Handle inbound leads with a four-part intake: respond within minutes while interest is hot, qualify with three short questions, route good fits straight to a booking page, and log every lead with its source in one pipeline. The first real conversation usually goes to whoever answers first, so the system optimizes for speed.
Build it once. After that, every lead follows the same rails no matter how busy your week is.
Set expectations where leads enter: a line on the form like "we reply within two business hours" buys you patience that silence does not. Then cover the gaps: an instant auto-reply can confirm the form the moment it is submitted and hand the lead a booking link, so they can grab a time while you are with a client.
The one unacceptable option is silence until tomorrow. The inbound lead emailed you and probably two competitors in the same sitting, and the first real conversation tends to frame the decision.
Most lost inbound deals are lost mechanically, not persuasively.
Inbound leads do not cool slowly. They start cooling the moment they hit send.
Orbit does not answer phones or place calls, but it removes the delay from the first written touch. When a form comes in, ask Hiro, Orbit's one AI assistant, to draft the reply with your qualifying question and booking link, create the contact, and set a follow-up task so the lead never slips. Your Orbit booking page lets them grab a time in one click, straight onto your calendar. Every draft waits for your approval before it sends.
Within minutes when possible, and inside the same business hour as a hard ceiling. Inbound leads typically contact several providers in one sitting, and the first real conversation frames the decision. A response-time promise on your form plus an interrupting alert makes minutes realistic.
Three: "what made you reach out now?" (urgency and the real problem), "when do you want this handled?" (timeline), and "projects like this usually run X to Y, is that workable?" (budget). The answers give you a same-day verdict: book, nurture, or pass.
Reply in the channel they used, except form fills, which deserve a call if you can make one. A phone call minutes after a form submission catches the lead at peak attention, compresses days of email back-and-forth into five minutes, and almost no competitor does it.
Two layers: an honest expectation on the form, like "we reply by 9am next business day", and an instant auto-reply that confirms the message and links your booking page. The lead can grab a time at the hot moment; you get the booked call at breakfast and send the real reply first thing.
Tag the source on every lead the moment it enters: the channel, the page, the referrer. After a month or two, compare booked meetings and closed deals by source rather than raw lead counts. Channel quality varies wildly, and volume alone routinely points at the wrong winner.
Hiro drafts the first reply the moment a form comes in, and your booking page lands the good ones on your calendar. Free CRM plan, no credit card.
Free forever plan. No credit card. No spam.