The first call: turning a permit into a conversation

Calling off a permit is warm calling, not cold calling. You know something real about their business. The difference between sounding like a telemarketer and sounding like a local pro is whether you use what the project record already tells you.

The two-minute prep

• Scan the top of the page: address, project type, permit class, status, value, units, floors, and the builder. The shape of the job at a glance.
• Open the score breakdown: the five groups tell you your angle. A 72 driven by timing means lead with the schedule. A 72 driven by connections means lead with the relationship.
• Check Reachability first: it tells you how good the contact details are before you spend time chasing them. If it is thin, use Find phone to look for better details.
• Check the builder's other permits: one permit is a maybe. Five in a quarter is a real account worth a relationship, and your best talking point.

The opener

"Hi, this is [name] with [company]. We do [trade] out of [city]. I saw the permit go through for the project at [address]. Have you locked in your [trade] sub yet, or is that still open?"

That is it. It is honest about how you found them, specific enough to show you are paying attention, and it ends on a question they can answer without committing to anything.

The three outcomes

1. 1
   "Still open"

   Ask two quick questions (timeline, and who runs the job day to day), offer to come by the site or send a quote, and get a name and email before you hang up. Move the lead to Contacted, then create a follow-up on your Calendar so it cannot go quiet.
2. 2
   "Already awarded"

   "Good to hear it's moving. What else do you have coming up this year?" Then star the builder. Their next permit lands in your notifications (the bell) under Watchlist. The lead comes to you.
3. 3
   Voicemail

   Fifteen seconds at most: your name, company, the address of their project, one sentence on what you do, and your phone number twice. Then send the follow-up email. Scout, your AI assistant, drafts it from the first-contact template in 30 seconds. You send it, and it is saved on the lead automatically.