Your phone rings. A homeowner's AC just died in July. They need someone today. You don't pick up — you're on a job, your office line goes to voicemail, and you call back 45 minutes later. That job is gone. Not because you're too expensive. Not because a competitor does better work. Because someone else picked up first. Speed to lead is one of the most researched concepts in sales, and the findings are consistently blunt: the first contractor to respond wins a disproportionate