How to Get More Leads for Your Small Business

If you’re asking how to get more leads for your business, the best answer depends on one thing: are you short of enquiries, or are you losing the ones you get? They need different fixes, and it’s easy to spend money on the wrong one.

Step 1: Work out which problem you have

Look back over the last month and count:

• How many calls, forms and messages came in?
• How many got a reply within an hour?
• How many turned into a quote or appointment?
• How many became paying customers?

If only a handful of people contact you, you need more visibility. If plenty do but few become customers, more leads will only give you more of the same waste. Our free lead response check can help you see where you stand.

Step 2: Do the free things first

Set up your Google Business Profile

For a local business, this is often the most valuable free listing you can have. Google says local ranking depends on relevance, distance and prominence. Complete every section, choose the right categories, add real photos and keep your hours up to date.

Ask every happy customer for a review

Reviews help people choose you, and Google says they can help your local ranking. Make it easy by sending a direct link after each job. Keep it honest: the FTC bans fake reviews and rewards for positive ones.

Go back to people who already know you

Past customers and old quotes are usually the quickest leads you’ll find. Send a short, personal message asking whether they still need help, or whether they know someone who does.

Build referral partners

Think about who your customers talk to right before they need you. A plumber knows remodelers, an accountant knows lawyers, and a real estate agent knows nearly every trade. Refer work to them and they’ll usually return the favor.

Show up where people ask

Answer questions in local Facebook groups and online communities. Be useful first and follow each group’s rules on promotion.

Step 3: Get more leads online

• Make your website easy to act on. Show what you do, where you work, your phone number and one clear next step. See what makes a website get calls.
• Answer real questions. Write pages around what customers actually ask you. A useful answer can keep bringing visitors for a long time.
• Run a focused ad test. Search ads reach people who are already looking. Facebook and Instagram ads reach people before they start looking. Pick one, give it a set budget, and measure the customers it brings in.

Not sure which to pick? Read what is the best way to market my business.

Step 4: Stop losing the leads you get

Getting a lead is only half the job. These are the most common ways they’re lost, covered in more detail in why service businesses lose leads:

• Nobody answers, and nobody calls back
• The reply comes a day later, after they’ve hired someone else
• A quote goes out and nobody follows up
• The details are stuck in someone’s inbox or phone

Simple automation can cover most of this, such as an instant reply, a reminder and a follow-up sequence. Start with these five tasks.

Why am I not getting leads?

If you’re doing the work and nothing’s coming in, check these first:

• People can’t find you. Search for your service and town from a phone and see who shows up.
• Your offer is vague. “Quality service” tells nobody much. “Same-week roof repairs in Tulsa” does.
• It’s hard to contact you. Test your own phone number, form and booking link from a phone.
• You don’t have enough proof. Few reviews or no real photos make people hesitate.
• Your ads don’t match your page. If someone clicks an ad for repairs and lands on a general homepage, they may leave.

Track where each lead comes from

Ask every new customer how they found you, and record it. After a few months you’ll know which sources bring paying customers and which only bring enquiries. That’s how you decide where to spend next. A CRM makes this much easier.

Frequently asked questions