Stop Wasting Your Time on Tyrekickers
If you run a business in Brisbane—whether you’re a builder in Coorparoo or a mortgage broker in the CBD—you know the frustration of the "tyrekicker."
You spend twenty minutes on the phone answering questions, another hour driving out to see them or putting together a quote, only for them to ghost you or tell you they were "just looking for a price."
In the trade, we call this wasted time. In marketing, people use fancy terms like "predictive lead scoring." But let’s call it what it actually is: knowing who is going to give you money and who is going to waste your time.
Most small business owners treat every enquiry the same. You get an email from your website, you call it. You get a Facebook message, you reply. This sounds like good customer service, but it’s actually a recipe for burnout. If you treat a $50,000 lead the same way you treat a $50 lead, you are leaving serious money on the table.
Today, I want to show you how smart business owners are using simple automation to rank their enquiries. This isn't about complex math; it's about making sure your phone rings with the right people.
What is This "Predictive" Stuff Anyway?
Don't let the name scare you off. "Predictive" just means using what happened in the past to guess what will happen next.
Think about it like this: If you’ve been a plumber for ten years, you know that a caller from Ascot asking about a full bathroom renovation is a "better" lead than someone from a rental property asking about a leaky tap. You do this "scoring" in your head automatically because of your experience.
Predictive lead scoring is just teaching a computer to do that mental work for you, 24/7, across every single person who visits your website or clicks your ads.
Instead of you manually looking at every enquiry, the system looks at their behaviour—what they clicked, where they live, how many times they visited your site—and gives them a score.
High score? You call them immediately. Low score? You let an automated email handle them.
Why Every Brisbane Business Needs This
I’ve sat down with business owners from North Lakes to Logan, and the complaint is always the same: "I'm too busy, but I'm not making enough profit."
When we dig into why, it’s usually because they are spending 80% of their time on the bottom 20% of their customers. These are the people who haggle over every cent and demand the most attention.
By using AI and marketing automation, you can flip that. You can focus your energy on the big fish.
Here’s what happens when you get this right: 1. You make more money: You spend your time on high-value quotes. 2. You save time: You stop chasing people who aren't ready to buy. 3. You beat the competition: If a hot lead comes in, you know it instantly and can call them before they even finish their coffee.
How Does the Tech Actually "Know" Who Will Buy?
It’s not magic, and it’s not reading people's minds. It’s just looking for patterns.
Let’s say you run a landscaping business. The system looks at three main things:
1. Who they are (The Basics)
It looks at the info they put in your contact form. Do they live in a suburb where people have big backyards and high disposable income? Are they a homeowner or a renter? If your best jobs always come from homeowners in Bulimba, the system gives those leads a higher starting score.2. What they do (The Behaviour)
This is where it gets clever. The system tracks what they did on your website before they contacted you. - Did they spend ten minutes looking at your "Luxury Pool Design" page? (High Score) - Did they only visit your "Cheap DIY Tips" blog post? (Low Score) - Have they visited your site five times this week? (Very High Score—they are ready to buy!)3. The "Secret Sauce" (The AI)
This is the part where the computer looks at your past customers. It sees that 80% of people who eventually spent $10,000 with you followed a specific path. Maybe they watched a specific video or downloaded a guide. When a new person does those same things, the system flags them as a "Hot Lead."Real-World Example: The Morningside Electrician
We worked with a local sparky who was getting about 50 enquiries a week. He was exhausted trying to keep up. He was calling everyone back in the order they arrived.
By the time he got to a high-value commercial lead on Thursday, they had already hired someone else because he spent Tuesday and Wednesday quoting $150 smoke alarm installs for people who weren't even sure they wanted them.
We set up a simple system that scored his leads. - Commercial enquiries and full house rewires: Marked as "Priority." He got a text message instantly. - General maintenance: Added to a list for his apprentice to call back later. - Tyrekickers: Sent to an automated customer reply system that answered basic questions.
In three months, his revenue went up by 30% because he was winning the big jobs he used to miss. He wasn't working more hours; he was just working on the right jobs.
Is This Going to Cost Me a Fortune?
Look, I’ll be honest. A few years ago, this tech was only for big companies like Telstra or the big banks. It cost thousands a month and required a team of nerds to run.
That has changed.
Today, if you are already using a basic CRM (a system to keep track of your customers) or an email tool, many of them have these "smart" features built-in. You might be looking at an extra $50 to $200 a month to turn these features on.
When you compare that to the cost of your time—or the cost of losing one $5,000 job—it’s a no-brainer. It’s the cheapest "sales assistant" you’ll ever hire.
How Long Until I See Results?
You won't see a change overnight. The system needs data to learn. It needs to see a few dozen enquiries come through to understand the difference between a buyer and a browser.
Usually, we tell our Brisbane clients to expect a "bedding in" period of about 30 to 60 days. - Month 1: You set up the tracking and start collecting info. - Month 2: The system starts spotting patterns. - Month 3: You start getting alerts that actually mean something.
What Most People Get Wrong
Most people think they can just "set and forget." They turn on the automation and stop checking their emails.
That’s a mistake. Technology is a tool, not a replacement for your brain. You still need to pick up the phone. The difference is, when you pick up the phone, you’ll already know that the person on the other end is 90% likely to buy from you.
Another mistake is asking too many questions on your website forms. If you ask 20 questions to try and "score" someone, they’ll just leave and go to your competitor's site. The goal is to get more bookings on autopilot by making it easy for them, while the tech works in the background to figure out who they are.
Your Action Plan: Where to Start
If you’re tired of the tyre-kickers, here is what I’d suggest you do this week:
1. Look at your last 10 customers: What do they have in common? Do they live in certain suburbs? Did they all ask for the same service? Write this down. This is your "Ideal Customer Profile." 2. Check your current tools: See if your website or email system has "lead scoring" or "tags." You might already have the tools and just aren't using them. 3. Stop treating everyone the same: Even if you don't use high-tech AI yet, start manually prioritising your callbacks based on the value of the job. Focus on the big wins first.
The Bottom Line
Marketing shouldn't be about "likes" or "engagement." It should be about making your phone ring with people who have their wallets out.
Predictive lead scoring is just a fancy way of ensuring you never miss a big opportunity because you were too busy dealing with a small one. It’s about working smarter, not harder, and in a competitive market like Brisbane, it’s the edge you need to stay ahead.
Ready to stop chasing dead leads?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses set up the systems that find your best customers for you. We don't do fluff—we do results.
If you want to see how this could work for your business, let’s have a chat. No jargon, just a straight-up talk about how to grow your sales.