How many follow-up attempts should an inbound lead get?

Most follow-up advice gives one number of attempts for every lead. That number is easy to remember. It also spends the same effort on a lead who fits well and on one who wants something you do not sell.

Why is one fixed number of attempts the wrong answer?#

A fixed number treats every inquiry as equally likely to become a customer. They are not.

Picture two messages. One is from a homeowner with a burst pipe inside your service area. The other is from a student who wants a sample quote for a class project. Calling each of them six times takes the same hours. Only the first set of calls is likely to lead to paid work.

A fixed number also rarely says where it came from. A count of attempts is only useful if someone measured it on leads like yours. Most advice does not say who measured it, on how many leads, or when.

So let effort follow fit. Decide how good a lead is first. Then decide how many times to try. The number then comes from your own leads, and you can change it when your own results say so.

How many attempts should each score get?#

Sort leads into a few priority levels by score. Then give each level its own number of attempts. The counts below are an example to start from. They do not come from a study.

In Qualiform, the score puts each lead on one of five rules you set, each with its own cut-off, and each lead gets a priority (Hot, Warm, Cool, Cold, or Not a fit) or is marked Not scored. Beside every score, Answered percent shows how much of your scoring had an answer behind it.

What if the score rests on very few answers?#

A score built from one answer can be as high as a score built from five. Before you pick a row in the table, check how much of your scoring the lead answered.

1. 80% or more answered: use the row for their score.
2. 50% to 80% answered: use the row, but read their message before the first attempt.
3. Under 50% answered: read what they said, then decide yourself. Treat a high score as Warm until you know more.

A lead with no score is not a weak lead. It only means none of the questions you score were answered. Someone who wrote two sentences and left a phone number may be your best inquiry of the week. That is why the table gives Not scored two attempts instead of none.

When does a score-based count not help?#

If you get only a few inquiries a week, score-based counts save very little. You can follow up with everyone the same way and still have time left. The post on whether small businesses need lead scoring covers that case.

A score also only knows what your questions asked. Say your scoring rewards budget, but this lead was sent by your best client. The score will miss that. Use the counts as a default. Move a lead up a row when you know something the form does not.

Every row also ends when the person replies. A no, a "not now," or a request to stop ends the attempts, whatever the score said. For that last reply, see how to reply kindly to inquiries that are not a fit.

How do you know your attempt counts are right?#

Keep a simple record for one month. For each lead, write down three things: their priority level, how many attempts you made, and which attempt got a reply, if any.

Then read it one level at a time:

1. If Hot leads often reply on the fifth attempt, keep five. If none reply after the third, drop to three.
2. If Cool leads often reply to the second email, try a third.
3. If a Cold lead became a customer, find the question that scored them low. That question or its weight may be wrong.

Change one count at a time, and give each change another month. To set what happens at each score in the first place, read the guide to lead routing rules for a small service business.