Someone fills in the quote form on your website at 10:14. You’re halfway through a move-out clean. You see it at 1:30, call back, and hear: “Oh, we already booked someone. Thanks though.”
The number
Jobber’s research on the cleaning industry found that 85% of cleaning businesses reply to a new lead the same day, but only 26% reply within the hour.
Same day sounds good. It isn’t, when most of the companies your lead contacted are also replying “same day.”
Why the first reply usually wins
Someone asking for a cleaning quote online is rarely asking only you. They filled in two or three forms, or sent the same message to a few companies on Google or Instagram. The first one to come back with a clear answer, a price and a day, tends to get the job. Not because they were the best. Because they were there.
Where the hours go
You’re mid-clean. The van needs unloading. You answer messages at lunch. None of that is laziness. It’s running a cleaning business with the same hands that clean. But every hour a lead waits is another hour for someone else to answer first.
How to answer inside an hour, even on a job
- Put every lead in one place. Website forms, Google, Instagram, Yelp. If leads land in five inboxes, some wait all day. Forward them all to one.
- Keep a two-line first reply ready. “Hi Maria, thanks for reaching out. I’m on a job right now. Can I call you at 1:15 with a price?” A fast, honest answer beats a slow, perfect one.
- Ask what sets the price. Bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kind of clean. Ask in the first reply, and your callback can quote.
- Check on the hour. Look at new leads at the top of every hour, not once at lunch.
- Let something answer for you. An automatic reply is better than silence. A call in the first minute, from someone who already knows what they asked for, is better still.
What a one-minute reply looks like
Try it yourself. On our demo page, leave your number. Sara, our demo employee, calls you back in seconds. That’s the speed your leads are starting to expect.