left longer than five minutes are 10% less likely to engage
- The first vendor to respond to leads is likely to win up to 50% more jobs
How to increase your speed to lead
There’s a lot of moving parts involved in every lead, so let’s break it down into five steps:
- Know where your leads come from
- Understand your customers’ needs
- Your website
- Your job management software
- The right people for the right jobs
1. Know where your leads come from
New leads come from multiple different channels, and each of these comes with different information. A inbound call you will likely need to collect all the information and respond really quickly. An inquiry through your website or through a platform like Angi will come with key contact details, but you’ll need to double-check they’re in your service area.
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2. Understand your customers’ needs
Not all leads want the same thing. Knowing the different inquiry types you get, and the information you need for each massively speeds up the process. You can ask the right and relevant questions, and get to the point you win the job much faster.
3. Your website
There’s a lot of advice out there about building your website, but the core is almost always to keep it really simple. Tell visitors what you do, where you do it, why you’re good at it, and how to contact you. To get leads from your website, make the call to action (CTA) clear and descriptive. Normally that’s a phone number and/or an inquiry form.
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4. Your job management software
Tech is key in getting to leads quickly and asking the right questions. Your job management software or CRM is key here. All the information needs to be in one place, and it needs to be clear what should happen next. Having everything at your fingertips allows you to move quickly and respond faster.
5. The right people in the right jobs
Who is the best person to be answering calls and questions at different points in the customer journey? Who will take the initial call? Who’s best to quote/set up an estimate? Who’s going to close the deal? Some of these might be the same person, but knowing who should be involved in the conversation and when lets you get to the sale much faster.
How can AnswerForce help?
When every second counts, AnswerForce has your back. Our home services receptionists are available to answer your calls 24 hours a day.
- Real people ready to answer incoming calls 24/7 – including after-hours, weekends, and holidays
- Follow-up calls to website and lead site inquiries (like Angi or Thumbtack) to qualify leads and schedule jobs
- Fully customizable scripting so your business always sounds like you.