By A homeowner’s furnace quits on a cold January night in Toledo. What do they do?
They grab their phone. They search “furnace repair near me.” They call the first company. Voicemail. They call the second. Voicemail. They call the third. Someone answers. “We can be there in the morning.”
Who gets the job? The third company. Not the best. Not the cheapest. The one that answered.
That’s speed to lead. It’s the simplest way to win more jobs, and most contractors are bad at it.
What the research says
A well-known Harvard Business Review study looked at how fast more than 2,000 companies answered online leads. Here’s what it found:
- Companies that reached a lead within an hour were nearly 7 times more likely to have a real conversation with them than companies that waited even one more hour.
- They were more than 60 times more likely than companies that waited a day or longer.
- Many companies took more than a day to answer at all.
That study was about business leads. Home services are even faster. A leaking roof or a dead AC is urgent. The homeowner keeps calling until someone picks up.
What a missed call really costs
Most owners have no idea how much money goes to voicemail. Let’s do the math for a typical small contractor:
- 40 calls a month
- You miss 20% because you’re on a roof, under a sink or driving: 8 missed calls
- About half are real jobs (the rest are spam or wrong numbers): 4 real jobs
- You’d close 35% of them: 1.4 jobs a month
- At $2,500 a job, that’s $3,500 a month, or $42,000 a year
That money doesn’t disappear. It goes to the company down the road that answered.
Run your own numbers in the missed-call calculator. Most owners are shocked.
Why the first company usually wins
When a homeowner reaches you first, a few things happen:
- They stop shopping. Many people book the first company that sounds like it knows what it’s doing.
- You set the standard. Every company after you gets compared to you.
- You look like a pro. Fast answers say, “This company is organized. They’ll show up.”
Alex Hormozi makes a simple point: a lead’s interest is highest the moment they reach out. Every minute you wait, it drops. So the money is in reaching them while they’re still “hot.”
The 5-minute rule
Make this your rule: every new lead gets a real reply within 5 minutes during business hours.
Not an email tomorrow. Not a call back “when I get a chance.” Five minutes.
If you can’t call in 5 minutes, text in 5 minutes:
“Hi, this is Mike with ABC Heating. Sorry I missed you, I’m on a job. Is this about a repair or a new system? I’ll call you back by 3:00.”
That one text tells them you’re real, you got their message and when you’ll call. Most people will wait for you instead of calling the next company.
Set up missed-call text-back
This is the single best tool for small contractors. When you miss a call, your phone system sends the caller a text automatically within seconds.
Many business phone apps and CRMs can do this. Here’s a good message:
“Hi! Sorry we missed your call. This is ABC Roofing. Are you calling about a repair, a new roof or storm damage? Reply here and we’ll get right back to you.”
Now the homeowner has a reply in seconds, even while you’re on a ladder. Many will text back with details. You can answer between tasks.
A simple call script
When you do call back, use the same simple steps every time:
- Greet and thank them. “Hi, this is Mike from ABC Heating. Thanks for reaching out.”
- Ask what’s going on. “Tell me what’s happening with your furnace.”
- Ask how urgent it is. “Is it out completely, or still running?”
- Ask one or two key questions. “How old is the system? Do you own the home?”
- Book a time. “I can have someone there tomorrow at 9 or at 1. Which works better?”
- Confirm by text. “I’ll text you a confirmation with the tech’s name.”
Notice step 5. Don’t ask “When would you like us to come out?” Give two choices. It’s easier to pick one than to think of a time.
Speed after hours and on weekends
Many people search for contractors at night, after work, when they finally have time to deal with the problem.
- Night leads: Send an instant text with when you’ll call. Call first thing in the morning, before 8:30.
- Weekend leads: Even a quick text Saturday afternoon beats a call Monday.
- Emergencies: If you offer emergency service, say so on your site and Google profile, and make sure that line actually gets answered.
Answer every channel, not just the phone
Leads come from everywhere now:
- Phone calls
- Texts
- Website forms
- Google Business Profile messages
- Facebook and Instagram messages
- Directory sites like Home Pros Ohio
Pick one place where all of them land, like a shared inbox or a simple CRM. Check it every hour. A message that sits in Facebook for two days is a lost job.
What about hiring someone to answer?
Do the math first. If missed calls cost you $40,000 a year and an answering service or part-time office person costs $12,000, it’s an easy choice.
Options from cheapest to most expensive:
- Missed-call text-back (very low cost)
- Live answering service that books appointments for you
- Part-time office help during your busiest hours
- Full-time office person or call center
Start with number 1. Move up as you grow.
Track your speed
What gets measured gets better. Once a week, look at:
- How many leads came in
- How many got a reply within 5 minutes
- How many booked an estimate
If your 5-minute number is under 80%, that’s the first thing to fix.
Speed doesn’t stop at the first call
Speed matters at every step:
- Estimate speed: Send written estimates the same day if you can. The longer they wait, the colder they get.
- Follow-up speed: Follow up on day 1, not day 7. (Read our follow-up system.)
- Start speed: “We can start next week” wins over “we’re 6 weeks out” for many homeowners. If you’re booked out, offer a firm date and a deposit to hold it.
Your speed-to-lead checklist
- Missed-call text-back is turned on
- Every channel (phone, text, forms, Google, Facebook) lands in one place
- Every new lead gets a reply within 5 minutes during business hours
- Night and weekend leads get an instant text with a callback time
- I use the same simple call script every time
- I offer two appointment times instead of asking “when?”
- Estimates go out the same day
- I check my speed numbers every week
Do these and you’ll win jobs your competitors don’t even know they lost.
