Most contractors lose $2,000 every time they miss a call. Here are the 5 scripts that get those leads to call back — proven to work within 30 minutes.
The average residential contractor job is worth $2,000–$8,000. When a lead calls and gets no answer, 85% of them move on to a competitor within 10 minutes. They don't leave a voicemail. They don't call back. They're gone. These scripts are your last chance to get them back.
This is your #1 weapon. An SMS sent within 5 minutes of a missed call gets a reply 72% of the time. Don't overthink it — short, human, and fast wins every time.
For when you have their email from a web form or previous contact but can't reach them directly by phone. More formal than SMS, but still personal. Subject line is critical — use it exactly.
You called them back — but now you got their voicemail. Most contractors hang up. Don't. A well-delivered voicemail gets a callback from ~28% of cold leads. Say this word for word — practice it once before you call.
For leads that went cold overnight. They called, you followed up, but they didn't respond. This "soft bump" re-engages without pressure. Sends the next morning, before 9 AM for maximum open rate.
This is your final shot before you stop pursuing the lead. Counterintuitively, this is often the highest-converting script in the sequence. Telling someone you're about to stop reaching out triggers a response from people who were just busy, not uninterested.
The data is unambiguous: the gap between a 5-minute response and a 30-minute response is the difference between winning and losing the job — not the price of your estimate.
More likely to make contact with a lead called within 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes after initial inquiry
Increase in qualification rate when leads are contacted within 1 minute vs. waiting 1 hour
Of customers buy from the first responder — not the cheapest bid, not the most experienced contractor
More likely to qualify a lead when contacted within 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes — across all service industries
You just read 5 scripts you have to send manually, within tight time windows, every single time someone calls. For one-person operations and small contractor teams, that's nearly impossible at scale. That's exactly why we built Orbit.
Orbit texts back within 30 seconds of every missed call — automatically, 24/7, with your name and business.
Orbit has the full conversation — schedules estimates, answers FAQs, captures lead info — while you're on a job.
Scripts 2–5 above run on autopilot. 24-hour revival and last-chance messages go out without you touching anything.
See every missed call, every follow-up sent, and every lead converted — all in one dashboard on your phone.