Improving Getting Lead Responses

FamigliaDesignBuild

Hi everyone,

We’re a remodeling contractor and have been receiving direct leads, but we’re struggling to get consistent responses after the initial inquiry.

We respond as quickly as possible (sometimes the inquiries come in overnight, but we follow up first thing in the morning), and we typically reach out via both phone call and text to try to connect.

We understand that not every lead will be a fit, and that’s completely fine — we just want to improve our response rate and actually connect with the homeowners who reached out.

For those of you having success, what strategies are you using to increase reply rates on direct leads?

Any insight or best practices would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

DustiO

@FamigliaDesignBuild this is a great question, and welcome!

Here are some tips that have been offered by pros in the past:

• Refresh your profile intro once a month using Ai, to mix it up and test what resonates more with customers (from @1_gold_hands, a handyman who has grown to 7 locations using Thumbtack)
• Reach out via the Thumbtack messenger, and then text and call - different pros suggested different timing that works for them like text immediately, call after 1 hr or 2 hrs, etc (several pros suggested this one)
• Leave the message on a positive note and follow up with "nurture campaigns" - reaching out to customers every 30 days/60 days/etc with a refresher message (both @ShaquealThomas and @SOUNIQUE007 use this tactic and have multiple customers hire them at later dates)
• Try a contest/sweepstakes - tell them even if they have used another pro and don’t need your services they can gift it to someone else! But put a deadline on it to add some urgency
  • Another pro mentioned in yesterday's session that he recently started doing this and it worked! He texted and said something along these lines, "I don't want to bother you with a phone call, but I'd like to offer you $25 off of my service if you get back to me within 48 hours." and the customer did!
• Leave on a positive note, leave all of your contact info if they come back later (from @ShaquealThomas)
• Message people during off time like evenings and weekends, when they will have time to respond to the message right when they see the notification, vs if they are at work) (from @AR2i, who has had a lot of success using this tactic)
• Send them a note with all of the services you offer, in case they have already figured out that job, they can return later to hire you for other things (also from @1_gold_hands)

Hopefully these help! You can always join a live networking session to meet other pros and ask advice as well!