The six qualification checkpoints
Before we book a design appointment into an installer's diary, our call team confirms six things on the phone. Miss any one and the close rate roughly halves.
- Age and need: typically 65+, finding the existing bath unsafe today (not "thinking ahead for next year").
- Home ownership: owns the property, or has explicit written landlord permission. Council tenants in the UK get routed to the Disabled Facilities Grant pathway, not your private-pay diary.
- Decision-maker presence: if the user is not the sole decision-maker, their spouse or adult child must be at the appointment. Single-decision-maker appointments close at half the rate.
- Bathroom type clarity: walk-in bath, walk-in shower, full wet room, or bath-to-shower swap. This routes to the correct surveyor and changes the quote materially.
- Budget posture: realistic awareness that a quality install starts around £6,000 / $8,000. "Looking for the cheapest option" is a disqualifier.
- Funding readiness: cash, financing on the day, or applicable benefits (VAT zero-rating in the UK under HMRC Notice 701/7, VA Aid & Attendance or Medicaid HCBS in the US, long-term-care riders).
Questions that quietly disqualify
These are the questions we ask to surface non-buyers without making the conversation feel like an interrogation:
- "Is anything making the bath difficult right now, or is this for the future?" (Filters tyre-kickers.)
- "Will [spouse/son/daughter] be home at the appointment?" (Filters single-decision-maker traps.)
- "Have you had any quotes done before, or would this be your first?" (Reveals price-shopping behaviour.)
- "Are you looking to invest in a quality install, or are you just exploring options?" (Surfaces budget posture without quoting a number.)
Why fast call-back doubles the qualification rate
The single biggest qualification lever is speed. A lead called within five minutes connects 3 to 5 times more often than the same lead called the next day, and the prospect is still in buying mindset. By the next morning they have moved on.
Acquiri rings every form fill inside ten minutes (most inside two), which is why our qualified-to-booked ratio sits around 60% even on cold-traffic Meta leads.
What disqualified leads look like (and what to do with them)
Roughly one in three enquiries does not qualify on the first call. Most are either too early (planning a year out), the wrong tenure (renter without landlord permission), or expecting a DFG or Medicaid-funded job at a private-pay price.
We do not throw these away. Early-stage leads go onto a 90-day SMS nurture sequence; DFG / Medicaid leads get routed to the correct funded pathway with a referral note for goodwill.
Regional qualification differences
The framework is the same UK, US and UAE but small script tweaks apply:
- UK: front-load VAT zero-rating question; route council tenants to DFG pathway.
- US: front-load VA/HCBS/LTC insurance question; use TCPA consent language on every form.
- UAE: front-load property tenure (owner vs long-lease) and expat status.
Common mistakes installers make when qualifying in-house
When in-house sales teams try to run this qualification, four issues recur:
- Asking budget directly. Kills rapport, gets a defensive answer. Ask posture instead.
- Skipping decision-maker check. Costs 40% of would-be closes.
- Not identifying bathroom type. Sending the wrong surveyor is a wasted afternoon.
- Missing VAT / VA eligibility. Free-standing 20% saving unopened.
A qualification scorecard you can use today
Score every enquiry across the six checkpoints. Anything scoring 5/6 or better books straight; 3-4/6 goes to nurture; below 3 routes to disqualifier pathway.
- 65+ and unsafe today: 1 point.
- Owner or written landlord permission: 1 point.
- Decision-maker will attend appointment: 1 point.
- Clear bathroom type identified: 1 point.
- Realistic budget posture: 1 point.
- Funding source clear (cash, finance, benefit): 1 point.