How to Qualify a Lead in Under Two Minutes

Short answer: ask three things before you agree to drive anywhere: what's actually wrong, where the job is, and whether they're ready to move on it now. That's it. No script, no framework, just enough to know if it's a real job before you burn an hour of your day on it.

Why this matters more than it sounds like it should

A bad estimate costs you the same drive time, gas, and hour of your day whether the job is real or not. The two minutes it takes to ask three plain questions is the only thing standing between those two outcomes.

Most advice on "lead qualification" reads like it was written for a sales team, not a guy answering his own phone between jobs. A tradesperson talking like a script sounds like a telemarketer, and callers notice. The fix isn't fewer questions, it's asking the same three questions the way you'd naturally ask a neighbour, not the way a training manual tells you to.

The three questions, in order

1. "What's going on with it?"

Not "what's your issue" in a clipboard voice. Just ask what's happening, in their words, and let them talk for fifteen seconds before you say anything else. This tells you two things at once: whether it's actually your trade (a burst pipe and a slow drain are both "plumbing," but one is an emergency and one can wait a week), and roughly how big the job is before you've committed to anything.

Listen for specifics. "The furnace won't turn on" is a real answer. "It's been acting weird" for two weeks with no follow-up detail is often someone who hasn't decided if they're calling a pro yet, still worth a callback, just not an emergency drive.

2. "Where's the job?"

Ask this early, not as an afterthought before you hang up. If it's forty minutes outside your normal radius, that changes the math on whether this is worth a same-day trip regardless of how real the job is. This isn't about turning away work, it's about knowing the actual cost of saying yes before you say it.

3. "Are you looking to move on this now, or just pricing it out?"

This is the one that feels awkward to ask, and it's the one that matters most. Say it plainly, not as a pitch: "just so I know how to plan my day, are you looking to book something soon, or still shopping around?" Most people will tell you the truth if you ask it like a normal question instead of a sales tactic. Someone who says "just pricing it out for now" isn't lying to you or wasting your time. They're telling you exactly where they are, and that's useful information, not a rejection.

What to do with the answer

• Real problem, in range, ready now: book the estimate. This is the easy case.
• Real problem, ready now, but far outside your area: be honest it's a stretch and let them decide if they still want you to come.
• Vague problem, no urgency: worth a callback or a text follow-up, not a same-day drive.
• Just pricing it out: give a straight range over the phone if you can, and let them come back when they're ready. That's not a lost lead, it's a lead on a different timeline.

None of this requires sounding like you're running a process, just asking the same three things every time, in your own words.

Where this usually breaks down

If you've ever asked a caller "so what's going on with it" out of habit before quoting anything, you've already been doing this for years. This just names what a lot of experienced contractors already do on instinct.

The place it actually breaks down isn't the questions themselves, it's forgetting to ask them because you're mid-job, hands full, and the phone rings while you're already committed to something else. That's less a qualification problem than a call-handling one, and the honest menu of ways to stop losing that call covers what fixes it if calls are slipping past you before you get the chance to ask anything.

Does this work for marketplace leads too?

Yes, with one adjustment: ask the "ready to move now" question sooner, because a lead from Thumbtack or Angi is usually going to several other pros at once. The full explanation of why those leads cool off so fast is worth reading if that's where most of your calls come from, speed matters more than the script itself in that specific case.

The one thing this doesn't fix

Asking three good questions doesn't help if the call goes to voicemail in the first place, or if it comes in as a text while you're mid-job and doesn't get read until that evening. The script only works on a conversation you actually have. If leads are landing across texts, calls, and Facebook messages and some of them sit unanswered until you have a free minute, one inbox that already has the last conversation on screen is what closes that gap, so the three questions above have something to actually apply to.

FAQ

Do I need to write this down or memorize a script? No. The three questions are simple enough to just ask in your own words: what's wrong, where is it, and are they ready to move now. Memorizing a script tends to make people sound like they're reading one, which is the opposite of what you want on the phone.

What if the caller gets defensive when I ask if they're just pricing it out? Most people don't, if you ask it plainly instead of like a sales tactic. Frame it as helping you plan your day, not screening them out, and most callers answer honestly. The ones who do get defensive are often a signal worth noting on their own.

Should I still book the estimate if someone says they're just pricing it out? That depends on your schedule and how you work, there's no universal right answer. Some contractors give a phone estimate range and let the caller come back later; others still book a short visit if the job sounds big enough to be worth the trip either way. The point of asking isn't to reject a lead, it's to make an informed choice instead of a blind one.

Does this replace an actual quote or estimate process? No. This is only the two minutes before you decide whether a trip out is worth it. The estimate itself, walking the job, pricing it, all of that still happens the way it already does for you.

Is this different from how Ridge's own inbox handles leads? Not really, it's the same script Ridge's own team uses when a lead lands in its inbox, just described here without any tool attached. The inbox helps by making sure the call or message actually reaches someone to ask these questions in the first place.

If you'd rather have it handled

Everything above works whether you ever talk to Ridge Solutions or not, three questions, two minutes, no software required. Where Ridge Solutions actually helps is the part before the questions get asked: making sure the call, text, or message reaches you at all. One inbox that already has the last conversation on screen, one flat CAD price, public, no quote required. Your first 14 days are free, and if it is not live by the end of them you do not start paying until it is. Book a 20-minute call. No pitch to sit through.

Sources

Note on sourcing: the topic queue flagged this post as inferred evidence (no verbatim Reddit thread confirmed for this exact framing). No statistic is used anywhere in this post: the three-question script is presented plainly as Ridge's own operating script, not as an industry framework or a cited study. The two background sources above are cited only for the general concept of qualifying a lead early, not for any number.