The client and the problem
Our client (name withheld at their request) is a mid-size developer in Lagos with active projects in Lekki and Sangotedo. They had a website — built in 2021 — that was getting around 800 monthly visitors from organic search. Good traffic. But enquiries were sporadic and follow-up was manual: someone checked the contact form every few days, replied from a personal Gmail, and kept notes in a WhatsApp chat.
When we audited the setup, we estimated they were losing 60–70% of leads before the first proper conversation.
The brief: fix the leakage. Build a system that captures every lead and follows up without manual effort.
Timeline: 3 weeks
Budget: Lead Machine package
Week 1: Foundation
New website
The 2021 site was rebuilt from scratch. Key improvements:
- Mobile-first (the old site broke on anything smaller than an iPad)
- Individual project pages for each development — Lekki project, Sangotedo project, completed units
- Contact form on every page (the old site had one form, on the contact page only)
- WhatsApp floating button
- Page load time reduced from 7.2s to 1.4s
CRM setup
We set up HubSpot (free tier) and connected it to the website forms. Every form submission now creates a contact automatically with:
- Name, phone, email
- Which project they enquired about
- Which page they came from (source tracking)
- Date and time of enquiry
Week 2: Automation
The instant response workflow
New enquiry → within 60 seconds, they receive:
- A personalised WhatsApp message: "Hi [Name], thanks for your interest in [Project Name]. We'll be in touch within the hour. Here's a quick overview: [link to project page]"
- An email with a PDF brochure for the specific project they enquired about
The developer receives a Slack notification with the lead's details.
The follow-up sequence
- Day 1 (if no reply to initial message): Follow-up WhatsApp: "Hi [Name], did you get a chance to review [Project Name]? I'd love to answer any questions."
- Day 4 (if still no reply): Email with "3 reasons buyers chose [Project Name]" — social proof, payment plan details, timeline.
- Day 10 (if still no reply): WhatsApp: "Hi [Name], we have a site visit scheduled for [date]. Would you like to join? It's a great way to see the project in person."
The re-engagement sequence
Leads who went cold (90+ days with no activity) receive a monthly "project update" email with construction progress and any new units available.
Week 3: Testing and handover
We ran the entire workflow with test leads, verified every automation trigger, and trained the developer's sales manager on HubSpot. We also set up a simple dashboard showing:
- New leads this week
- Leads by project
- Response rate (what % of leads replied within 24 hours)
- Source breakdown (organic, direct, referral)
Results (30 days post-launch)
| Metric | Before | After | |--------|--------|-------| | Monthly form enquiries | 12 | 31 | | Avg response time | 18 hours | 4 minutes | | Leads that booked a viewing | 2/month | 9/month | | Closed transactions (first 30 days) | 0 | 2 |
The two closed transactions in the first 30 days covered the cost of the entire engagement.
The developer's comment: "We knew we were losing leads. We didn't know how many. Now that we can see the numbers, I can't believe we ran it the way we did for so long."
What made the difference
Not one single thing. It was the combination:
- A website that captured leads properly
- Instant, personalised follow-up
- A CRM that made the pipeline visible
- Automated sequences that did the work of a full-time salesperson
None of these are technically complex. They're just not done by most developers and agents.