SALES — The Sales Engine
This is the machine that takes a lead from "just came in" to paid, upsold, and sending you referrals — with nothing living in your head, a notebook, or a pile of texts. The full breakdown, scripts included. Steal it and run it by hand this week.
A lead either takes itself out of the system, or we close it. We never let a lead die.
the engine, start to finish
- Instant contact. First text inside 5 minutes, call right behind it. The lead that waited two days for a callback didn't die — it went to the guy who answered in ten. You don't lose on price or quality; you lose on speed.
- The 14-day follow-up sequence. Follow-up fires on a schedule — day 0, 1, 3, 5, 8 — until they book or give you a real no. Never "when you remember." The exact texts are below, word for word.
- Long-term nurture if it's a no. A no-answer at day 14 isn't a dead lead — it's a future one. It drops onto a monthly touch list: a seasonal offer, a before/after from their street, a "we're in your area Thursday." Half of next spring is already sitting in this list.
- Cross-sell at any point. Every quote and every finished job gets offered the next service — windows → gutters → the driveway. Same truck, same visit, bigger ticket.
- Closed → upsell, then the referral push. The day they pay: the upsell offer, the review ask, the referral ask. A finished job that doesn't produce a review, a referral, or a next job is a leak.
the board — get the business out of your head, onto one page
Six stages. Every lead lives in exactly ONE box. Sheet, Notion, whiteboard — doesn't matter. What matters is it's not in your head.
New → Called → Quoted → Booked → Done → Paid
One trigger per stage — what has to happen to move a card, and what follow-up is owed while it sits there:
| stage | moves forward when… | while it sits here, you owe it… |
|---|---|---|
| New | you've made contact | a text within 5 minutes, a call right behind it |
| Called | a visit or quote is set | the follow-up sequence — days 1, 3, 5, 8 |
| Quoted | they book | a chase every 2–3 days until yes or no |
| Booked | the job's done | a confirmation the day before |
| Done | the invoice is paid | the invoice SAME DAY + a nudge at day 3 |
| Paid | — | the upsell offer + the review ask + the referral ask (comment REVIEWS / REFERRAL) |
the follow-up texts, word for word
The engine's follow-up phase — paste these into your phone tonight and use them on the next lead that goes quiet. A lead comes in, gets a text in 5 minutes, then 4 more across the sequence, and it either books or takes itself out of the system.
| when | text | the job it does |
|---|---|---|
| within 5 min | #1 first touch | beats the other 3 companies they messaged |
| day 1 | #2 the nudge | catches the "busy, not uninterested" |
| day 3 | #3 the re-quote | un-ghosts the one you'd normally forget |
| day 5 | #4 the proof | shows, doesn't push |
| day 8 | #5 the breakup | pulls the most replies of all 5 |
text #1 — the 5-minute first touch
Hey [first name], it's [your name] from [company] — just saw your request for the [service] come in. I can get you a real price fast. What's the address?
Speed IS the message. This lands while your competitor's "lead notification" is still sitting unread in his truck.
text #2 — the day-1 nudge
Hey [first name], [your name] again — still want that [service] price? Takes me 2 minutes to look. Want me to?
text #3 — the day-3 re-quote
Hey [first name], went back through my list and saw we never got your [service] sorted. I've got a couple spots open this week and can hold one at the same price. Want me to lock it in?
text #4 — the day-5 proof
No pressure [first name] — just wrapped a [service] two streets over, before/after attached. Spot's still open this week if you want yours done while I'm in the area.
(Attach one real before/after photo. If you don't have one — start taking them. Comment REVIEWS for that system.)
text #5 — the day-8 breakup
Hey [first name], closing your file unless you still want that spot — no worries either way. If the timing's just off, tell me when and I'll circle back then.
Breakups get replies. Something about "closing your file" makes people decide. And a "timing's off" reply isn't a loss — that lead goes straight onto the nurture list with a date on it.
the reply forks (exact words)
- "Ready to book" → "Perfect — I've got [day] morning or [day] afternoon. Which works?" (Two options, never "when works for you?")
- "How much?" → "Depends on the size, takes me 2 minutes to look. I'm by there [day] — want me to give you an exact price in person?" (Trade the price-shopper text for a booked visit.)
- "Just getting quotes" → "All good — most [service] jobs like yours land around [$X–Y]. Want me to hold a spot at that price while you decide?" (An anchor + an ask. If they vanish after this, they were never buying.)
rules that keep it working
- Every message ends with one clear question. "Just following up!" is not a message.
- No links in texts. Links tank replies. Just talk.
- Send windows: 8–10am and 5–7pm.
- When it's a real no — take it, mark it, stop. The list stays clean and nobody gets spammed. (A "not right now" is not a no — it's nurture.)
the 5-minute morning routine
Work the board top to bottom, once, every morning: fire the 2–3 texts it tells you to, move any card that earned it, close the laptop. Five minutes. That's the whole discipline.
where the money leaks (the 3 stages leads actually die)
- Called-no-answer — one attempt, then forgotten. The sequence is the plug.
- Quoted-no-follow-up — the biggest one. You did the work of quoting and then let it rot. The 2–3-day chase is the plug.
- Done-not-Paid — you're a contractor, not a bank. Same-day invoice is the plug.
why I know this works
I built this exact engine running my own home-service company — Thirlwell, $0 to $300K in a season. The same engine now runs inside other operators' businesses. Their customers notice: "your follow-up is awesome" — unprompted, from one operator's clients. "The automated texts — it's life" — another operator, on running the engine. And one owner's board caught about $10K in jobs he'd have lost to his own memory — a ~$4K and a ~$2.3K just sitting there. (Real operators, anonymized.)
The honest catch: the scripts work exactly as written — run them by hand and you'll book jobs this week. But the manual version still needs YOU to fire every text on time, for every lead, for 14 days, move every card, remember every nurture touch — and the first day you're slammed on a driveway it goes stale and leads rot exactly like before. The done-for-you version is this same engine wired into a CRM that fires the follow-ups, moves the cards, and runs the nurture itself, even when you're on a roof till 8. Free 30-minute audit — we'll map your current sales process and where it leaks: summitais.com/booking — Frost