Speed to Lead
Response time to new leads
In short
Speed to lead is the time between a lead coming in and sales' first contact attempt. The shorter it is, the more often an inquiry turns into a conversation.
Also known as: speed-to-lead, lead response time
Speed to lead describes how quickly your sales team responds to a new lead: the time between the submitted form and the first real contact attempt, meaning a call or a personal message. An automatic confirmation email doesn't count.
Why speed to lead matters
A lead is most valuable the moment the form is submitted. After that, interest drops and the person compares providers. In 2011, Harvard Business Review analyzed data from 1.25 million leads: companies that responded within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to have a conversation with a decision maker as companies that waited an hour longer (HBR).
How to measure speed to lead
Speed to lead = time of first contact attempt - time lead came in
- Median instead of average: A few leads that sit for days skew the average.
- Break it down by source: Lead ads, landing pages and referrals behave differently.
- Break it down by time and weekday: Leads in the evening and on weekends often wait the longest.
Speed to lead and campaign evaluation
Response time affects how good a campaign looks in the CRM. Leads that get a call only after two days are qualified less often, no matter how good the ad was. With LeadMetrics you see the time, source and campaign of every lead, and for every ad how many leads turned into deals in HubSpot or Close.
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Frequently asked questions
Articles on this topic
- Meta Conversion Leads: Why Cheap Leads Are ExpensiveYour Meta lead campaigns deliver cheap leads, but sales can hardly reach anyone? With the Conversion Leads performance goal, Meta optimizes for leads that progress in your CRM. Requirements, setup and common mistakes.
- Speed to Lead: Why Response Time Beats a Lower CPLMany teams optimize their cost per lead by cents while new leads wait hours for a call. What research says about response time, how to measure it and how to get faster.
Related terms
All termsLead
A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest and shared their contact details with you, for example through a form, a funnel or a lead form.
SQL · Sales Qualified Lead
An SQL (sales qualified lead) is a lead that sales has vetted and classified as ready to buy – with a real need, budget and decision-making authority.
Lead Ads
Lead ads are ads with a built-in form that let users submit their contact details right inside the ad platform without having to visit a website.
Sales Pipeline
The sales pipeline shows all of a company's open sales opportunities with their value and current stage, from qualified lead to closed deal.
Cost per Lead
Cost per lead (CPL) is the average amount you pay to acquire a single lead: ad spend divided by the number of leads generated.
CRM · Customer Relationship Management
A CRM (customer relationship management) is a system for managing contacts, leads, deals and all communication with prospects and customers in one place.