How fast should I respond to a new lead?
Calls & Answering — answered straight, by an operator who builds these systems rather than an agency selling them.
Minutes, not hours. Home-service buyers typically contact several companies in one sitting and hire whoever responds first with a credible answer. Being first is often worth more than being cheapest.
The longer version
Research on lead response consistently shows contact rates collapsing as delay grows — the difference between a five-minute reply and an hour-later reply is large, and the difference between same-day and next-day is close to fatal. The exact multiples vary by study; the direction never does.
Speed is a systems problem, not a discipline problem. Nobody running a crew can watch an inbox. Route every lead — form, call, chat, ad — into one place that pings a phone, auto-texts an acknowledgment immediately, and escalates if nobody responds inside your window.
More on calls & answering
Other questions
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Want this done for your business instead of explained? Email bannisterderik@gmail.com or call/text 530-736-7085 — you get a straight answer from me, not a sales sequence.
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