Help centre Responding to Leads

Responding to Leads

You can respond to the customer directly through the email we send you with their job details.

If you have the App, then the push-notification will tell you about every new lead and allow you to respond.

You can go directly to the website should you prefer and go to Leads.

In Leads, select the lead you wish to contact.

When ready, click the blue submit your details icon.

Your profile information is then sent to the customer automatically.

The telephone number and email address for the customer are made immediately available on-screen and are stored in the My Responses section of your account. 

You can then send the customer a direct message and estimate in My Responses.

You can also call the customer and send them an email as needed.

Once you have submitted your details to the customer to let them know you’re interested, we’d always recommend contacting them directly.

We recommend calling the customer first, and if a mobile number is provided you could also send an SMS.

Lastly, we recommend sending a follow up email or further message through Bark messenger. You can access Bark messenger in My Responses.

Using the One-Click Response feature is a great way of sending your first message to any customer quickly and easily. For information about how to setup and use One-Click Response, click here.

If you’re unable to reach them at first, then don’t worry. You should continue to follow up using the different contact methods you have available.

It is important to be selective about the leads you respond to on Bark. You can pick and choose the leads you respond to as needed. 

Some customers give more information than others and all the information we have will be displayed to you so you can make an informed decision.

Many customers provide additional information and attachments in their requests which is helpful when deciding whether or not to respond. 

Before responding to your chosen lead, always double check when the lead was sent to you. It’s important to respond to customers quickly, as responding late reduces your chances of securing the business. 

To stand the best chance of getting hired, respond to your chosen leads within a few hours of receiving them, if not sooner. 

We highly recommend you let us know exactly which customers suit your business the best. You can do this by going to filter questions here. Here you can tell us the customers you want based on the answers they provide when placing their request.

To stand the best chance of getting hired, respond to your chosen leads within a few hours of receiving them, if not far sooner.

Responding to a lead within half an hour of receiving it is ideal, because you are far more likely to be the first professional to contact the customer.

The customer is also more likely to be receptive to the first professional that contacts them. 

Our research shows that the first professional to contact the customer is on average 50% more likely to get hired. 

In general, we do not recommend responding to old leads. If you do so, keep in mind that the chances of getting hired are significantly reduced.

A great first message is so important to catch the customers attention and stand a good chance of getting hired.

Your first message should include key points about your business and what you offer; a short, clear description of how you can help the customer; a basic quote or estimate and your contact details. 

It is also crucial that your message is well written and clearly formatted with no spelling or grammatical errors. 

Always include your direct contact details so the customer can contact you directly. 

Whilst you are unlikely to hear back from every customer you respond to, there are lots of things you can do to encourage a customer to reply.

Ensure you have made use of all of the contact details provided, sending a follow up email or text message to the customer if you have not heard back from your original phone call.

Trying to call the customer outside of standard working hours (but not too early or late) is also a great way of reaching them to pitch your services.

Don’t call the customer too much within a short space of time, as this could make them less likely to reply to you positively.

For some more great tips for responding to leads which increase your chances of hearing back from customers, click here. 

If you would like direct assistance and advice from Bark to help you increase the number of customers you hear back from, please contact our customer success team here.

Sending a quote or estimate is a powerful way of catching the customers attention and we strongly recommend it.

We do appreciate in some industries it is not always possible. For example, if you’re a builder you may not be able to send an accurate quote before you see the property.

It may not always be possible to send a quote to every customer without having further details first, so in these cases providing a ballpark figure or general price range based on previous work you have done is recommended. 

If you really cannot provide a quote or estimate up-front, use your first conversation with the customer to get the details you need to calculate your quote, then provide this to the customer as soon as possible.

As much as we would like to, we cannot guarantee that every customer you contact through Bark will respond to you.

It is important to use all of the available contact methods when responding to a customer to stand the best chance of speaking to them. 

Because customers receive different responses from competing professionals, it may be the case that a customer only replies to the professional they want to hire or the professionals they have shortlisted. 

To increase your chances of hearing back from customers, please read some great tips for responding to leads here. 

If you would like direct assistance and advice from Bark to help you increase the number of customers you hear back from, please contact our customer success team here.

We try to ask as many relevant questions as we can to each customer before they submit their request on Bark.

We also encourage you to be highly selective about the leads you respond to. 

There isn’t a way to ask a customer for more information without responding to them.

If for any reason you feel a lead is not suitable, there is no need to respond.

If a customer does not receive a single response after a period of time, we will reach out to the customer ourselves to try to get more information and update their request, before sending it out again for you to consider.

You cannot see if a customer has already received a response.

However, the average request receives 2 responses from professionals, with the first response often within one hour after the request is submitted on Bark. 

We aim to get the customer 2 to 5 responses so they have enough choice but don’t feel overwhelmed and of course ensure that professionals are not competing with too many others.

You cannot see how many responses a customer has received.

However, the average request receives 2 responses from professionals, with the first response often within one hour after the request is submitted on Bark. 

We aim to get the customer 2 to 5 responses so they have enough choice but don’t feel overwhelmed and of course ensure that professionals are not competing with too many others.

Currently, most requests receives two responses or less. Our internal target is for requests to receive between 2-5 responses. 

This seems to be about the right level of response for most customers, as they can then feel they have enough options, without feeling overwhelmed.

It also seems to be about the right level for most professionals, as there is a healthy level of competition, without there being too much. 

On very rare occasions this number may be exceeded, but the marketing team monitor responses very closely. It is not in our interest to overwhelm the customer, nor have professionals competing with too many people as they will not continue using us.

Unfortunately not. Bark is an online marketplace designed to help customers find the best professional for the job. We know that our customers like to have choice and see different options. 

At the moment the average request receives 2 responses. 

We aim to get the customer 2 to 5 responses so they have enough choice but don’t feel overwhelmed and of course ensure that professionals are not competing with too many others. 

We introduced this feature to try to give professionals a better understanding of the quotes being provided on Bark. 

It’s designed to learn what quotes are “normal” based on the questions the customer has answered and previous quotes we’ve received from Bark professionals like yourself. 

We never put in any information ourselves and in most cases the estimates are pretty accurate. 

The estimated value takes into account the answers a customer has given. However, on some occasions, we may not have enough other requests with the same answers to give an accurate estimated value.

You are encouraged to quote whatever it is that you normally would. The pricing negotiation is entirely between yourself and the customer. 

We expect professionals to convert 1 in 5 of those leads they respond to. That said, the very best on Bark convert as much as 80% of the leads they go for.

In order to achieve this or an even better conversion rate, it is important to use Bark in the right way.

Please click here for great tips about how to use Bark effectively. 

For further assistance and advice on how to achieve a great conversion rate, please contact the Bark customer success team here.

We conduct a number of checks on every single request on Bark before we send it out to you.

1) We make sure the customer is serious about hiring someone by asking them a number of questions about their request.

2) We verify the customer’s contact details.

3) We remove users who abuse our system/don’t pass any of our checks.

Our rigorous screening process eliminates the vast majority of bad enquiries – so you can be confident we’ll only alert you to customers who are genuinely seeking your services.

If you ever have any doubts about the legitimacy of an enquiry we’ve sent you, we’ll happily check it for you so we can continue to improve our service.

In the rare event that a request is released and later identified as not genuine for any reason, we’ll immediately close it to ensure no one is charged for responding to it.

We call this feature ‘Bark Match’. After a customer submits their request, our system suggests up to 5 relevant professionals already signed up with us. 

The customer is able to view these profiles and express an interest, request a quote or ask to be contacted.

Because the customer has already interacted with one of these profiles and asked to be contacted specifically, these are warmer leads, and the credit price increases slightly. 

You do not have to respond to these requests if you do not wish to, and you have the option on-screen to decline the lead.

If you decline a lead where the customer has requested you get in touch, our system sends a polite message to the customer for you, letting them know that you can’t help on this occasion.

Once you have responded to a customer, it is free to send additional messages.

You can send a new message or attachment to a customer you have already responded to through Bark in My Responses. 

Select the customer from your responses list, using the filtering options if needed.

Click the blue Send message icon.

You will then be taken to Bark messenger.

Now, you can type a new message to the customer in the ‘Send a message’ box at the bottom of the page.

You can send attachments by clicking on the paperclip icon on the bottom left of the page, next to the Send a message box. 

Clicking on the paperclip icon will allow you to upload files and images from your device to send to the customer. 

Once sent, messages and attachments cannot be deleted.

As much as we would like to, we cannot guarantee that every customer you contact through Bark will respond to you.

Because customers receive different responses from competing professionals, it may be the case that a customer only replies to the professional they want to hire or the professionals they have shortlisted. 

To increase your chances of hearing back from customers, please read some great tips for responding to leads here. 

If you would like direct assistance and advice from Bark to help you increase the number of customers you hear back from, please contact our customer success team here.

One-Click Response is a great feature which saves you time by letting you create a template message that you can send to any customer with just one click.

If your first message to most customers is likely to include the same key points about your business, by using One-Click Response you will not have to type this out every time you want to contact someone.

One-Click Response can also be combined with the Bark for Professionals App for super fast responses from your mobile device.

The option to send your One-Click Response to your chosen customers will then be available on your Leads page. 

To setup your One-Click Response, go to One-Click Response and follow the on-screen instructions.