Key takeaways
- Ask for the move-in or start date on the form, and time the whole sequence to that date.
- Reply by text and call within minutes, with the street's pickup day in the first message.
- Marketing texts need consent, a working STOP, and a registered business texting number.
- Off-route leads are not dead leads. Put them on a waitlist by street and text them when a route reaches them.
Facebook lead follow up for a trash service has one goal: turn a form filled out between moving boxes into an active account before the household's first trash day. Text and call within minutes, confirm the address is on a route, name the pickup day, and keep a short sequence running until service starts or they say no.
Why speed decides
Speed decides because a household that just moved often contacts more than one hauler in the same evening, and the first one to name a pickup day tends to get the account. A Facebook form is filled out in a few seconds, often while the person is doing something else. By the next morning, many have forgotten which company they asked.
Trash leads also carry a deadline most other leads do not. The household needs a cart before its first trash day, or before the old hauler's last pickup if it is switching. Ask for that date on the form, then run the whole sequence against it. A lead with a closing in three weeks needs a different rhythm than one whose bags are already piling up in the garage.
The follow-up sequence
- Form submitted
- Instant text and email Confirms you have it
- A call attempt As soon as someone is free
- Follow-up sequence Spaced texts and calls
- Booked or closed out Every lead ends with an outcome
The follow-up sequence
- Minute 0: instant text. It names your business, their street and its pickup day: "Hi Sam, this is your local trash service. We pick up on Maple Court every Thursday. Want us to drop off a cart?" Send it only if the form collected texting consent.
- Within 5 minutes: call. Confirm the address, whether it is a home or a business, the start date and the cart size. If they are ready, create the account while they are on the phone.
- First hour, no answer: send the details. Text the price card and a link to start service online, so they can sign up without a callback.
- Day 1: call at a different time. If the first call was mid-afternoon, try early evening. Leave a short voicemail with the pickup day.
- Day 3: email what is included. Cart sizes, recycling rules, how bulk items work, the holiday schedule, and how billing runs.
- Two days before their start date: the reminder. "Want the cart there before your first trash day?" This is the message that converts households who meant to sign up and forgot.
- Day 10: close the loop. One last message that offers to hold their spot. No reply means you stop.
Off-route leads take a different path. Tell them honestly that you do not serve their street yet, offer the waitlist, and tag them by street. When a route grows into that area, the waitlist is your first batch of sign-ups.
Every marketing text needs the person's consent first, and every message must honor STOP (the TCPA rules and CTIA's messaging principles). Business texting from a 10-digit number also requires A2P 10DLC registration of your brand and campaign through The Campaign Registry. Unregistered messages get blocked or filtered by carriers, which means your instant text may never arrive.
Automating it
Automate everything except the conversation: the instant text, the office alert, the timed reminders and the hand-off into billing. The checklist:
- Form to CRM in seconds. Connect the Meta lead form to your CRM, so no one copies leads by hand at the end of the day.
- Route check on arrival. Match the address against your route map and tag the lead as on-route, off-route or town service before anyone calls.
- Office alert. A text or app notification to whoever answers the phone, with the address and start date.
- Date-based reminders. The start date field triggers the reminder in step 6, not a fixed day count.
- Stop on reply or signup. The sequence ends when the person answers or an account appears in your route and billing platform. Nobody wants a "still interested?" text after their cart arrived.
- Outcome tagging. Each lead closes as started, lost to a competitor, off-route or no response, so you can see which ads bring accounts.
The marketing automation guide covers the wider setup, including what happens after the account starts.
Improving lead quality
Lead quality for a trash service improves most when the form asks what the office needs to start service. Add these fields:
- Service address, with ZIP code. This is the single most useful field, because it settles on-route or off-route before you spend time.
- Home or business. Commercial leads go to whoever quotes containers.
- Start or move-in date. It sets the follow-up rhythm.
- Current hauler, if switching. It tells you the objection you will hear.
Every extra field lowers the number of leads and raises the share worth calling. Use the form option that adds a review step before submitting. Then point ads only at ZIP codes on your routes, so the form stops collecting addresses you cannot serve. The Meta ads guide for trash haulers covers targeting and creative.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We connect your Facebook lead forms to your CRM, register your texting number, and build the date-timed sequence, so new movers hear from you in minutes and hear again before their first trash day. Everything sits in accounts you own, the setup comes with dates, and we report how many leads became accounts that started service. Bring a week of Facebook leads to a growth consultation and we will show you where they went cold.
Sources
- 47 CFR 64.1200: Delivery restrictions (TCPA rules), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- Messaging Principles and Best Practices, CTIA
- The Campaign Registry (A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration), The Campaign Registry