Lead handling
Lead management and speed to lead
The lead you paid for this morning is comparing you with two competitors right now. Whoever calls first, follows up properly and confirms the appointment has the best chance at the sale. We set up that process and measure it.
What happens to your leads today
Ask a sales team how fast they call new leads and they will say “straight away”. Pull the timestamps from the CRM and the answer is often hours, and the next morning for anything that arrived after six. Leads that miss the first call get one more try, then a “no answer” label and silence.
Then the ads get the blame. The leads were bad, the targeting was wrong. Sometimes that is true. Often the same leads, called within minutes and followed up for a week, would have booked.
Lead management is the unglamorous fix: rules for who calls, how fast, how many times and on which channel, and a scoreboard that shows whether it happened.
How we set up lead handling
Route every lead to one place
Forms, calls, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram messages land in one pipeline with their source. In Napexy CRM, each new lead goes automatically to the next salesperson in line.
Set a first-contact target
Agreed with you, for opening hours and for nights and weekends. A lead that arrives at 11 pm gets an instant message and a call first thing.
Write the follow-up sequence
A planned series of calls and messages over the following days, each with a script, until the lead books, says no or reaches the end.
Book, confirm, remind
The appointment goes into the team calendar, with a confirmation and reminders on WhatsApp or SMS before the day.
Measure per person
Every step is timestamped, so the weekly review is about facts and the manager knows where to help.
Setters, closers and who does what
In many businesses, the person who answers new leads is also the one who sells, treats patients or shows the property. That person is busy. Splitting the role often helps.
Setters
They call and message new leads, answer the first questions, qualify and book. Their job is done when a qualified person is in the calendar.
Closers and practitioners
They run the consultation, the visit or the sales meeting, and receive each lead with notes on what was said.
Scripts and qualification
We write the call script and the qualification questions with you, in the languages your leads speak, and adjust them after listening to real calls.
Priority when the queue is long
Napexy CRM scores each lead from 0 to 100 on its qualification answers, so setters can start with the most promising ones on a busy day.
Reminders that cut no-shows
A no-show costs you twice: the ad money that produced the booking and the slot nobody else could take. Reminders are the cheapest fix available. A confirmation right after booking, a reminder the day before, another a few hours ahead, on the channel the person actually reads. In many markets, that is usually WhatsApp.
Each reminder invites a reply to confirm, move or cancel. A cancelled slot can go to someone on the waiting list. A no-show gets a rebooking message the same day and stays in the pipeline, with a task for the setter. Our guide to following up leads on WhatsApp has message examples.
What we measure for each salesperson
Time to first contact
The median delay, and the share of leads reached within the target, split by opening hours and the rest.
Contact rate
Leads actually reached, out of leads received.
Booking rate
Appointments booked, out of leads reached.
Show rate
Appointments attended, out of appointments booked.
Close rate and revenue
Sales from attended appointments, with their value and their source.
Follow-up completion
How many sequences were run to the last step, and how many stopped after a call or two.
Frequently asked questions
How fast should we call a new lead?
As fast as you can while the person is still on their phone. We set a target in minutes for opening hours and a plan for nights and weekends, and measure against it from the first day. The right target depends on your volume and your staff, so we agree it with you.
How many times should we follow up?
More than most teams do. A typical sequence mixes calls, WhatsApp and SMS over one to two weeks, and stops when the lead books or says no. We adjust the length from your own data: if bookings still come at the sixth attempt, the sequence keeps it.
Can our receptionist handle this?
Often, with a clear script, a calendar they can book into and a queue that tells them who to call next. If they also run the front desk, calls slip at the busiest hours. The numbers will show it within a few weeks, and you can decide then.
What about leads that arrive on WhatsApp?
They are handled like any other lead. WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, SMS and email threads sit on the lead record in our unified inbox, so the setter reads the whole conversation before calling.
We use our own CRM. Can you still do this?
Yes. Assignment, sequences and per-person reporting can be built in most CRMs. Our page on CRM setup explains how we work inside the tool you already have.
How do we know what a booked appointment costs us?
Divide what you spent on a source by the appointments it produced. Our cost per booked call calculator does the arithmetic, and our reporting does it for each campaign.
Last updated · By the Napexy team
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