The Art of Intent: Capturing & Converting Ready-to-Buy Leads

For this session we met with Jamie Smith, VP of Brand Marketing & Experience at Modernize, to talk about creating, capturing, and converting intent. Check the recap below!

Watch the webinar recording here.

Resources shared in the webinar

• Webinar slide deck
• Campaign templates
• Text Messaging Best Practices

About the hosts

Hatch is an AI CSR platform that empowers businesses to scale revenue through better customer communication. With fully integrated AI CSRs that work alongside you across SMS, email, and voice, you can increase conversion and customer satisfaction while lowering overhead costs.

Modernize connects top home improvement pros with homeowners who are actively seeking trusted services. Their platform delivers high-intent leads, marketing support, and tools to help contractors grow their pipeline, close more jobs, and scale faster.

Key takeaways 

The main goal of this webinar was to equip teams of all sizes (even a team of one) with practical strategies to capture, nurture, and convert high intent leads without always needing to work harder - just smarter.

1. Understand and map lead intent

Segment your leads by intent: low, mid, and high.

• Low Intent: Browsing, early research phase.
• Mid Intent: Comparing options, gathering quotes but not ready to act.
• High Intent: Ready to act now, actively seeking a contractor.

Pro tip:

• Map conversion timelines (e.g., low intent = 90 days, mid intent = 60 days, high intent = 30 days).
• Model conversion rates by intent level to better forecast revenue.

2. Speak their language

Adapt your messaging to intent level.

Tactics:

• Be project-specific: ("Are you thinking about replacing your windows?" ➔ vs ➔ "We offer window services."
• Create urgency: ("Book before winter hits!")
• Localize your message: ("Proudly serving Greater Boston for 20+ years.")
• Lead with value: ("Schedule a free in-home consultation to see how much you could save.")
• Set clear expectations: ("We'll call within 10 minutes. No sales pressure.")

3. Educate lightly

Educated consumers make decisions. So help your leads to self-educate.

• Add FAQs, buying guides, project timelines, and pricing ranges to your website.
• Provide "what to expect" emails after appointment bookings.
• Key: Don’t overload initial outreach; educate progressively as leads move down the funnel.
  
  

4. Work with the right lead partner

Vet your lead partners carefully. Look for partners who:

• Are transparent about lead sourcing.
• Align success metrics to your KPIs (not just lead volume).
• Will run small batch tests before scaling.
• Encourage regular feedback loops (at least monthly, ideally weekly).
  
  

Signs of a good partner:

• Willing to adjust based on your data.
• Focused on both quality and intent, not just quantity.
• Provide educational content that prepares leads before handing them off.

5. Nail your conversion

Optimize your first touchpoint for maximum response.

Best practices:

• Keep texts short (160–220 characters ideally).
• Invite a reply: Ask simple, low-effort questions ("Would you prefer text or call?")
• Use multi-channel outreach: SMS, email, call.
• Follow up persistently (without being annoying):
  ➔ Day 1: Text + Email
  ➔ Day 2: Text
  ➔ Day 3: Rest
  ➔ Day 4: Text + Email
  ➔ Day 5: Call + Email
  Small, consistent touches > long, pushy messages. Think helpful, not salesy.

• Maintain speed: You need to be reaching out to new leads within 5 minutes, and every reply, once they start engaging with you, needs to be immediate.

7. Nurture your leads

Use nurture campaigns to capture missed revenue.

• Follow up after no-show appointments.
• Keep leads warm after an estimate.
• Re-engage past customers (1-year project check-ins).
• Provide small educational nudges along the way

Pro tips from Jamie

• Trust is a long game: Empower buyers through education to reduce friction and shorten sales cycles.
• Consumer behavior is emotional + financial: Messaging needs to address both.
• Don’t expect instant results from paid leads — testing and optimization is crucial.
• Give feedback to your partners regularly to refine targeting.
  
  

Final thoughts

Capturing intent is NOT about chasing leads harder. It’s about meeting leads where they are — emotionally, informationally, and timely — and helping them move forward at their pace.

Want to learn more?

• Learn more about Modernize here.
• Hatch customers, reach out to your Account Manager here.
• Non-Hatch customers, you can book a demo with us here.

For past and upcoming Hatch webinars, check out our webinar page!