Why speed to lead matters
Speed to lead is the time it takes your business to reply after someone fills out a form, calls or messages you. Research has found it makes a big difference:
- A Harvard Business Review study found firms that replied within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify a lead as those that waited even an hour longer.
- The MIT and InsideSales Lead Response Management Study found the odds of contacting a lead dropped 100 times when the first call came at 30 minutes instead of 5.
Read the full speed to lead guide for the research, the 7 ways to improve and how to automate replies.
What is a speed to lead test?
A speed to lead test checks how fast your business replies to new leads and what slows you down. This free test scores your response time and seven speed to lead practices out of 100, and shows how many leads and how much revenue wait longer than five minutes.
How is the score calculated?
Up to 40 points come from your typical first response time, from 40 for under a minute down to 0 for more than a day. The other 60 points are split equally across seven practices: instant automatic replies, after-hours replies, automatic lead routing, short forms, missed call text back, phone alerts and weekly measurement.
How is revenue at stake worked out?
It's simple arithmetic from your own numbers: leads per month, multiplied by the share that wait more than five minutes, multiplied by your close rate and average customer value. It shows how much revenue depends on leads that wait. It isn't a prediction of how much you will lose.
Why five minutes?
The MIT and InsideSales Lead Response Management Study found the odds of contacting a lead dropped 100 times when the first call was made at 30 minutes instead of 5, which is where the common 5-minute rule comes from.
Do you store my answers?
No. The test runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to us or saved.