Why contractors choose LaraKeyA site visit and a detailed estimate can take four to six hours of your time. If half of those go to people who were never going to build, that’s a lot of evenings gone. A few minutes of questions on the first call fixes most of it.
The seven questions
- Budget. Have they shared one, and does it fit the ballpark for this kind of job? This is the most important question.
- Start date. Within 30 days, 1–3 months, 3–6 months, or just exploring?
- Decision makers. Is everyone who decides involved? If a spouse or partner isn’t, you’ll present twice.
- Funding. Cash ready, financing approved, or still needs financing?
- Scope. Do they have plans or a clear scope, a general idea, or only ideas?
- Responsiveness. Do they reply the same day or take days?
- Other bids. Are you the only one, one of a few, or are they shopping on price?
Score it, don’t guess
Give each answer points (budget and start date matter most) and add them up out of 100. Seventy and up is Hot: book the visit and get the estimate out fast. Forty to seventy is Warm: learn more first. Under forty is Cold.
Some answers should stop a lead from being Hot no matter what: a budget below the ballpark, no start date, or not talking to the decision maker.
What to do with cold leads
Don’t ignore them. Send a ballpark range instead of a free site visit, something like 15% under to 20% over a typical job of that size, and let them come back when they’re ready.
In LaraKey
Lead vetting asks these seven questions with the words to say, scores the lead, shows red flags, and suggests the next step. For cold leads it works out a ballpark and opens an email draft. Builders and GCs get their own questions: is the job awarded, who awards subs, and what are the payment terms.