In 2011, Harvard Business Review published an audit of 2,241 US companies. Each company received a test lead through its own website, and the researchers timed the reply. 37 percent responded within an hour. 16 percent took between one and 24 hours. 24 percent took more than 24 hours. 23 percent never responded at all. Among the companies that did respond within 30 days, the average reply time was 42 hours.
- Replied within an hour: 37 percent
- Replied in one to 24 hours: 16 percent
- Took more than 24 hours: 24 percent
- Never replied: 23 percent
- Average reply time among responders: 42 hours
A second study in the same article covered 1.25 million leads at 42 US companies. Firms that tried to contact the lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it, which HBR defined as a meaningful conversation with the decision maker, as firms that tried even an hour later.
Those were web leads, the data is from around 2010, and the industries were not home services. The pattern has not needed updating: a form that waits is a form the next company answers.
Tonight, fill out your own contact form from your phone and time how long it takes a human to reply.
What ProxMedia does about it: the lead reply goes out the minute the form lands, with a booking link, and the follow-ups run on their own in words you approved.
Source: Harvard Business Review, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington), March 2011; audit of 2,241 US companies and a study of 1.25 million leads.