Speed to lead
Also called lead response time, time to first response.
Speed to lead is the time between a customer reaching out and your business giving them a real reply. For local services it often decides who gets the job, because customers contact several businesses at once and book whoever answers first. You measure it in minutes, from the moment the form, call or message arrives.
Doug's Field Guide · Updated
Why the first answer wins
Think about how people hire a plumber with a leaking water heater. They search, open three or four websites, fill out two forms and call one number. The first business that answers with a clear next step, like a time slot today, usually gets the job. The others reply an hour later to someone who already booked.
The same pattern shows up in slower purchases. Someone comparing dentists or estate lawyers still tends to go with the office that replied while they were paying attention. After an hour they're making dinner or have moved on to the next tab.
A 2011 Harvard Business Review study of online sales leads found that most companies responded far more slowly than their customers expected, and that quick responders were much more likely to have a real conversation with the lead. You'll see very specific numbers quoted from studies like this one, like '21 times more likely in five minutes'. Many of those figures are repeated without the original source, so treat them carefully. The direction is not in dispute: faster is better.
How to measure yours
Most owners guess their response time and guess low. Measure it for two weeks instead.
For every new inquiry, write down when it arrived and when someone gave a real answer. An auto-reply that says 'we got your message' doesn't count, because it doesn't answer anything. Split the results into business hours and after hours. The after-hours number is usually the ugly one, since a form sent at 8pm Friday often waits until Monday morning.
Also count the inquiries that never got a reply at all. Missed voicemails, forms that went to an old inbox and Facebook messages nobody checks are common. Those are lost jobs you paid to attract. Once you know your real number, set a target you can hold, like a real reply within 15 minutes during business hours, and check it again next month.
Time your own replies
- Submit your own website contact form at 7pm on a weekday and time how long a real answer takes.
- Make a simple log for two weeks: inquiry time, first real reply time, and whether the job booked.
- Check that every form, email alias and social inbox goes to someone who actually reads it.
- Pick one person to own first replies during business hours, and decide what covers evenings and weekends.
Common mistakes
- Counting an automatic 'thanks, we'll be in touch' email as a response when it answers nothing.
- Measuring only business hours and ignoring the evening and weekend leads that sit the longest.
- Replying fast but without a next step, so the customer still has to wait to find out when you can come.
How Doug does it
Doug replies to website visitors within seconds, day or night, answering from your own website, files and Q&A. He takes the customer's details and books a real time from your set hours or connected calendar, so the first answer includes a next step. Each lead lands in your inbox with the conversation attached.
Terms on this page
- After-hours
- The evenings, nights and weekends when your office is closed. Many customers shop then, and inquiries that wait until morning often go to whoever answered first.
- Inquiry
- Any question or request a potential customer sends you: a call, a form, a chat or a message. Every inquiry is a chance at a job if someone answers it.
- Lead
- A person who has shown interest in hiring you and left a way to reach them, like a name and phone number. A lead isn't a customer until they book.
Keep exploring
- Missed call text backAn automatic text to a caller you missed, so they don't call the next shop.
- AI receptionistSoftware that answers customers, takes their details and books them, day or night.
- Google Business ProfileYour free listing on Google Search and Maps, and the first thing a local customer sees.
- The fix queueEach week's findings become drafted fixes you can publish, apply, or dismiss.
Sources
Written by Doug's team from these sources and our own work with local businesses. Search engines change their rules, so check the source before a big decision.
