When is a lead actually dead? | 91

Clients don’t run on your timeline. Just because someone ghosts you for weeks or even months doesn’t mean the lead’s dead. 

In this episode, I share a story that proves why follow-up systems matter — and why “no” is the only real end of the line for your electrical business.

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Transcript

Dig the lead out of the grave and give it CPR. Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing. Coming to you live from a milking parlour in Ireland. It’s actually a bit of a sunny day — not too bad. I’ve got a tractor beside me; I might throw that up on Instagram stories, so you might catch a glimpse.

Let’s get into today’s podcast. This is something that landed in my inbox today that I thought was a useful belief shift for you to get into your head. And that is: leads. When do they actually die? When is a lead finally dead?

I had an enquiry come in today from a bloke I spoke with about four months ago. We went back and forth for ages — lots of questions, options, changes to quotes. I think I gave him three different options in the end, which I always stress to do. And finally, he’s come back. As he put it himself, he “took the winter to decide on ceiling fans.” That was the job — a handful of ceiling fans, plus a switchboard and some other bits and pieces.

His email basically apologised for the delay and asked me to amend the quote if pricing had changed. I’d actually marked the job as unsuccessful in ServiceM8 and just assumed it was dead in the water. It was frustrating because we’d gone back and forth so much and then suddenly it just stopped.

But here we are. Months later, he’s back — and he’s keen to go ahead with the top option, which is the switchboard plus the fans. So, it’s a great job to get. But it got me thinking about when a job is really “dead,” and how many times you should actually follow up.

Something I always stress with my members inside the mentorship is having an automated system in place that does the heavy lifting for you. I was talking to a bloke recently who had none of that. He just sent quotes and hoped people would get back to him. That’s a really shit system because if you don’t persist — without being a pest — you’re leaving a lot on the table.

If someone asks for a quote, I want an answer. Yes or no. And ideally, if it’s a no, I want to know why. Feedback is gold. Having a system to probe those answers — without being annoying — is vital.

Now, with this gentleman, it was months before he came back. I assumed it was gone. But clearly it wasn’t. And that’s made me think about having a small system in place for those “mic drop” jobs where the client just vanishes. Maybe it’s a task in ServiceM8, or something you hand to your VA, where three months later they just send a quick follow-up. Because the truth is, you never really know what’s going on in someone’s life.

I had another weird one about a year ago. A bloke emailed me about a switchboard upgrade and semi-relocation in Newtown. We never actually met in person. The house was gutted, totally empty, and I just rocked up and did the job. Ripped out the old board, put in a new BNR meter box, new mains, earths — the whole lot. Job went fine.

But once the invoice was sent, he disappeared. Phone went dead. Emails unanswered. I even thought he might have died. Honestly, I was telling people I thought he was dead. I drove past the house a few times just to see if there was any life there. Nothing. A total ghost town.

Months later, out of nowhere, I get an email. Apology, full payment, and that was that. I never got to the bottom of what happened, but I reckon he had a death in the family and business just wasn’t on his radar.

That was a lesson for me. You don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes in someone’s life. Before you get pissed off, pause and consider: maybe something bigger is going on.

And that ties back to the lesson here — just when you think the game is over and the lead is gone, there’s still hope if they haven’t said “no.” People are busy. They’ve got kids, work, chaos in their lives. Sometimes your quote just gets pushed down the list.

So here’s what I want you to take away:

• Don’t assume silence means dead.
• Build a simple system to follow up — even months later.
• Train your VA or set up your job software to give you reminders.

That’s how you win more jobs without chasing your tail.

If you want more, grab my Nine Ways in Nine Days micro series — link is below. And I’ll catch you again Friday for another episode. Feeling good this week, so you’re getting a double drop.