September reset: turn more enquiries into booked jobs
You probably do not need more enquiries. You need more of the ones you already get to turn into bookings. Reply the same working day, follow up after two days, and make it possible to say yes in one message.
September is a fresh start for customers as well. The holidays are over, the house needs sorting before winter, and enquiries pick up.
Most trades respond by trying to get more of them. It is easier to lose fewer.
Enquiries leak away in three places: a slow first reply, no follow-up, and a booking that takes too many steps.
Quick version
- Reply to every enquiry the same working day.
- Give a next step in the first reply, not only "thanks, I will be in touch".
- Follow up a quote after two days.
- Offer two dates, so the customer can book with one word.
- Count enquiries, quotes and bookings each week.
The first reply
A customer who sends three enquiries often goes with whoever comes back first with something useful.
You do not need a full price in the first reply. You need to show you have read the message and say what happens next.
"Thanks, I can help with that. Can you send a photo and your postcode? I will have a price to you by 6 tonight" beats a perfect quote that arrives on Thursday.
Set one time each day when every enquiry gets an answer, and keep to it.
The follow-up
Most quotes that go quiet are not a no. The customer got busy, or is waiting for another price, or forgot.
Two days after sending, check in once. Keep it short and give them an easy way to say yes, no or not yet.
A second follow-up a week later is fine. After that, leave it. You have done your part.
Make yes easy
Count the steps between "that price is fine" and a date in the diary. If it takes four messages to agree a day, some people drop out along the way.
Put two dates in the quote or the follow-up. Then the reply can be one word.
If you take a deposit, send the way to pay with the dates, not afterwards.
Count it
Three numbers a week: enquiries in, quotes sent, jobs booked.
After a month you will see where the gap is. Plenty of enquiries and few quotes means slow replies. Plenty of quotes and few bookings means the follow-up or the price.
Fix the bigger gap first.
Worked £ example
Say you get 20 enquiries a month and 6 become jobs, at an average of £220.
Faster replies and one follow-up turn 6 into 8.
That is £440 a month more from the same enquiries, with nothing extra spent on finding them.
Do this this week
- Pick your daily reply time and set an alarm.
- Write a first-reply message and a follow-up message.
- Follow up every quote from the last two weeks that has had no answer.
- Start the three-number count.
Copy/paste scripts
First reply:
Thanks for getting in touch, I can help with that. Could you send a couple of photos and your postcode? I will come back to you with a price by [time] today.
Follow-up:
Hi [name], just checking you got my quote for [job]. I have [day] or [day] free if you would like to go ahead. If the timing is not right, say so and I will check back whenever suits.
FAQ
How fast is fast enough?
The same working day. Within the hour is better, but a reliable reply by 6pm beats a fast one that only happens sometimes.
Is following up pushy?
One message two days later is not. It is often the reminder the customer needed. Three messages in a week is pushy.
What if I am too busy to reply quickly?
Then a short holding reply is enough: you have the message, and they will hear from you by a set time. Silence is what loses the job.
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