More than half of customers say that speed is just as important as price. And it’s no surprise—speed is more critical than ever.
That’s why sales teams that don’t engage their leads quickly are more than likely losing out on revenue.
In today’s competitive and real-time environment, consumer patience is low, and expectations are high—and they should be. Not only are businesses capable of improving speed to lead, competition is everywhere. If customers can’t get in touch with you quickly, they’ll move on to the next.
Speed to lead is no longer just a key differentiator, it’s your defense against the competition.
In this article, we’ll cover the definition of speed to lead, speed to lead statistics, why it’s important, and how to improve your speed to lead.
What is speed to lead?
Speed to lead is how fast your business responds to inbound leads. It’s measured as time between a lead’s inquiry and your first follow-up.
For example, if a customer fills out your “Contact Us” form on your website, and it takes your business 24 hours to respond, your speed to lead is 24 hours.
Speed to lead applies to any channel that you use for follow up, including forms, phone calls, chats, SMS, emails, and social media messages.
This metric fits at the top of the sales funnel, as it is generally measured as the time it takes for first follow-up. However, as the conversation progresses, it’s vital to keep your speed to lead not only fast, but consistent.
Why speed to lead matters
Lead interest decays rapidly over time. As consumer expectations only grow, so does the importance of speed to lead. Customers now expect instant response.
In fact, 78% of customers buy from the business that responds first. In a survey of over 1,900 consumers, over half of people hired the first business to respond to their requests, even if it was more expensive.
When you respond quickly, you catch the lead when it’s hot. Having a fast speed to lead impacts conversion rates, qualification rates, revenue, and customer experience.
In a survey, 53% of people said that waiting too long for replies is the most frustrating part of interacting with businesses, and they will switch to a competitor if the wait is too long.
In addition:
- Leads are 60x more likely to be qualified when contacted within 1 hour versus 24 hours. (Harvard Business Review)
- 80% of consumers cite speed and convenience as being among the most important elements of a positive customer experience. (PWC)
- Around 66% of customers say speed is as important as price. (Forbes)
Speed to lead benchmarks and trends
So, how fast should your speed to lead be?
Research shows that five minutes is a great speed to aim for:
- When contacted within 5 minutes, leads are 21x more likely to convert. (Lead Response Management)
- After one hour, your likelihood of making successful contact drops by 10x. (Lead Response Management)
- 66% of consumers expect a response from customer service in five minutes or less. (HubSpot)
However, instant response times (less than five minutes) can facilitate even better results:
- Sales teams that respond within 1 minute see up to 391% higher conversions. (Chili Piper)
- Conversion rates drop 8x when follow-up is delayed by just 5 minutes. (InsideSales.com)
However, right now, most companies are lagging behind when it comes to speed to lead:
- Research by InsideSales showed that 57% of companies took a full week to respond to inquiries.
- They also reported that, on average, 51% of leads are never contacted at all.
- It’s estimated that 71% of internet leads are wasted due to poor follow up.
- A study by Harvard Business Review found that 47% of businesses failed to respond to leads within 24 hours, while 37% of companies responded to their leads within an hour.
- In this study, the average response time was 42 hours.
The problem with responding during business hours
Many companies only respond to leads during business hours, which results in slower average speed to lead.
Of course, employees need time off of work. It’s also impractical to hire enough people to maintain 24/7 coverage.
However, think about your customers: many of them are also working during business hours. So they’re looking for products and services when they have time—which is usually after 5-6pm.
For example, if a working mom is looking to switch car insurance, she probably doesn’t have time during the day with her job, children, and any other responsibilities. Most people are doing this kind of browsing after dinner, when the kids are asleep—and this is often outside of business hours.
When businesses only offer fast response (or any response at all) during business hours, they’re missing out on anyone who is shopping on a different schedule—and this amounts to a huge chunk of their customer base.
In fact, Verse research found that 45% of leads come in outside of business hours. In order to improve speed to lead, companies must find a way to respond quickly, even later in the day.
5 ways to improve your speed to lead
There are many factors behind poor speed to lead, including:
- Manual lead routing and triage
- Understaffed SDR or sales teams
- Lack of automation
- Inconsistent workflows and tech fragmentation
Let’s discuss five ways to solve these roadblocks and improve speed to lead.
Score leads
Lead scoring is the process of assigning numerical values to each lead based on the lead’s actions or data. For example, a highly-engaged lead who fits your buyer persona would have a higher lead score, while a less engaged, less qualified lead would have a lower score.
By scoring leads, you can help your sales team prioritize which leads to reach out to first. Higher scores reflect quality leads who are more likely to buy, meaning that they are a higher priority.
Marketing and sales teams should be aligned on lead scoring criteria and process. Teams often score leads based on data such as:
- Demographic or firmographic data: whether the lead seems to be a good fit for your product/service.
- Intent and engagement data: this includes lead behaviors, including email open rates and pages viewed on your website.
- Lead source: higher-intent lead sources, or sources that usually produce quality leads, will contribute to higher lead scores.
When your team scores leads effectively, it can improve speed to lead for your most engaged and qualified leads.
Implement instant notifications for sales
Sales teams can’t be quick to follow up with leads if they aren’t quickly notified of inbound leads. Completely reliance on manual processes slows sales teams down due to manual work, human error, and the time it takes to manually assign leads.
By automating notifications, you can ensure that sales team members are immediately notified of inquiries, so they can stay on top of inbound leads.
Notifications should ping reps through email updates, Slack channels, or even SMS. You can set these up through CRM and lead routing systems such as Salesforce or HubSpot.
This can be combined with lead scores, so that sales teams are alerted about high-scoring leads. For example, when a lead scores 100, the responsible sales rep will be notified that they should follow up.
Enable self-service
When you allow customers to self-serve, this improves customer experiences and speed to lead.
For example, maybe a customer wants to set an appointment. Rather than having them fill out a form and wait for a call from sales to schedule, let them do it right from your website with a self-serve appointment setting function like Calendly.
Another self-service example is a chat widget. If a customer has a frequently asked question, they can easily and quickly find answers via chat instead of filling out a form and waiting for a reply from sales.
This eliminates the need for sales to even follow up right away because the customer is immediately able to find what they need via self-serve methods.
Automate first outreach
Taking things a step further, automating first outreach can make your speed to lead virtually instant.
AI tools or SMS or email automation tools can ensure immediate follow-up for every lead. While manual follow-up can often miss leads due to human error, automation saves your team time while ensuring that each and every lead is engaged in a consistent and timely manner.
Advanced conversational AI (like Verse) can send an SMS, start a conversation, and answer lead questions within seconds of an inquiry coming in. AI tools can even qualify leads automatically, eliminating wasted time on engaging and qualifying unqualified leads.
Maintain 24/7 coverage
45% of leads come in outside of business hours. To improve speed to lead and get in touch with every customer quickly, 24/7 coverage will give you the best results.
For example, your team isn’t seeing leads that come in at 8pm until 10am, those leads are likely already going cold.
Though hiring a 24/7 team can be costly and difficult, many companies achieve better lead coverage using AI and automation.
Tools that improve speed to lead
When it comes to reducing lead response times, the right tools can make all the difference.
Here are a few technologies that support faster follow-up:
- Lead routing software and CRMs
Automated lead routing ensures that every new lead is instantly assigned to the right person based on territory, availability, or qualification criteria. Tools like LeanData, Chili Piper, or CRM routing rules can dramatically reduce the delays that come with manual routing.
- CRM integration tools
Your CRM should be the central hub for all lead data. Integration tools like Zapier or native APIs allow your systems to communicate in real time. For example, as soon as a form is filled out, it’s sent to the sales team without delay.
- AI sales tools
AI for sales (like Verse) enables teams to instantly follow up with every inbound lead, 24/7. These tools engage leads via SMS and email within seconds, qualify them automatically based on your criteria, and hand off only sales-ready leads to reps. This ensures you meet speed-to-lead benchmarks without burning out your team.
- Chatbots or live chat
For many businesses, chat-based tools can provide an instant point of contact. While not as robust as SMS or phone calls, they can capture essential lead information and answer FAQs right from your website.
Boost speed, conversions, and revenue with speed to lead
Speed to lead isn’t just a nice-to-have.
As leads grow cold in minutes, not hours or days, fast follow-up is increasingly essential. Data shows that the first business to respond is usually the one that wins.
Whether your team is stretched thin, your lead volume is climbing, or your sales cycle is losing momentum at the top of the funnel, improving your speed to lead can unlock better results across your entire pipeline.
By combining tools like AI and automation, better tech, and smarter processes your team can reach leads faster, convert more opportunities, and give your reps time back.
How Verse improves speed to lead
Verse’s platform is one example of an AI tool that can give your business a significant edge in many ways—speed to lead included.
Powered by conversational AI, Verse enables response times of one minute or less for every single lead via SMS, customers’ highest-preferred channel. With Verse, you get:
- Expert, customizable script and campaign design
- Fully-managed AI and human-in-the-loop with our human concierge team
- Automatic lead qualification
- Fast CRM integration with advanced analytics
- Compliance enablement and guidance
If you want to learn more about Verse, check out our demo videos here or book a demo call now.
Speed to lead FAQ
What is a good benchmark for speed to lead?
A strong benchmark is under 5 minutes—but the faster, the better. Responding within 1 minute can improve conversions exponentially.
Why is speed to lead important?
Leads lose interest quickly, and competitors are just a click away. The faster you respond, the more likely you are to qualify, convert, and retain a customer.
What tools improve speed to lead?
AI engagement tools, CRMs with lead routing, chatbots, self-service appointment tools, and instant notifications can all reduce lag and improve first response times.
Can AI help with speed to lead?
Yes—AI sales engagement tools like Verse can instantly respond to new leads 24/7 via SMS or email, qualify them automatically, and pass only ready-to-talk leads to your sales team.
Is speed to lead only important for B2C businesses?
No. While it’s especially crucial in high-volume B2C industries, fast lead response also improves conversion rates in B2B sales—especially when prospects are actively researching solutions.
