A simple follow-up system for inbound leads

Most businesses do not have a lead problem; they have a follow-up problem. Enquiries arrive, sit in an inbox, and go cold. This system takes an afternoon to set up.

1. One inbox, one owner

Route every enquiry — forms, WhatsApp, email, calls — into one place (a CRM, a shared sheet, or a labelled inbox). Name one person responsible each day.

2. Acknowledge in minutes

Automate a short, honest reply: what you received, what happens next, when they will hear from a human. On WhatsApp this is a template; on email it is an autoresponder.

3. Qualify with two questions

Ask what they want to achieve and when. Those two answers tell you how to prioritise and how to prepare.

4. A five-touch sequence

Day 0 reply, day 1 call or message, day 3 useful resource, day 7 check-in, day 14 final friendly close. Write the messages once; personalise the first line each time.

5. Record outcomes

Won, lost, no response, not a fit — and why. Within a month you will see patterns: which sources bring fit, which messages get replies.

6. Review weekly

Fifteen minutes: how many enquiries, how fast the first response, how many moved forward. Speed to first response is usually the number that moves everything else.

Automation can run steps 2 and 4; humans must own steps 3 and 5. Done consistently, this system often matters more than the next campaign.