Most tradespeople treat every lead the same. They call back in the order the texts came in, wing the price on the phone, and get surprised when the customer says "I'll think about it." There's a faster, smarter way — and it costs nothing.
The 30-Second Lead Triage Trick
When a lead text comes in, copy it. Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini — free tier is fine. Paste the message and add this prompt at the end:
"You are an experienced trade contractor. Based on this inquiry, give me: 1) a priority score from 1–10 based on how likely this is to convert and how urgent it seems, 2) a recommended quote range for this type of job in a mid-cost US market, 3) the two most likely objections this customer will raise on the call."
Hit enter. In under 30 seconds you have an actual game plan before you dial.
Why This Changes the Callback
Without context, you call back blind. You either underprice because you don't want to scare them off, or you overprice because you're guessing high to leave room to negotiate. Both approaches leak money.
When you already know the likely objection is "my neighbor said it should cost half that," you can address it in the first 90 seconds. You control the frame. In practice, contractors who walk into a call with a price anchor and a prepared objection response close at a rate roughly 30–40% higher than those who quote off the cuff.
That's not a study. That's what happens when you stop winging it.
What a Good Prompt Output Actually Looks Like
Say a text comes in: "Hey, need someone to look at my panel — breakers keep tripping. How much does that usually run?"
A solid AI response will flag this as a 7 or 8 out of 10 — urgent, safety-adjacent, homeowner already price-shopping which means they're close to buying. It'll give you a range like $180–$350 for diagnostics and potential breaker replacement depending on cause. And it'll warn you the objection is almost certainly going to be "the last guy quoted me less."
Now you're not guessing. You're confirming.
The Leads Worth Skipping
Equally useful: the AI will sometimes hand you a 3 out of 10. Vague request, no timeline, language that suggests they want free advice or are getting five quotes to beat someone else's price. In practice, a solo operator who filters out even two tire-kicker callbacks a day gets back roughly 45 minutes they were burning on dead-end conversations every week.
That's nearly four hours a month. Time you can spend on a job, on a quote, or on not being exhausted by 4pm.
This Works on Old Texts Too
Pull up the last three leads you never called back. Run them through the prompt. You'll immediately see which ones were worth a second attempt and which ones you were right to let go. That audit alone takes ten minutes and will sharpen your instincts about what a real lead looks like versus a price-shopper going nowhere.
The goal isn't to outsource your judgment to a chatbot. The goal is to walk into every callback with more information than the customer has about what this job is worth.
That's an unfair advantage and it's free.
VettedCalls does the same kind of triage before a lead ever reaches your phone — but even if you're handling calls yourself, this habit will change how you approach every single inquiry.
This week's move
Right now, take the last lead text you received, paste it into ChatGPT with the prompt above, and compare what it tells you to how the actual call went.
Forward this
If another tradie you know is still losing leads to voicemail, send them VettedCalls.