The short version: when an employer reaches out with a role, they're often talking to more than one agency, and the first useful reply has an advantage. Within minutes, send an automatic acknowledgement that says who will call and when. Within the hour during working hours, have a named person call or reply properly. By the end of the day, send your terms. Set it up so none of this depends on someone happening to check the inbox between calls.
Recruiters spend most of the day on the phone, and that's exactly when new employer inquiries arrive: through the website form, a general inbox, LinkedIn or a voicemail. If nobody clearly owns those, they wait. By the time someone replies, the employer may have already briefed another agency.
Here's what a good first hour looks like, and how to make it happen without anyone watching the inbox all day.
What should happen, minute by minute?
Minute 0 · The inquiry arrives
Every channel (website form, general inbox, phone) lands in one place, with the time it arrived.
Within 5 minutes · An acknowledgement
An automatic, human-sounding reply: thanks, who'll be in touch, and roughly when. Not "your message has been received."
Within 5 minutes · The right person knows
An alert to the person who owns new inquiries today, by text or chat, not just an email they'll see later.
Within the hour · A real reply
During working hours, a named person calls or replies properly: a couple of questions about the role, and a time to talk if needed.
The same day · Your terms
If it's a real role, your fee agreement or terms go out the same day, from a ready template.
Day 2, 5 and 10 · Follow-up
If the agreement goes quiet, a short, friendly follow-up on a set schedule, so it doesn't depend on someone remembering.
What should the acknowledgement say?
Short, specific and honest. An example to adapt:
"Thanks for getting in touch about the [role] role. I'm [Name], and I'll call you within the hour, or first thing tomorrow if this came in after hours. If it's urgent, you can reach me at [direct number]. — [Name], [Agency]"
Only promise a time you can keep. If your team can't reliably call within the hour, say "today" and keep that instead.
Who should own new employer inquiries?
One named person per day or per week, with a backup. "The team" isn't an owner. A simple rota works well: whoever is on inquiries that day keeps their phone handy and their calendar a little lighter.
What should the first call cover?
- The role, the timeline and why it's open now.
- Whether they're speaking to other agencies (ask plainly; most people will tell you).
- Who makes the decision and who signs the terms.
- The next step, booked before you hang up.
What about inquiries after hours?
The automatic acknowledgement does most of the work: it tells the employer they've been heard and when to expect a call. Then the first call of the next morning goes to them, before anything else.
What gets in the way?
- Several inboxes. Website forms going to one person, the general inbox to another, LinkedIn messages to whoever. Route them to one place.
- No owner. Everyone assumes someone else replied.
- Terms that take a day to prepare. Keep a ready template so the same-day promise is realistic.
- No follow-up. A fee agreement that goes quiet usually needs a nudge, not a new pitch.
How do you check how you're doing now?
Send an inquiry through your own website form on a busy weekday, and time how long it takes to hear back, and from whom. Then look at your last ten employer inquiries: when did each arrive, when did someone reply, and did the terms go out the same day? That tells you where the first hour is leaking.
Want this set up for you? The same-hour reply system is one of the five parts of the 30-Day Client Revival: an instant acknowledgement, an alert to you, a clear owner for every new employer inquiry, and fee agreement follow-up on day 2, 5 and 10. All inside the CRM you already use.
Related: how fast to reply to a new lead and how to win back past clients without sounding like spam.