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Three questions that filter your leads.

Add three questions to the form people fill in when they ask about a job: what they need, when they need it, and the ZIP code. Every enquiry then comes in with those three answers, and the sheet marks each one Calendar, Nurture text, Out of area or Check by hand.

If people ask about jobs through a Meta lead form, a form on your website or a booking page, this is for you. The questions are written out for roofing, cleaning, heating and air, med spas and law firms.

Get the filesStart the steps

What’s inside

  • The three questions, with the answers written out for five trades
  • Where to add them: a Meta instant form, a website form or a booking page
  • The four routes, and what to send for each one
  • The sheet, with in_area, fits and route worked out for you
  • The whole checklist in one plain file

The three questions

Ask them in this order. Where your form has a required setting, turn it on for all three, so nobody can send the form with one missing.

1. What do you need?

Multiple choice. List only the services you sell, then one last option: . Keep it to three services plus Something else, so the list stays short on a phone.

2. When do you need it?

Multiple choice, with exactly these three answers in every trade: , , . The sheet reads these words, so keep them the same.

3. What's the ZIP code?

Short answer. Ask for the five-digit ZIP code, so you can tell straight from the form whether the job is in your area.

The answers, by trade

Question two always has the same three answers: This week, This month, Just researching. Swap in your own services for question one, and keep Something else as the last option.

Roofing

Question 1 and its answers
What do you need? Roof repair / Roof replacement / Inspection / Something else
Question 2
When do you need it done?
Question 3
What's the ZIP code of the property?

Cleaning

Question 1 and its answers
What do you need? Regular cleaning / Deep clean / Move-in or move-out clean / Something else
Question 2
When do you need the clean?
Question 3
What's the ZIP code of the place to clean?

Heating and air (HVAC)

Question 1 and its answers
What do you need? Repair / Replacement / Service or tune-up / Something else
Question 2
When do you need it?
Question 3
What's the ZIP code of the property?

Med spa

Question 1 and its answers
What are you interested in? Injectables / Laser hair removal / Skin treatments / Something else
Question 2
When would you like to come in?
Question 3
What's your ZIP code?

Law firm (personal injury)

Question 1 and its answers
What happened? Car accident / Work injury / Slip or fall / Something else
Question 2
When would you like to talk to a lawyer?
Question 3
What's your ZIP code? Have your own ethics counsel check the form's wording before it goes live.

Where to add them

Meta changes its menus, so the Meta step below is in plain words. Check the words on your own screen as you go.

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  1. A Meta instant form

    • Meta's help page on custom questions covers the questions you add to an instant form. It describes a multiple choice type and a short answer type.
    • Use multiple choice for questions one and two, and short answer for question three. If your form offers its own ZIP code question, you can use that for question three.
    • Add the questions before you publish the form, and keep it a draft while you test it.
    • Meta's help page on form types describes one type that adds a review step, where people confirm their information before they submit. Using it is your choice; this page makes no claim about what it does to your results.

  2. A form on your website

    • Add questions one and two as dropdown or multiple choice fields with the answers above, and question three as a short text field.
    • Make all three required, and send the answers to your CRM or a sheet with the lead's name and phone.

  3. A booking page

    • Add the three as questions people answer when they book.
    • On a booking page the person picks a time before you see the answers, so check each new booking's route and move or cancel the ones that don't fit, politely.

The four routes

The sheet writes the route for every lead. This is what each one means, and what to do.

Calendar

When
A service you sell, this week or this month, and a ZIP code you serve.
What to do
Offer two real times. The texts for that are on the FAST page.

Nurture text

When
Just researching, in a ZIP code you serve.
What to do
No call slot yet. Send one text: Keep them on a list you look at each month.

Out of area

When
A ZIP code you don't serve.
What to do
A polite no:

Check by hand

When
They chose Something else, or an answer is missing.
What to do
One named person on your team reads the enquiry and decides.

The sheet

Open filter-template.csv in Google Sheets. The formulas assume the columns in this order, A to O. It has one example row; type over it.

A date

What goes in it
The day the enquiry came in.

B name, C phone

What goes in it
Their name and phone number.

D source_ad

What goes in it
Which ad or page it came from.

E service, F timeline, G zip

What goes in it
The answers to questions one, two and three, as they come in.

H in_area, worked out for you

What goes in it
TRUE when the ZIP code is in your list in column O:

I fits, worked out for you

What goes in it
TRUE when all three answers fit, FALSE when one doesn't or the ZIP code is missing:

J route, worked out for you

What goes in it
Calendar, Nurture text, Out of area or Check by hand. A missing answer, the ZIP code included, reads Check by hand:

K booked, L showed, M notes

What goes in it
Type Y when they book and Y when they turn up. Notes for anything else.

O your_service_zips

What goes in it
The ZIP codes you serve, one per row. Column N stays empty. With column O empty, every ZIP code counts as yours.

Use the sheet

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  1. Import it

    • Download filter-template.csv from the files below. In Google Sheets, choose File, Import, Upload, and pick it.
    • Leave "Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas" ticked.

  2. Check it works

    • Type 80203 in O3, under the example's 80202. The example row (Roof repair, This week, 80202) reads Calendar.
    • Type four made-up rows under it and drag H2 to J2 down: Roof replacement, Just researching, 80202 reads Nurture text. Roof repair, This month, 80401 reads Out of area. Something else, This week, 80203 reads Check by hand. Roof repair, This week, with no ZIP code, reads Check by hand.
    • Then clear columns A to G on the example and the made-up rows. Keep the formulas in H to J.

  3. Add your ZIP codes

    • Type the ZIP codes you serve down column O, over the test ones.
    • Sheets drops a leading 0 (07030 shows as 7030) in both columns, and the match still works.

  4. Paste the answers

    • Your form's download won't have the columns in this order. Copy each one across: the date into A, the name into B, the phone into C, where it came from into D, and the three answers into E, F and G.
    • Select H2 to J2 and drag the corner down to your last row.

  5. If your export words things differently

    • Some exports write answers with underscores, like . The formulas read those too.
    • If yours words the answers another way, change the words in the formulas to match.

Before you text anyone

Two of the routes send a text. These notes are general guidance, not legal advice.

No tick, no text

Text only people who agreed to be texted on your form. Put a box on the form that they tick to agree, and keep that answer with the lead.

The wording of the box

The exact wording of that box is yours to settle with your own adviser; this page doesn't cover the law.

When someone replies STOP

If anyone replies STOP, send them nothing else.

Take the files

The checklist

filter-checklist.txt

The three questions for five trades, where to add them, the four routes and the sheet's columns, in one plain file.

Download

The sheet

filter-template.csv

With in_area, fits and route already worked out. Open it in Google Sheets.

Download

Open a .csv in Google Sheets (File, then Import) or Excel.

The trades, answers, names and ZIP codes on this page and in the video are examples to adapt. Nothing here is a result; it is a checklist.

Meta's menus change. Check every name against your own screen as you go.

The notes on texting are general guidance, not legal advice.

Three questions sort your leads. What happens after they're sorted is the system.

Lead Generation Group is a program that teaches you to generate your own leads and sets up the Lead Generation OS with you. The first 90 days focus on paid acquisition: Meta ads, the offer, the funnel, tracking, CRM and follow-up.

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