Choose a CRM that works on your phone, not just a desktop. You are not sitting at a desk at 4pm, you are on a roof or under a sink. Tools like Jobber, Tradify, or even a well-structured HubSpot free account all have mobile apps that let you log a lead in thirty seconds between jobs.

Avoid spreadsheets as your main system. A shared Google Sheet feels fine until you have forty open quotes, three people updating it, and no automatic reminders. A CRM sends the nudge so you do not have to remember.

Make sure your CRM can log where each lead came from. You need to know whether your enquiries are coming from your Google Business Profile, a Done Deal ad, a word-of-mouth referral, or your website. That is the only way to stop spending money on sources that do not convert.

Set up a single inbox rule: every call, text, WhatsApp, and website enquiry goes into the CRM the same day. It sounds obvious but most tradespeople have leads living in three different WhatsApp chats, a voicemail they meant to return, and a Post-it on the dashboard. Pick one place and funnel everything there.

Log the job type against every lead, not just the name and number. Note whether it is a full bathroom refit, a small repair, an emergency callout, or a free quote. This lets you prioritise your time on high-value jobs and spot patterns in what work is actually coming in.

Record the area or postcode for every enquiry. If you are getting a lot of leads from Naas but you mostly work in Newbridge and Kildare town, that is worth knowing. You might decide to push harder in certain areas or adjust your Google Ads targeting to match where you actually want to work.

Create a simple pipeline with five stages: New Enquiry, Quote Sent, Follow-Up Due, Booked In, and Closed Won or Lost. Every lead lives in one of these at all times. When you open your CRM on a Monday morning you can see immediately who needs a call and who is already on the schedule.

Mark a lead as Lost with a reason, not just archive it. Common reasons for a tradesperson include ‘went with cheaper quote’, ‘could not agree a date’, ‘customer went silent’, or ‘job too small to be worth it’. After three months you will see patterns and can decide whether to change your pricing chat or your quoting process.

Flag emergency callouts as a separate stage or tag. A burst pipe or a total power failure is not the same as a planned bathroom refit. Emergency leads need a response within minutes, not hours, and your CRM should make that obvious the moment the lead lands.

Set up an automatic text or email that goes out the moment a website enquiry comes in. Something simple like ‘Hi, thanks for getting in touch. I have your details and will call you back within a couple of hours to have a chat about the job.’ This stops the customer ringing three other tradespeople while they wait for silence from you.

Make your auto-reply sound like a person, not a robot. Use your first name, mention the type of work if you can pull it from the form, and avoid corporate language like ‘your enquiry has been received’. People are inviting you into their home, they want to feel like they are dealing with a real tradesperson from the start.

Set a personal reminder in the CRM to follow up within two hours during working hours. Auto-replies buy you time but they do not close the job. The call or message you send within two hours is still the most important step.

Set a follow-up reminder for 48 hours after every quote goes out. A simple message like ‘Hi John, just checking you got the quote I sent over for the rewire. Happy to answer any questions or talk through it if that helps’ converts a surprising number of leads who had simply gone quiet rather than said no.

Send a second nudge at seven days if you still have not heard back. Keep it short and low pressure. Something like ‘Still available if the timing works for you’ leaves the door open without being pushy. After two chases with no response, mark the lead as Lost and move on.

Note on the quote whether the customer mentioned a SEAI grant, a landlord compliance deadline, or a specific date they need the work done. These details tell you when to follow up and what angle to take. A landlord needing a gas safety cert renewed before a tenancy starts has a hard deadline you can refer back to.

Mark every completed job with a ‘request a review’ task due two or three days after sign-off. A short WhatsApp saying ‘Great to get that boiler sorted for you. If you have two minutes, a Google review would mean the world to us’ is all it takes. More reviews on your Google Business Profile means more calls from people searching for your trade in your area.

Tag customers by the job type they had done so you can contact them again when it is relevant. If you fitted a bathroom in Drogheda two years ago, that customer might want a quote on an en suite now. A quick message in spring or autumn to your past bathroom customers costs nothing and can fill a week of work.