First to Answer Wins the Job

When Angi, Thumbtack or Yelp sends you a customer's request, the same request often goes to several businesses at once, and the customer tends to go with whoever gets back first. Replying within minutes, not hours, is the cheapest way to win more of the leads you already pay for.

Speed has been measured for years. A Harvard Business Review study of online leads found that companies that replied within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to reach the decision maker as companies that waited longer (Harvard Business Review, 2011).

On a lead app, an hour is a long time: by then the customer may have booked someone else.

Picture a Tuesday in October. You're on a roof checking flashing before the rains, and a Thumbtack request for a leak repair comes in. By the time you're back on the ground and reading it, another roofer has already texted the customer a time to come look. Same job, same customer, decided in the first few minutes.

Four things to change this month.

• First, turn on push notifications for every lead app you pay for, and check that they reach the phone you actually carry.
• Second, write a short first reply you can send in one tap: your name, one question about the job, and when you could come by.
• Third, answer before you quote: the first message doesn't need a price, it needs a reply.
• Fourth, for one week, write down how long each reply took; most owners are surprised by the number.

If you can't answer from a roof or under a sink, that's what Victoria, our AI receptionist, is for.

She texts or calls new Angi and Thumbtack leads within seconds, sends Yelp requests to your phone the moment they arrive, and answers your calls 24/7 in English and Spanish, so the first business to answer is yours.