Straight North is a B2B-focused digital marketing agency known for SEO, paid search, web design, and lead generation services for contractors and service businesses. If you've worked with Straight North, you know the value proposition: they build an online presence that drives inbound leads to your business.
FollowFire does one thing differently: it converts the leads you're already generating by responding within 60 seconds and following up automatically. It doesn't run SEO campaigns. It doesn't manage your Google Ads. It makes sure that when a lead arrives — from a Straight North campaign, organic search, or any other source — you respond before your competitor does.
These tools operate at different parts of the funnel. Understanding which part of your funnel is leaking the most revenue determines which problem to solve first.
What Straight North Does
Straight North is a full-service digital marketing agency with a strong track record in contractor and B2B verticals. Their services typically include:
- Search engine optimization (technical, on-page, off-page)
- Paid search management (Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising)
- Website design and development
- Display advertising and retargeting
- Email marketing
- Lead tracking and reporting dashboards
- Dedicated account management
Straight North engagements typically start at $1,500–$5,000+/month depending on market competition, service mix, and ad spend. They position themselves as a results-focused partner rather than a commodity agency, with transparent reporting on lead volume and campaign performance.
What FollowFire Does
FollowFire is a lead response automation tool built for contractors and home service businesses. When a new lead comes in through your website, Google Business Profile, or any other channel, FollowFire texts them within 60 seconds and runs a 3-touch follow-up sequence automatically.
- Automated 60-second text response to every inbound lead
- 3-touch follow-up sequence (immediate, 20 minutes, Day 3)
- Works across website forms, GBP, Yelp, and other lead sources
- Simple dashboard to track lead status and responses
- Flat pricing: $49/month
FollowFire doesn't generate leads. It converts the leads your marketing already generates. The moment a campaign works — the moment a homeowner submits a request from your Straight North-optimized site — FollowFire makes sure you're first to respond.
The Core Difference: Top of Funnel vs. Middle of Funnel
Straight North operates at the top of the funnel. Their job is to make sure homeowners in your market find your business when they search for "HVAC repair near me" or "best roofing contractor in [city]." More visibility, more clicks, more form submissions.
FollowFire operates in the critical gap between lead submission and first contact. Its job is to convert the lead that just came in — before they call your competitor, before they move on, before the urgency fades.
The key question: are you losing more money to insufficient lead volume, or to leads that go cold before you respond? For most contractors generating 20+ inbound leads per month, the answer is almost always the response gap.
The Lead Response Problem Most Contractors Overlook
Research shows 78% of homeowners hire the first contractor to respond. Waiting just 30 minutes to respond reduces your odds of qualifying a lead by 21x compared to responding in under five minutes. The average contractor responds in 4–6 hours.
Here's the math: if you're spending $2,000/month with a marketing agency to generate 50 leads, and you're losing 40% of those leads to slow follow-up, you're effectively paying $2,000/month to generate 30 usable leads — $67 per lead. Fix the response gap with FollowFire at $49/month, and those same 50 leads produce 40+ qualified conversations. Your cost per converted lead drops by 33% without touching your marketing budget.
The analogy: don't increase water pressure in a leaky pipe. Fix the leak first.
FollowFire vs Straight North: Feature Comparison
| Feature | FollowFire | Straight North |
|---|---|---|
| Primary function | Lead conversion (respond + follow up) | Lead generation (SEO + paid search) |
| 60-second text response | ✅ Automated | ❌ Not included |
| Automated follow-up sequences | ✅ 3-touch (0, 20 min, Day 3) | ❌ Not included |
| SEO / organic search | ❌ Not included | ✅ Core service |
| Google Ads management | ❌ Not included | ✅ Core service |
| Website design | ❌ Not included | ✅ Full service |
| Lead tracking dashboard | ✅ Included | ✅ Included |
| After-hours response | ✅ 24/7 automated | ❌ Not included |
| Setup time | 5 minutes | 4–8 weeks onboarding |
| Monthly cost | $49/month flat | $1,500–$5,000+/month |
Who Needs Straight North
Straight North makes sense for contractors who have strong conversion rates but insufficient lead volume. If you answer every inquiry promptly, book 70%+ of the leads you receive, and simply need more lead flow to fill your schedule — then investing in better SEO and paid search is the right move.
Straight North also makes sense if you're in a highly competitive market where organic ranking requires sustained, expert-level SEO work, or if your website is converting poorly and needs a professional redesign.
Who Needs FollowFire First
FollowFire makes sense for contractors who are generating inbound leads but losing them before converting. Symptoms include: leads that "ghost" after submitting forms, customers saying they chose someone else who "responded faster," a noticeable drop in booked jobs versus form submissions, or a team that can't consistently reply within 5 minutes during peak season.
If you're already spending $1,500–$5,000/month on marketing and don't have a system to respond to leads in under five minutes, fixing the conversion gap first will make every marketing dollar you've already spent work harder.
The Case for Using Both
The best HVAC contractors, roofers, and plumbers use Straight North (or a similar agency) to drive lead volume and FollowFire to make sure every lead they generate turns into a booked job. At a combined cost of roughly $1,549–$5,049/month, you're covering both sides of the equation: generating leads and converting them.
The sequencing matters. If you're not yet converting leads reliably, investing more in generation makes the leak worse. Start with FollowFire, prove that your conversion rate improves, then scale your marketing investment knowing the leads you generate will actually become customers.
Get More From Every Marketing Dollar
Straight North does excellent work generating leads. FollowFire makes sure those leads don't go cold. Start a 30-day free trial and see how many leads from your current marketing spend are sitting unanswered right now.