> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aresdeploy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Speed to lead and follow-up

> Why the first five minutes decide the job, and how Ares runs persistence without being annoying.

Two behaviors separate businesses that convert leads from businesses that collect them: answering fast, and following up longer than feels comfortable. Ares does both mechanically, so they happen every time instead of when someone remembers.

## The first five minutes

A homeowner who just submitted a form is sitting with their phone in hand, thinking about the project. Five minutes later they are back to their day. Response speed is the single highest-leverage variable in lead conversion, and it is the one a busy crew is structurally worst at.

Ares responds to every new lead within seconds, at any hour. The first message is short, references what they asked about, and moves toward scheduling. It reads like a sharp office assistant, not a robot or a wall of marketing copy.

<Note>
  After-hours leads get an immediate response too. Booking talk can wait for morning if needed, but acknowledgment cannot. The lead needs to know, at 9pm on a Sunday, that a real business saw their request.
</Note>

## The follow-up curve

Most owners stop after one or two attempts. Most bookings happen after three or more touches. Ares runs a persistence schedule that starts dense and stretches out:

* **Day 0:** instant response, plus a same-day nudge if there is no reply
* **Days 1 to 7:** every touch varied in angle and wording, never a copy-paste "just following up"
* **Weeks 2 to 4:** spaced touches that keep the door open without crowding
* **After that:** the lead is parked cold with a tag, and revives instantly if they ever reply

The exact cadence adapts to your business and instructions. "Be more aggressive this month" and "back off to weekly" are both valid instructions in [chat](/using/chat).

## What follow-up sounds like

Principles Ares writes to:

* Short. Two sentences beat two paragraphs on SMS.
* Specific. References the actual service and area, not "your recent inquiry."
* Always has a next step, usually a time suggestion.
* Never quotes prices. See [Booking](/leads/booking).
* Never sends the same message twice to the same lead. Every outbound message passes through deduplication before it sends.

## Replies change everything

The schedule above is for silence. The moment a lead replies, Ares drops the sequence and handles the conversation in context. A question about timing gets an answer about timing. An objection gets addressed. A "who is this?" gets a natural reintroduction. Every reply path bends back toward the booking.

If a reply needs you, Ares flags it as an attention item on the dashboard rather than improvising: a lead disputing a charge, a legal threat, or anything outside its brief.

## Your standing rules

Follow-up runs under standing authorization you control. Common adjustments owners make:

* "Stop follow-up for anyone tagged repeat-customer, I handle those."
* "Do not text before 8am or after 8pm local."
* "Spanish-speaking leads get Spanish follow-up."

State the rule once in chat and it becomes part of how your operator works. See [Approvals](/using/approvals) for how standing authorization interacts with the approval queue.