The follow-up speed thing is real
This is more of a confirmation post than a strategy post but I think it's worth sharing because it made a bigger difference than I expected.
We had a lead response time problem for a long time. New leads would come in and get routed to whoever was available which meant sometimes they got called back within an hour and sometimes it was the next morning.
Set up automated routing — every form fill triggers an immediate CRM entry, an automated first text, and a notification to whoever is on call. Average response time went from 4+ hours to under 6 minutes.
Lead to appointment rate went up noticeably. Same leads, same channels, same market. Just faster response.
The research says a lead contacted in 5 minutes converts at roughly 10 times the rate of one contacted 5 hours later. I always thought that number sounded inflated but after seeing our own data I believe it.
The motivated seller who fills out a form at 7pm and doesn't hear back until 9am the next day has called three other buyers in the meantime. You're not competing on price at that point — you're competing on who responded and built rapport first.
Automated first response doesn't close deals. But it keeps you in the conversation long enough for a human to take over and close deals.
What CRM are people using for lead routing? We're on Salesforce but curious what others have found works well for fast routing.