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gotchas.md

167 lines · small-business/skills/speed-to-lead/reference/gotchas.md at 2574e29

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Most marks come from matching words in the file, so treat them as pointers.

1# Gotchas
2
3Failure modes that cost real leads or real reputation. This skill acts fast and unattended, so its mistakes reach people before anyone can catch them.
4
5---
6

Gotchas

Failure modes that cost real leads or real reputation. This skill acts fast and unattended, so its mistakes reach people before anyone can catch them.

Raw lines 1 to 6
7## Gotcha: the generic acknowledgement
8
9**Why it matters:** "Thanks for reaching out, we'll be in touch shortly" is what the prospect already assumed would happen. It buys nothing, and it burns the one moment when a real answer would have won the job.

Gotcha: the generic acknowledgement

Why it matters: "Thanks for reaching out, we'll be in touch shortly" is what the prospect already assumed would happen. It buys nothing, and it burns the one moment when a real answer would have won the job.

Raw lines 7 to 10
11### Bad
13```
14Hi Dana,
15Thanks for reaching out! We've received your inquiry and someone will be in
16touch shortly.
17```

Bad

Hi Dana,
Thanks for reaching out! We've received your inquiry and someone will be in
touch shortly.
Raw lines 11 to 18
19### Good
21```
22Hi Dana,
23Yes — we cover multi-building portfolios on one service plan, and six is well
24inside what we handle.
25I could walk the sites Thursday morning or Friday after 1. Either work?
26```
28Answer the question they asked. That is the whole difference.
30---

Good

Hi Dana,
Yes — we cover multi-building portfolios on one service plan, and six is well
inside what we handle.
I could walk the sites Thursday morning or Friday after 1. Either work?

Answer the question they asked. That is the whole difference.

Raw lines 19 to 31
32## Gotcha: offering a calendar slot that isn't free
34**Why it matters:** The prospect picks Thursday, the owner is already booked, and now there is a second exchange and an apology — at exactly the moment fast response was supposed to be the advantage.

Gotcha: offering a calendar slot that isn't free

Why it matters: The prospect picks Thursday, the owner is already booked, and now there is a second exchange and an apology — at exactly the moment fast response was supposed to be the advantage.

Raw lines 32 to 35
36### Bad
38Suggest plausible-sounding times without reading the calendar.

Bad

Suggest plausible-sounding times without reading the calendar.

Raw lines 36 to 39
40### Good
42Read the live calendar. Respect working hours and travel time between jobs. If no calendar is connected, ask for their availability instead of inventing slots.
44---

Good

Read the live calendar. Respect working hours and travel time between jobs. If no calendar is connected, ask for their availability instead of inventing slots.

Raw lines 40 to 45
46## Gotcha: replying underneath a human
48**Why it matters:** A colleague answered twenty minutes ago. An automated reply landing below it looks disorganized to the prospect and undermines the person who actually handled it.

Gotcha: replying underneath a human

Why it matters: A colleague answered twenty minutes ago. An automated reply landing below it looks disorganized to the prospect and undermines the person who actually handled it.

Raw lines 46 to 49
50### Bad
52Reply to everything unanswered by the skill's own log.

Bad

Reply to everything unanswered by the skill's own log.

Raw lines 50 to 53
54### Good
56Check the thread. If anyone from the business has already replied, leave it alone and note it in the digest.
58---

Good

Check the thread. If anyone from the business has already replied, leave it alone and note it in the digest.

Raw lines 54 to 59
60## Gotcha: ignoring out-of-scope inquiries
62**Why it matters:** Silence reads as being ignored, and in a small market it produces the review that says "nobody ever got back to me." A thirty-second honest reply produces a referral instead.

Gotcha: ignoring out-of-scope inquiries

Why it matters: Silence reads as being ignored, and in a small market it produces the review that says "nobody ever got back to me." A thirty-second honest reply produces a referral instead.

Raw lines 60 to 63
64### Bad
66Sort it out of scope, send nothing.

Bad

Sort it out of scope, send nothing.

Raw lines 64 to 67
68### Good
70```
71Straight answer: commercial kitchen refrigeration isn't something we're
72certified for. Basin Cooling handles this — ask for Teri, tell her I sent you.
73```
75Owners consistently report referral flow coming back from this.
77---

Good

Straight answer: commercial kitchen refrigeration isn't something we're
certified for. Basin Cooling handles this — ask for Teri, tell her I sent you.

Owners consistently report referral flow coming back from this.

Raw lines 68 to 78
79## Gotcha: drafting a price
81**Why it matters:** A number in an email under the owner's name is a commitment the prospect will hold them to. Pricing depends on things the model cannot see — access, unit age, what the crew finds.

Gotcha: drafting a price

Why it matters: A number in an email under the owner's name is a commitment the prospect will hold them to. Pricing depends on things the model cannot see — access, unit age, what the crew finds.

Raw lines 79 to 82
83### Bad
85```
86For a six-building portfolio you're looking at around USD 1,400 a month.
87```

Bad

For a six-building portfolio you're looking at around USD 1,400 a month.
Raw lines 83 to 88
89### Good
91```
92Straight answer on pricing: it depends on unit age and access, but for a
93portfolio that size it usually lands cheaper than per-building contracts.
94```
96Direction, not a number. A draft that names a price carries a flag in the digest so the owner sees it before approving.
98---

Good

Straight answer on pricing: it depends on unit age and access, but for a
portfolio that size it usually lands cheaper than per-building contracts.

Direction, not a number. A draft that names a price carries a flag in the digest so the owner sees it before approving.

Raw lines 89 to 99
100## Gotcha: sending because the owner said "just send them"
102**Why it matters:** An owner who has approved thirty drafts unedited will, reasonably, ask you to stop asking. A reply in their name is still their decision, and the one time the draft is wrong is the one time they needed to see it. There is no auto-send mode in this skill, and "just send them from now on" does not create one.

Gotcha: sending because the owner said "just send them"

Why it matters: An owner who has approved thirty drafts unedited will, reasonably, ask you to stop asking. A reply in their name is still their decision, and the one time the draft is wrong is the one time they needed to see it. There is no auto-send mode in this skill, and "just send them from now on" does not create one.

Raw lines 100 to 103
104### Bad
106Take "you can just send the easy ones" as standing permission and stop presenting drafts.

Bad

Take "you can just send the easy ones" as standing permission and stop presenting drafts.

Raw lines 104 to 107
108### Good
110Say what you can do instead, in one line, and keep presenting the batch:
112```
113I don't send on my own — every reply waits for your yes. I'll have the
114overnight ones drafted and sorted by 7 am so it's one click for the batch,
115and I'll page you in Slack the moment a hot one lands.
116```
118Batch approval in the digest is the speed lever. Sending unseen is not.
120---

Good

Say what you can do instead, in one line, and keep presenting the batch:

I don't send on my own — every reply waits for your yes. I'll have the
overnight ones drafted and sorted by 7 am so it's one click for the batch,
and I'll page you in Slack the moment a hot one lands.

Batch approval in the digest is the speed lever. Sending unseen is not.

Raw lines 108 to 121
122## Gotcha: the overnight form loop
124**Why it matters:** A broken web form or a bot can produce dozens of submissions. Thirty-two replies from the owner's domain in one hour destroys their sending reputation, and it hits their real customer mail for months afterward.

Gotcha: the overnight form loop

Why it matters: A broken web form or a bot can produce dozens of submissions. Thirty-two replies from the owner's domain in one hour destroys their sending reputation, and it hits their real customer mail for months afterward.

Raw lines 122 to 125
126### Bad
128Process all 32 and send all 32.

Bad

Process all 32 and send all 32.

Raw lines 126 to 129
130### Good
132```
13332 inquiries overnight, 6x normal, 19 near-identical. Looks like a form loop
134or a bot. I haven't replied to any — want me to send the 3 that look real?
135```
137Volume anomalies always stop and ask, in every mode.
139---

Good

32 inquiries overnight, 6x normal, 19 near-identical. Looks like a form loop
or a bot. I haven't replied to any — want me to send the 3 that look real?

Volume anomalies always stop and ask, in every mode.

Raw lines 130 to 140
Involves a person stop and ask :137
141## Gotcha: inventing familiarity
143**Why it matters:** "I saw the great work you're doing at Ridgeline" when nobody looked is the same tell as a template. In an instant reply it is worse, because the timing makes it obvious nobody could have looked.

Gotcha: inventing familiarity

Why it matters: "I saw the great work you're doing at Ridgeline" when nobody looked is the same tell as a template. In an instant reply it is worse, because the timing makes it obvious nobody could have looked.

Raw lines 141 to 144
145### Bad
147```
148I've been following Ridgeline for a while and love what you're building.
149```

Bad

I've been following Ridgeline for a while and love what you're building.
Raw lines 145 to 150
151### Good
153Reference only what they actually wrote in the inquiry. The speed is the impressive part. It does not need decoration.
155---

Good

Reference only what they actually wrote in the inquiry. The speed is the impressive part. It does not need decoration.

Raw lines 151 to 156
157## Gotcha: burying the hot lead
159**Why it matters:** The digest exists to get the owner to act. A hot lead listed fourth, chronologically, in a list of seven is a hot lead that waits until lunch.

Gotcha: burying the hot lead

Why it matters: The digest exists to get the owner to act. A hot lead listed fourth, chronologically, in a list of seven is a hot lead that waits until lunch.

Raw lines 157 to 160
161### Bad
163List inquiries in the order they arrived.

Bad

List inquiries in the order they arrived.

Raw lines 161 to 164
165### Good
167Hot first, always, with one instruction attached. Everything else after.

Good

Hot first, always, with one instruction attached. Everything else after.

Raw lines 165 to 167