Speed to Lead Calculator
By BRIX Editorial Team · Updated
Speed to lead is how fast you respond to a new inquiry. Research on 1.25 million leads found firms that tried to reach leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited longer. To value it, compare booked jobs at your current and target response times.
- Leads reached after an hour or never
- 50%
- Booked jobs per month today
- 16.4
- Blended booking rate today
- 20.5%
- Booked jobs at 80% within 5 min
- 28.1
- Extra jobs per month
- 11.7
- Extra revenue per month
- $7,605
Today 50% of your leads wait over an hour or never hear back. Reaching 80% of leads within five minutes would book about 11.7 more jobs a month, roughly $91,260 a year, from leads you already have. The booking rates by response time drive this result, so use your own if you track them.
Key takeaways
- Extra revenue = leads × (target booking rate − current booking rate) × average ticket, where each booking rate is a mix of fast, medium and slow responses.
- Contact odds fall fast: one study found the odds of reaching a lead were 100 times lower at 30 minutes than at 5.
- Most of the gain comes from the leads that wait over an hour or never get a reply.
- After-hours and on-the-job leads are where response time breaks down for trades businesses.
- Track response time and booking rate by lead in your CRM, then replace the example rates with your own.
How do you calculate the value of faster lead response?
Split last month's leads by how fast you first reached them: within 5 minutes, within the hour, or later (including never). Each group has its own booking rate. Your blended booking rate is the weighted average. Move more leads into the fast group, keep everything else the same, and the difference in booked jobs times your average ticket is what speed is worth.
Extra revenue per month = L × [(F′ × Rf + M′ × Rm + S′ × Rs) − (F × Rf + M × Rm + S × Rs)] × T
- L
- leads per month that need a response (forms, marketplace leads, texts, missed calls)
- F, M, S
- share of leads reached within 5 minutes, in 5–60 minutes, and after an hour or never, today
- F′, M′, S′
- the same shares at your target; M′ and S′ shrink in proportion as F′ grows
- Rf, Rm, Rs
- booking rate for each response-time group
- T
- average ticket
- 1
List last month's leads that needed a response.
Web forms, Google and marketplace leads, texts and missed calls. Calls you answered live don't need a response time; leave them out.
- 2
Note the first response time for each.
Your CRM, inbox and call log timestamps show when the lead came in and when you first called or texted back. Sort them into the three groups.
- 3
Find each group's booking rate.
Divide booked jobs by leads in each group. If you can't, start with the example defaults and replace them once you've tracked a month.
- 4
Set a realistic target.
Pick the share of leads you could reach within five minutes with an automatic text-back or someone answering every call.
What does the research say about speed to lead?
Two studies are behind most speed-to-lead numbers you'll see. Both are older and neither looked at trades businesses specifically, but both point the same way: the first minutes matter most.
| Study | What was measured | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Oldroyd, McElheran and Elkington, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, Harvard Business Review, March 2011 | Audit of 2,241 US companies' response to a web test lead; analysis of 1.25 million leads at 42 US companies | 37% responded within an hour, 23% never responded, and the average response among those that replied within 30 days was 42 hours. Firms that tried to contact leads within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited longer, and over 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or more. |
| Oldroyd and InsideSales.com, Lead Response Management Study, 2007 | Three years of data at six companies: over 15,000 leads and over 100,000 call attempts | The odds of contacting a lead called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 100 times; the odds of qualifying drop 21 times. Contact odds fall by over 10 times in the first hour. The study did not measure close rates. |
How fast should a contractor respond to a lead?
Within five minutes, every time, including nights and weekends. A homeowner who fills out three contractor forms on a Sunday night usually books whoever gets back first. Marketplace leads are often sold to several contractors at once, so a callback after lunch is a callback after the job was booked. If you can't call in five minutes, an automatic text that confirms you got the request and asks a qualifying question buys you time.
Where trades businesses lose response time
| Gap | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Owner on a job | Phone rings out while hands are busy; callback happens at the end of the day | Text back missed calls automatically; route calls to someone who can book |
| After hours and weekends | Web forms sit until Monday morning | Instant automatic reply plus a callback first thing, or 24/7 answering |
| Shared marketplace leads | Several contractors get the same lead at once | Respond in minutes; these leads reward speed more than any other |
| Busy season | Volume spikes exactly when crews are slammed | Overflow answering so leads don't queue behind service calls |
| No follow-up after the first try | One voicemail, then nothing | Follow up by call and text over several days |
Common mistakes
- Counting only answered calls. Leads that never got a reply are the slow group, and usually the biggest one.
- Measuring response time to the first attempt that reached voicemail. What matters is how fast the customer heard from you, by any channel.
- Ignoring lead source. Referral leads wait patiently; marketplace leads don't. Track booking rate by source with the cost per lead calculator.
- Stopping at speed. Fast first contact without a follow-up sequence still loses the leads who weren't ready on day one. See lead follow-up automation.
Frequently asked questions
What is speed to lead?
Speed to lead is the time between a potential customer reaching out, by form, text, marketplace lead or missed call, and your first real response. Shorter is better, because the odds of reaching and booking a lead fall quickly in the first hour.
How fast should you respond to a lead?
Aim for under five minutes. The 2007 Lead Response Management Study found the odds of contacting a lead were 100 times lower at 30 minutes than at 5 minutes. For trades businesses, an automatic text-back covers the minutes when nobody can pick up.
What are the key speed to lead statistics?
Research published in Harvard Business Review in 2011 found firms that tried to contact leads within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify them as firms that waited longer. In its audit of 2,241 companies, 23% never responded at all, and the average response time among those that replied within 30 days was 42 hours.
Does speed to lead matter for contractors?
Yes, especially for web forms and shared marketplace leads, where homeowners contact several companies at once. The research wasn't done on contractors specifically, so track your own booking rate by response time and enter it in the calculator.
How do I measure my lead response time?
Compare the timestamp when each lead arrived (form submission, missed call, message) with the timestamp of your first call or text back. Most CRMs, phone systems and inboxes record both. Average it weekly and look at the slowest 20%.
Does a text count as a response?
Yes. A personal, specific text that confirms the request and asks a next-step question counts as first contact for most homeowners. It keeps the lead warm until someone can call.
Related
- What Is Speed to Lead?What speed to lead means, what the HBR and Lead Response Management studies actually found, and how fast a contractor should answer a new lead.
- What Is Booking Rate?Booking rate is the share of customer calls that turn into a scheduled job. See the formula, a worked HVAC example, trade differences and how to raise it.
- What Is AI Follow-Up?AI follow-up explained: how automated texts and emails chase leads and estimates, sample sequences, consent rules for texting, and mistakes to avoid.
- Booking Rate and Close Rate CalculatorFree booking rate and close rate calculator for home service pros. See your lead-to-sale rate and what better booking or close rates are worth a year.
- Missed Call Revenue CalculatorFree calculator: see how much revenue missed calls cost your trades business per week, month and year. Enter calls, miss rate, booking rate and ticket.
- Cost Per Lead Calculator (and Marketing ROI)Free cost per lead calculator for contractors: get CPL, cost per booked job, marketing ROI, ROAS and the most you can pay per lead before you lose money.
- Lead Follow-Up Automation That Chases Every Lead and Estimate for YouAutomatic text and email follow-up for every lead and open estimate, so quotes don't go cold while you're on jobs. Built for trades businesses.
- Missed Call Text Back: Keep the Lead When You Can't Pick UpMissed call text back sends callers a text within seconds when you can't pick up, so the lead talks to you instead of dialing the next contractor.
- Customer Lifetime Value CalculatorFree CLV calculator for trades businesses: see what a customer is worth in lifetime revenue and gross profit, and how much you can spend to win one.
- Customer Acquisition Cost CalculatorFree CAC calculator for contractors: find what each new customer costs in marketing and sales, how many jobs it takes to pay back, and your CLV:CAC ratio.
Sources
- Oldroyd, McElheran and Elkington, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, Harvard Business Review (March 2011) (checked October 12, 2026)
- Coverage quoting the HBR study's figures (SmartCompany, July 2011) (checked October 12, 2026)
- Oldroyd and InsideSales.com, Lead Response Management Study (2007), archived copy (checked October 12, 2026)