In short
Speed to lead measures response time to new enquiries: web forms, calls, emails and messages. A useful first reply answers the question or moves the enquiry forward, for example with a booking link or a callback time. An automatic “we have received your message” email starts the clock without stopping it.
What the research found
In a 2011 Harvard Business Review article, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads”, Oldroyd, McElheran and Elkington audited how quickly 2,241 US companies responded to web leads. Among firms that responded within 30 days, the average first response took 42 hours. Firms that contacted a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that waited even one hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or more.
The study is old and American, but the mechanism has not changed: people enquire with several businesses at once and tend to go with whoever responds properly first.
Why response time slips
Most delay is structural. Enquiries arrive in the evening and at weekends, land in a shared inbox nobody owns, or reach someone who is on a job site. Each one waits for a person to be free.
Measuring it is the first fix. Record when each enquiry arrived and when it got a useful reply, then look at the spread by hour of the day. The gaps are usually obvious within a fortnight.
How to improve it
| Ownership | One named owner per channel, with cover for holidays and sick days. |
|---|---|
| Instant useful reply | A reply that answers common questions and offers a booking link or a real callback time. |
| Out-of-hours answering | A voice agent or answering service so calls after hours are answered and logged. |
| CRM tasks | Every enquiry creates a task with a due time, so nothing depends on memory. |
| Follow-up sequence | A short series of follow-ups for enquiries that go quiet, stopping when they reply or book. |
When this matters
Relevant to any business that takes enquiries by phone, form or message. New Era AI’s lead nurturing and CRM automation services, and Echo One for calls, are built around closing this gap.
Questions
What is a good speed-to-lead target?
For calls, answered at the time. For forms and messages, a useful reply within minutes during working hours and an automated useful reply out of hours, followed up by a person the next morning.
Does an auto-reply count?
Only if it is useful: it answers the question or lets the person book. A plain acknowledgement does not move the enquiry forward.
Is the Harvard Business Review figure still accurate?
The exact multiples come from one 2011 study of US firms. Treat them as a strong signal. Your own response-time data is the figure to act on.