Reply within minutes with a short message that thanks them, asks two or three qualifying questions, requests photos and offers two survey slots. Let AI draft each reply from the enquiry form, check it before it sends, and record consent, source and cost for every lead, so you know what each booked survey and each sale really costs.
Speed alone does not win a window survey. Shared leads from comparison sites go to more than one firm, so the enquirer may already be talking to a rival. What wins is a reply that is quick, specific to their windows and easy to act on, backed by a consent record that makes the text legitimate. Then count what each source really costs: a source that looks cheap per lead can be the dearest per sale, and only a simple sheet will show it.
The questions that decide whether a survey is worth booking
A survey can cost you an hour or more of a skilled person's time plus travel, so the first reply should find out three things: is this person able to decide, how big is the job, and when do they want it. Eight questions cover it. Ask three in the first message and the rest on the first call; a form that feels like an interrogation loses people before the survey is booked.
| Question | Why it matters | How to ask it in a text |
|---|---|---|
| Do you own the property? | Tenants and leaseholders may need permission before changes to the outside | "Are you the homeowner?" |
| Roughly how many windows and doors? | Sets the size of the job and the survey time | "About how many windows and doors are you thinking of?" |
| What are the current frames, and how old? | Timber, uPVC and aluminium need different approaches to removal and finish | "What are they made of now, and roughly how old?" |
| What is prompting the change? | Draughts, misting, security, noise and appearance lead to different surveys | "What's bothering you most about them?" |
| What would you like instead? | Material, colour and style decide which products you show | "Do you have a style or colour in mind?" |
| When would you like it done? | Separates a planned job from an early look around | "Is there a date you're aiming for?" |
| Any restrictions on changing the outside? | Heritage rules and lease conditions can stop a job or add steps | "Are there any heritage rules on the house, or lease rules about the outside?" |
| Best way and time to reach you? | Avoids missed calls and wasted visits | "Is text, call or email best, and when?" |
Leave exact sizes, the final product choice, price and fitting date for the visit. Asking a customer to measure is a mistake in both directions: wrong figures lead to wrong quotes, and the request makes the job sound like work. The survey is where you measure, and the first message should say so.
The first reply: a prompt, an output and the edits
Keep the standing facts (services, survey length, guarantee wording, what you never promise) in a saved ChatGPT Project or Claude Project, so each new enquiry needs only the form fields pasted in. Here is an illustrative enquiry and the prompt that handles it.
ENQUIRY (illustrative)
First name: [first name]. Owner of a three-bed semi. About 8 windows plus a back door.
Current: old wooden frames, a few misted, one won't shut. Timeline: before winter.
Source: comparison site. Texting consent: ticked at 14:02.
PROMPT
Using the business facts in this project, write a first reply to this enquiry.
Email: three short paragraphs maximum: thank them by first name; ask for photos (list what we need); offer two survey slots: [slot 1], [slot 2].
Then a text version under 300 characters, plain characters only, ending "Reply STOP to opt out."
Do not give prices, lead times or guarantees unless they are in the business facts. Do not promise a visit date.The first draft that comes back is quick, friendly and wrong in several ways.
Illustrative AI first draft: Hi [first name]! Thanks so much for your enquiry. We'd love to help transform your home with beautiful new windows! Prices start from just $299 per window and we can usually fit within two weeks. Every job comes with our lifetime guarantee, so you can relax. When would suit you for a free, no-obligation quote?
Count the problems. There is an invented price and an invented lead time, a "lifetime guarantee" the business does not offer, a "quote" where a survey is needed, no photo request and no slots. Most of that happens because the assistant fills gaps with typical sales copy. The fix is the edit below, plus a standing instruction in the project to leave a gap rather than fill it.
After editing: Hi [first name], thanks for getting in touch about your windows and back door. To plan the survey properly, could you send one photo of the front of the house, one of each window from inside, and a close-up of the misted ones and the window that won't shut? We'll measure everything at the visit, so please don't measure. I can offer [slot 1] or [slot 2]. Which suits you, and is a call or text best?
The text version, under 300 characters: "Hi [first name], [Business] here about your windows. Could you send photos: the front of the house, each window from inside, and close-ups of the misted ones? Survey slots: [slot 1] or [slot 2]. Reply STOP to opt out." For a related flow on another big-ticket job, see following up boiler replacement leads in minutes, and for the general 60-second routine see replying to trade enquiries quickly.
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Buy nowPhotos: what to ask for and what the AI should not judge
A good set of photos lets the surveyor arrive with the right tools and sample frames, and lets you rule out jobs you cannot do. Ask for a short list the customer can complete in five minutes: the front of the house, any other elevations they want changed, each window from inside showing the handle and cill, and a close-up of anything damaged, misted or stuck.
Customers can reply to the text with photos, or you can send a link to an upload form. Whichever you choose, tell them there is no rush ("any time before the survey is fine"), and ask them to keep people, documents and car number plates out of frame. File each set with the lead record so the surveyor sees it before the visit.
The AI has a useful but narrow job here: sorting and labelling. Give it the photo file names and the customer's list of windows and ask what is missing, not what is wrong.
The customer says there are 9 openings: 4 front windows, 2 side windows, 2 back windows, 1 back door.
Photos received (file names and captions): [paste].
List which openings have an inside photo, which have a close-up where the customer mentioned a problem, and which are missing.
Write a two-line text asking for the missing ones only. Do not comment on the condition of any frame.An illustrative output reads "Inside photos: front 1-4, side 1, back 1-2. Missing: side window 2, back door. Close-ups: misted window and sticking window not yet received", followed by a ready-to-send text. That is bookkeeping, and the AI does it well. What it should not do is judge a frame from a photo or say what product suits it. A confident wrong answer ("this frame is beyond repair") puts a promise in writing before a surveyor has touched anything. Leave diagnosis to the visit.
Texts and consent: what to record before you send anything
Texting a lead is where speed can become a problem. The rules vary by place, and nothing here is legal advice, but the principles in a texting provider's own policy are a sensible baseline. Twilio's messaging policy, for example, says consent must be given by each recipient to each sender for each subject, that blanket consent does not count, and that you may not buy, sell, rent or transfer consent. It expects consent even for informational messages such as appointment reminders, wants the sender identified in the message, expects the first message to include an opt-out such as "Reply STOP", and asks you to keep proof of every consent you collect.
Apply that to a lead from a comparison site. The person agreed to be contacted by that site's partners, or perhaps by "up to three installers". Whether that covers your text depends on the wording they saw, which you may not control. If your own website form collects the lead, you control all of it.
[ ] Yes, text me about this enquiry and my survey on the number above.
(Unticked by default. Separate box for marketing messages. We will not text you about anything else.)
Reply STOP at any time to stop texts.Record five things for every lead: the date and time of the tick, the exact wording shown, the form or page it came from, the number, and any later STOP. A column for each in your lead sheet is enough. For a lead where you cannot show consent, call or email rather than text, and ask for consent on the call. If someone has opted out, they are off the text list for good, whatever the sequence says. Ask an adviser to check your form wording once; the rules differ by place and the wording is reusable.
Booking the survey: two slots, a link and a reminder chain
Offering two named slots beats "when are you free?", because it turns an open question into a choice. If you prefer a booking link, a scheduling tool such as Calendly works; its Standard plan is listed at $10 a seat a month on yearly billing, and monthly billing costs a little more. For a small firm, two slots typed into the reply and a diary you keep honest do the same job for nothing.
The reminders are where AI earns its keep, because they are repetitive and must sound human. Draft the set once and reuse it.
| When | Message | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Straight after booking | Confirmation: date, time, surveyor's first name, what to expect, how long it takes | Email, plus text if consent is recorded |
| 48 hours before | Reminder with a reschedule link or number, and a request for any missing photos | Text |
| Morning of the survey | "[Surveyor] is on the way between [time] and [time]." | Text |
| No reply to the first message, day 1 | One question only: "Is it still worth a survey?" | Email or text |
| Day 3 | Offer two new slots | Text |
| Day 7 | Close the loop: "I'll leave it with you; message me whenever suits." |
Ask the AI for the no-reply messages in one go, and set the tone yourself, because its default is pushy.
Using the business facts in this project, write the day 1, day 3 and day 7 messages for an enquirer who has not replied to our first message.
Day 1: one question only. Day 3: two new survey slots [slot 1], [slot 2]. Day 7: a polite close that says we will stop chasing.
Each under 300 characters, plain characters only. No countdowns, no "last chance", no discounts.The usual first output sneaks in "Don't miss out, slots are filling fast!" on day 3. Unless your diary really is filling, that is a false urgency and it should go. The corrected day 3 reads: "Hi [first name], still happy to arrange your window survey. I could do [slot 1] or [slot 2]. Either of those suit?" A similar tone applies to the acknowledgement you send out of hours: "Thanks, [first name]. Your enquiry reached us at 9:12 pm and [surveyor or office name] will reply by 9:30 am tomorrow. If it's urgent, call [number]."
The day 7 message is the most useful and the most often skipped. It tells the customer you will stop chasing, which removes pressure, and it sometimes prompts a reply. Then stop: a fourth message risks irritating someone who may still come back on their own.
If you plan to automate the reply with a workflow tool, test how fast it really is. Zapier's Free plan, for instance, checks for new items every 15 minutes, while its Professional plan checks every two, so a reply "within minutes" may take longer than you think. Time your own setup by submitting a test enquiry. The manual route, pasting each enquiry into a saved assistant, might take about five minutes a lead, which can beat a badly configured automation. The costs of the automated route are set out in what it costs to automate lead follow-up.
A lead score the AI can fill in and you can overrule
When six enquiries arrive on a Monday morning, the order you call them in matters. A simple score helps, and an AI can fill it in from the form in seconds. Keep it to five factors, each worth up to two points.
| Factor | 0 points | 1 point | 2 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decision-maker | Tenant or unsure | One of several owners | Owner, ready to decide |
| Job size | One window | 2 to 5 openings | 6 or more openings |
| Timeline | "Just looking" | Within 6 months | Within 3 months |
| Photos | None | Some | Complete set |
| Reachability | No answer yet | Replied once | Spoke or booked |
Score 8 to 10 is hot (call first), 5 to 7 warm (reply today), under 5 cold (send the information pack and the day 1, 3 and 7 messages). Here is an illustrative Monday.
| Lead | Details | Score | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Owner, 9 openings, before winter, full photos, answered the text | 9 | Call within the hour; offer the earliest slot |
| B | Owner, 4 openings, "this year", some photos, no reply yet | 5 | Reply with the missing-photo text |
| C | Tenant, 2 windows, no timeline, no photos | 1 | Information pack; ask if the landlord has approved |
| D | Owner, 1 window and a door, within 3 months, no photos, replied once | 6 | Reply today; consider the visit cost against job size |
Lead D is why you keep the right to overrule: a small job from a good customer can lead to more, and the score does not know that. Use the AI's score to sort the morning, then apply your own judgement.
Lead cost tracking: from spend to cost per sale
Cost per lead is the number lead providers usually quote, and it is the easiest one to be misled by. What you need is cost per booked survey and cost per sale, by source. Keep a row per lead with the source, the cost, the time you replied, whether you reached them, and the outcome. Then summarise monthly.
Work through one invented month for a six-person installer: 30 shared leads at $45 each ($1,350), 12 leads from paid social ads costing $600 ($50 each), and 15 leads from the website and profile with no cash cost. That is 57 leads and $1,950. Compare two months with the same spend: one where replies went out when someone had time, one with the routine in this tutorial.
| Same $1,950 spend | Reached | Surveys booked | Sales | Cost per survey | Cost per sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replies when someone had time | 31 of 57 (54%) | 14 | 4 | $139 | $488 |
| Reply routine in place | 43 of 57 (75%) | 22 | 6 | $89 | $325 |
These figures are made up to show the sums, so use your own sheet for the real ones. The pattern to look for is the one shown: more leads reached, more surveys booked from the same spend, and a falling cost per sale. Survey-to-sale conversion barely moved (29 per cent against 27), which is right: faster replies fill the diary, they do not make the surveyor more persuasive.
Then split the better month by source.
| Source | Spend | Leads | Surveys | Sales | Per lead | Per survey | Per sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared leads | $1,350 | 30 | 10 | 2 | $45 | $135 | $675 |
| Paid social | $600 | 12 | 5 | 1 | $50 | $120 | $600 |
| Website and profile | $0 | 15 | 7 | 3 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| All sources | $1,950 | 57 | 22 | 6 | $34 | $89 | $325 |
Shared leads look reasonable at $45 a lead yet cost $675 a sale, which is what you would expect when several firms are chasing the same enquirer. The website leads cost no cash, but they cost the hours that built the site and profile, so do not read $0 as free. Two or three months of this sheet show where to put the next dollar. If shared leads stay above your break-even, drop them or buy fewer; if they stay marginal, speed and quality of reply is the only thing that moves them. How other trades compare bought leads is in solar lead cost per survey and insulation leads and what they cost.
A ten-minute weekly review
Once a week, export the lead sheet and look at five numbers: the median time from enquiry to first reply, how many leads were never reached, how many texts went out without a consent entry (the answer should be none), how many duplicates slipped through, and how many drafts you changed. An AI can produce all five from an export with names removed, but check the median yourself on a handful of rows, because a wrong average hides the leads that waited longest. If the median creeps past an hour, look at who is replying and when, not at the template.
Where a fast reply goes wrong
- The invented lead time. The draft promises fitting "within two weeks". It shows up weeks later as a complaint. Guard: the lead time lives in the fact sheet with a date, and the project instruction says to leave a gap otherwise.
- The double reply. One enquirer arrives through two sources and gets two first replies an hour apart. Guard: match on phone number or email before sending, and mark duplicates.
- The text to someone who never agreed. A bought lead gets a text without consent on file. Guard: the sheet has a consent column and the send step is blocked while it is empty.
- The measuring request. The customer sends figures taken with a tape from a stool. Guard: the template says "we measure at the visit, so please don't".
- The late-night promise. An automatic reply at 9 pm says "we'll call you in a few minutes". Guard: after-hours replies state the next working hour instead.
For the first week, read every draft before it sends and keep a tally of what you changed. If you changed more than one draft in five for the same reason, fix the instruction, not the draft.
What to automate and what stays with a person
| Step | Automate? | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgement that the enquiry arrived | Yes | No judgement involved; state the next working hour |
| First reply draft from the form | Draft by AI, send after a check | Cheap to review; costly if wrong |
| Photo checklist and missing-photo text | Yes, with a glance | Bookkeeping, not judgement |
| Reminders and no-reply messages | Yes, if consent is recorded | Repetitive and predictable |
| Price, lead time or guarantee statements | No | Only from the fact sheet, never improvised |
| Judging a frame or recommending a product from photos | No | Needs the surveyor |
| Complaints and cancellations | No | Needs a person with authority |
Once the reply routine holds, the next gain usually comes upstream, from the campaigns that feed it. A year of seasonal campaigns for a window company, with the claims checks that keep them honest, is laid out in a year of local campaigns drafted with AI.
Questions window installers ask about lead replies
How fast should I reply to a window replacement enquiry?
Aim for minutes in working hours, because the enquirer may well have contacted other firms too, and a prompt, specific reply is the easiest way to stand out. Outside working hours, send an automatic acknowledgement that says when you will reply. Measure your own reply times against survey bookings rather than trusting a rule of thumb.
Should the first reply include a price?
No. Window prices depend on sizes, frame material, glass, access and fitting conditions that you only know after a survey. Give the survey process, how long it takes and when the written quote follows. A price in the first reply either misleads the customer or starts a negotiation on guesses.
Can I text someone who filled in a form on a comparison site?
Only if they agreed to be texted by you. Consent given to the comparison site does not automatically pass to you, and texting services such as Twilio say consent cannot be bought, sold or transferred. Check what the form said, keep the proof, and call or email instead when you cannot show consent.
Do I need paid software to automate the first reply?
No. You can start with a saved assistant that holds your fact sheet, paste each enquiry into it, check the draft and send it. That already gets replies out in minutes. Automation adds speed after hours, but each step you automate needs a review rule so a wrong draft never sends unseen.
Further reads
- Loft Conversion Leads: Screen Roof Type, Head Height and Budget With AI — Screening by roof type and budget before a visit.
- Garage Conversion Leads: Qualify by Door Size, Floor and Planning With AI — Qualifying questions for another big-ticket home project.
- Foundation Repair Leads: Screen Crack Photos With AI Before the Visit — How photo screening works before a site visit.
- Remodelling Leads: An AI-Drafted Follow-Up Sequence for Open Quotes — A follow-up sequence for quotes that have gone quiet.
- Checkatrade Leads: AI-Drafted First Replies That Stay Personal — Keeping AI-drafted first replies personal on bought leads.
- Garage Door Leads: Qualify and Answer Them Faster With AI — Qualifying and answering another home-improvement lead faster.
- Glazier Software: Quoting and Scheduling Tools With AI Features — Quoting and scheduling tools with AI features for glaziers.
- Deck Builder Leads: What They Cost and How to Reply Fast With AI — Work out the most a deck lead can cost you, compare Thumbtack, Bark, Angi and your own site by cost per booked visit, and reply in minutes with AI drafts.
- Window Measurement App: Measure and Quote on the Doorstep With AI Help — Windowmaker Measure, PrefMeasure, DoorWin, Aufmaß App and others compared, with a phone-against-laser test and a survey sign-off for installers.
- AI Automation for Contractors: Qualify, Book and Confirm Site Visits — Five steps from a new enquiry to a confirmed site visit, with a qualifying rubric, booking options, prep lists, reminder timing and consent wording.
- Security Alarm Leads: Which Sources Book Installs, and AI Follow-Up — Seven alarm lead sources compared on cost per booked survey, plus the qualifying questions and follow-up messages AI can draft for an installer.
- Thumbtack Front Desk vs a Third-Party AI Auto-Responder for Pros — What Thumbtack's own pages say Front Desk does, what outside tools can reach, and a six-week log to decide whether either is worth paying for.
- Window Installation Quote Template: Specs, Lead Times, Exclusions With AI — A window quote built from a worked eight-window schedule: spec lines, U-value wording, lead-time dates, making-good exclusions and an AI prompt with checks.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: Twilio's messaging policy (consent, sender identification and opt-out), Zapier's and Calendly's pricing pages (checked 1 November 2026). All lead volumes, costs and conversion figures are illustrative.