Reply to every enquiry fast, without living on your phone

Plenty of good businesses lose work in the gap between a form being sent and someone replying. Closing that gap doesn't take more staff. It takes a few simple automations, set up once.

Why the first hour matters

A Harvard Business Review study tested how quickly 2,241 US companies responded to web enquiries. Firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as those that waited even an hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as those that waited 24 hours or more. The average response time was 42 hours, and nearly a quarter of the companies never replied at all^[1].

1. An instant, automatic confirmation

The moment someone sends a form, they should get an email or text back. It tells them they reached a real business and gives them a reason to wait for you instead of carrying on shopping around. A good one includes:

• Their name and what they asked about.
• When you'll reply, in hours, not "soon".
• A phone number for anything urgent.
• One useful next step, like your prices or photos of your work.

2. An alert that actually reaches you

An enquiry is only as fast as the person who sees it. Send new ones where you'll notice them, like a text, a phone notification or your team chat, with the details in the message so you can reply from a job site.

3. A reminder for the ones that slip

Busy days happen. Set a simple rule: if an enquiry hasn't had a reply within an hour during business hours, remind you, then someone else. A CRM does this for you, and keeps every enquiry, reply and follow-up in one place.

4. A text back for missed calls

A missed call is an enquiry too. An automatic text, like "Sorry we missed you. We'll call back within the hour, or reply here", keeps the conversation going. An AI receptionist can go further: answer the call, take the details and book a time.

Follow up within Canada's anti-spam law

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) covers commercial emails and texts. The key points for following up on enquiries:

• When someone makes an enquiry, you have their implied consent to send them commercial messages for six months^[2].
• A message that only provides a quote or estimate they asked for doesn't need consent^[3].
• Every commercial message must name your business, give a mailing address plus a phone number, email or website, and include a way to unsubscribe^[2].

Once the six months are up, you need another basis to keep sending, such as their express consent, or a purchase, which gives implied consent for up to two years^[2]. This is general information, not legal advice.

Where to start

Our free audit checks your homepage for signs of follow-up tools, like analytics, a CRM or email follow-up, chat and online booking. Or see what we set up in Automate.