What Winning Companies Are Doing While Demand Cools
Hi H Client!
Last week we talked about why the phone might feel quieter right now, homeowners pausing and price-shopping before committing to a project rather than walking away from the idea altogether. It's not just your market, HouseCall Pro found 77% of homeowners nationally are postponing or dropping projects over cost and uncertainty, and Home Depot's most recent earnings pointed to the same housing affordability pressure. If you want the full picture on where that pause is landing and where it isn't, that email is worth another look. This week we want to go deeper on the part that's actually in your control: what happens after the inquiry comes in.
Here's what separates the companies still closing well in a softer market from the ones losing jobs they should win: speed and follow-through, not lower prices. MIT and Harvard Business Review's lead response research found that responding to an inquiry within 5 minutes makes a company 21 times more likely to qualify that lead than waiting 30 minutes, and 100 times more likely to even make contact. The same research found 78% of customers buy from whichever company responds first, full stop, regardless of who does better work. Yet the average business takes over 40 hours to respond to a new inquiry.
With the demand we're driving, you're likely in good shape right now if you can check yes to each of these:
Someone answers the phone live during business hours, or a missed call gets an automatic text-back within minutes.
A prospect can book a consultation directly on a calendar link instead of playing phone tag.
A written estimate goes out within 24 to 48 hours of a walkthrough.
A quiet prospect after a proposal gets a real follow-up cadence, a call, a text, a check-in email, not just one email and silence.
If any of those aren't consistently true, it's usually not showing up as a marketing problem first; it shows up in your close rate.
If you want to look at where your pipeline is actually leaking right now, that's worth a real conversation with your Project Managerthis week.
Until Next Friday,
Anna Halstead
Co-Owner & COO, Halstead Media Group
