How fast should you reply to an enquiry?

Reply to a new enquiry within an hour, and within five minutes if the customer has a leak, no heating or no power. The first reply doesn't need a price: it needs to confirm you've got the message, say when you'll call or visit, and ask the two or three questions you need. Most homeowners contact several firms, and the first to reply properly often gets the job.

How quickly do customers expect a reply?

Within the hour for a planned job, and straight away for an emergency. There's no UK law or trade body rule on reply times, so the standard is set by whoever replies first. If your competitor answers in ten minutes and you answer the next evening, the customer has usually booked a visit with them.

The best-known research is American and dates from 2011, so treat it as a direction, not a UK benchmark. Researchers writing in Harvard Business Review sent test web enquiries to 2,241 US companies. Only 37% replied within an hour, and the average reply time among those that replied within 30 days was 42 hours. In a separate set of 1.25 million leads, firms that made contact within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to have a meaningful conversation with the decision maker as firms that waited an hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited a day or more.

Trade enquiries behave the same way. A homeowner with a quote to get usually messages three or four firms in one evening. The ones who reply tonight get the visits.

What does a slow reply cost you?

More than the lead. You've usually paid for the enquiry already, through ads, a lead site or an agency, so every enquiry that goes cold is money spent for nothing. Work out your own figure with the numbers below.

The exact figures will differ for you. The point holds: a week of slow replies can cost more than a month of marketing.

What should the first reply say?

Three things: that a person has read the message, when they'll hear from you next, and what you need from them. Leave the price for later unless the job is small and routine.

WHATSAPP OR TEXT, WORKING HOURS
Hi name, thanks for getting in touch about the job, e.g. new boiler. I'm on a job until about time and will call you after that. To save time, could you send a photo of what you need to see and your postcode?

WHATSAPP AWAY MESSAGE, EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS
Thanks for your message. We're off the tools now and reply to every enquiry by 9am on the next working day. If water is leaking or you have no heating and a vulnerable person in the house, call number.

EMAIL OR WEB FORM AUTO-REPLY
Thanks for your enquiry. We've got it and name will be in touch by time/day. If you can, reply with photos of the area and a rough idea of when you'd like the work done.

MISSED CALL, SENT BY TEXT
Sorry I missed your call, I'm on site. I'll ring you back by time. If it's easier, reply here with what you need and your postcode.

How do you reply fast when you're on the tools?

Automate the first reply and batch the rest. The owner who answers every message the moment it lands never finishes a job; the one who answers twice a day loses the quick-moving customers. In between is a system.

1. Switch to WhatsApp Business.

   It's free, and it has automated greeting and away messages, quick replies for common answers, and labels to sort chats. Paste the templates above into the away message and quick replies.

2. Turn on missed-call texts.

   Most business phone apps and many networks can send a text when you miss a call. If yours can't, use a saved quick reply and send it at your next break.

3. Set two reply windows a day.

   For example, 12:30 and 16:30. Clear every new enquiry then, even if the reply is a holding message.

4. Put every enquiry in one list.

   WhatsApp, Facebook, email and phone all feed the same list, so nothing sits unread in an app you forgot to open. See one inbox for enquiries.

5. Hand off the first reply if you can.

   A partner, an apprentice at lunch, a virtual assistant or software can send the holding message and collect photos while you finish the job.

One storage maker in Bolton we spoke to works solo with 25 installers and gets up to 20 enquiries a day, most on WhatsApp. His fix was replying from voice notes: "I can reply back to 20 then, while I'm making a brew." An emergency plumbing and drainage firm in Dundee with seven engineers had the same problem at a larger scale. The owner said "the phone never stops", and remembering to text people back was one of the jobs that slipped.

Does replying fast matter if you're already busy?

Yes, because a fast "no" or "not until March" is still a fast reply. If you're booked up, say so straight away with your next available date. Some customers will wait for a firm that answered them clearly; the rest will go elsewhere without having wasted your time or theirs. A full diary is also the best time to be choosy: a quick reply with your qualifying questions filters out the work you don't want.

How do you measure your reply time?

Count it for one month. For every new enquiry, note when it arrived and when it got its first human reply. Most owners guess they reply within a couple of hours; the log often shows evening and weekend enquiries waiting until Monday.

Sort the results by reply time. If the enquiries you answered within an hour win more often than the ones you answered next day, you have your own evidence and your own target.

Common questions