What is Speed to Lead?

Speed to lead is the amount of time it takes a business to get in touch with a potential customer after they've submitted a lead form, made a phone call, or sent a message.

If you're a contractor or really any service based business, understanding what speed to lead means and how you can improve it should be at the top of your list. 

It's one of the most overlooked metrics in marketing, and it can make or break your return on investment.

Why is Speed to Lead Important?

You are 19x more likely to qualify a lead if you get in touch with them in 5 minutes or less. On top of that, if you're running PPC campaigns and not taking into account speed to lead, you're likely wasting more than 30% of your ad spend budget.

Think about it from the customer's perspective. When someone fills out a form or calls your business, they're actively looking for a solution. They have a problem right now. 

If you don't get back to them quickly, they're going to move on to the next company that does.

A study by Harvard Business Review found that companies who reached out within an hour were nearly 7x more likely to have a meaningful conversation with a decision maker. After that first hour, the odds drop significantly.

If you're investing in paid advertising or any form of lead generation, speed to lead should be a metric you're tracking every single week.

Key takeaway: Strive to improve your speed to lead timing each and every day. It will help you make the most of your marketing budget and drive more revenue.

The Real Cost of Slow Response Times

Let's say you're spending $5,000 a month on Google Ads and you're generating 100 leads. If your speed to lead is slow, research suggests you could be losing 30 or more of those leads before you even make contact. That's $1,500+ down the drain every month.

Now multiply that over the course of a year. You're looking at $18,000 in wasted ad spend simply because you didn't get back to people fast enough. That's money that could have been turned into real jobs and real revenue.

This is exactly why having a solid digital marketing strategy needs to include your follow up process. Your marketing doesn't stop when the lead comes in. It stops when you actually book the job.

How to Improve Your Response Times

Use Voice AI to Answer Leads Instantly

Utilizing a voice AI tool like Retell AI can help improve your speed to lead significantly. We recently implemented a voice AI tool for a roofing client of ours and they saw a dramatic 30% increase in booked leads for their marketing campaigns.

Voice AI picks up calls immediately when your team can't. No more missed calls during lunch breaks, after hours, or when your team is out on a job site. The AI qualifies the lead, gathers the important details, and books the appointment right then and there.

Set Up CRM Automations

Another way to improve your speed to lead timing is by setting up automations within your CRM. Even if you can't pick up the phone right away, automated messages let the lead know you received their info and that someone will be reaching out shortly.

Here are some examples of simple CRM automations that can help improve your speed to lead:

• Send an email and SMS message immediately after a client submits a lead form
• Send a SMS message to missed calls with a link to book an appointment
• Trigger a notification to your sales team or office manager so they can follow up within minutes
• Set up a drip sequence for leads who don't respond to the first touchpoint

These automations don't replace your team. They just make sure no lead falls through the cracks while your team is busy doing what they do best.

Train Your Team on Response Time Expectations

Tools and automations are great, but they only go so far if your team doesn't understand the importance of speed to lead.

Make it a priority in your business. Set a standard that all leads should be contacted within 5 minutes or less during business hours.

Don’t miss phone calls!

Track it, review it weekly, and hold your team accountable. When everyone understands that every minute counts, you'll start seeing better results from the same marketing spend.

How to Measure Your Speed to Lead

If you're not measuring it, you can't improve it.

Most CRMs have the ability to track when a lead comes in and when the first contact was made. Use that data to calculate your average response time. Setup phone number pools for your website as-well for better attribution and call tracking.

Here's what you should be aiming for. If you're consistently getting back to leads in under 5 minutes, you're in great shape. Between 5 and 30 minutes, there's room for improvement. 

Anything over 30 minutes and you're likely losing a significant chunk of potential customers.

Final Thoughts

Speed to lead may sound like a fancy term or however you want to frame it, but it's a term that every contractor and service based business should be paying attention to. 

Spped to lead directly impacts your revenue and your pipeline.

The businesses that respond first are the ones that win the job. It's that simple. 

Whether you use voice AI, CRM automations, or just good old fashioned hustle, the goal is the same. Get back to your leads as fast as possible.