How long does a new lead really wait on you?
Most owners guess their response time. Almost nobody measures it. Contact your own business the way a customer would, start the clock here, and stop it when someone gives you a real next step. The timer keeps running if you close the tab.
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1. Set up the test
Reach out from a name, email, or number your team won't recognize, and ask a real question a customer would ask. Then press the button the moment you hit send.
This browser won't save the timer. Keep this tab open until the reply comes in.
2. The clock is running
00:00
Inside the 5-minute window
3. Your result
Time to a real next step
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Your tests
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How to run a fair test
The point is to see what a real customer sees, not what your team does on its best day. A few rules keep the number honest.
- Use a name, email, or phone number your team won't recognize. A friend's phone works. So does a personal email address.
- Ask a real question a customer would ask, with enough detail to answer: what you need, roughly where, and roughly when.
- Don't warn anyone. The test measures the system, and a warned team is a different system.
- Run it twice: once during business hours and once on an evening or weekend. Most leaks live in the second one.
- Start the clock the moment you hit send, and stop it at the first real next step, not the first automatic confirmation.
- Check spam on your end too. If a real reply landed there, run the Email Deliverability Check on the sender's domain.
What counts as a real reply
A reply counts when it moves the lead one step forward: a person's name and when they'll call, a question that helps quote the job, or a link to book. "Thanks, we received your message" doesn't count by itself. It tells the lead nothing about what happens next, so they keep shopping. If your system sends one of those instantly, good: the test notes when it arrived, and keeps the clock running until a real next step shows up.
How to read your time
The bands are my rule of thumb, built around the one strong outside number on this topic, not an industry standard.
Fast
You're inside the window the MIT/InsideSales study measured: web leads called within 5 minutes were 100 times more likely to be reached than at 30 minutes. Test again after hours before you relax.
Slipping
Close, but this is exactly the stretch where that study saw the odds fall hardest. An instant first reply that names a time usually closes most of the gap without anyone working faster.
Slow
The lead has had time to contact someone else. Put your own numbers into the Missed-Lead Calculator and see what this wait costs in a month.
Missing
You're not alone: in Velocify's 2014 study of online quote requests, 33% never got a phone call at all. That number is old, but a test result like yours says the problem is still around. This is a system problem, not an effort problem.
Sources: MIT/InsideSales Lead Response Management study (James Oldroyd, 2007); Velocify Online Buyer Experience study (2014).
Questions people ask
How do I test how fast my business responds to leads? +
Contact your own business the way a customer would, from a name, email, or number your team won't recognize, and time how long it takes to get a real next step back. This page keeps the clock for you, even if you close the tab, and grades the result against the five-minute window.
What is a good lead response time? +
Under five minutes. In the MIT/InsideSales Lead Response Management study (2007), web leads called within 5 minutes were 100 times more likely to be reached than leads called at 30 minutes, and 21 times more likely to qualify.
Does an automatic reply count as a response? +
Only if it gives the lead a next step: a person's name and a time, a question to answer, or a link to book. A message that only says 'we got your message' doesn't start a conversation, so this test keeps the clock running until a real next step arrives.
Can I test a competitor's response time? +
Yes. Mark the test as a competitor's, reach out the way a real customer would, and ask a real question. Keep it honest: don't book appointments you won't keep or waste their team's time past the first reply.
Where is my test data stored? +
Only in your own browser (localStorage). Nothing about your tests is sent anywhere unless you use the form to ask for help, and then only the summary you see on the page.
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