Why Lead Response Times Have a Decisive Impact

Nov 6, 2024 | AI Automation, Digital Marketing

Your lead response times have a significant impact on your conversion rates. Did you know that the average response time is 47 hours?

**Key Statistics on Lead Response Times**

Here are the most important statistics about lead response time.

01. The average response time is 47 hours. 02. Only 27% of leads are contacted. 03. The probability of reaching buyers within five minutes is 10 times higher than if you let 10 minutes elapse. 04. Companies that respond within the hour are almost seven times more likely to have fruitful conversations with decision-makers. 05. Companies that respond quickly win up to 50% of sales. 06. Calling after 30 minutes is 21 times less effective. 07. A one-minute response time can result in 391% more conversions. 08. 82% of consumers expect a response within 10 minutes. 09. Less than 25% of companies respond by phone to web leads. 10. Thursday is the best day to respond. 11. By choosing the right time to send your emails, you can increase conversions by 49%. 12. 71% of customers made purchases based on experience quality. 13. Companies can see a 15% increase in churn rate if lead response time is slow.

**Reduce Your Lead Response Times with Call-your-leads**

Response times can make or break a sale. When your potential customers express interest in your brand, their purchase intent is rising. Quick responses maintain that interest. Conversely, too long a response time can lead to a loss of interest before the momentum has even been established.

Your response time, also called "speed to lead," measures how long it takes you to follow up with potential customers after they first contact you. If you're like most businesses, your response time is far from as fast as it should be. According to Forbes, the average lead response time is 47 hours. That's nearly two days for your competitors to plant the seeds of a solid customer relationship or for your potential customers to be less enthusiastic or change their minds altogether.

No matter how good your response content is, it's impossible to make up for lost time.

Additionally, Forbes also indicates that only 27% of leads are contacted. However, by increasing lead response time, you can reach more leads when they're better positioned to engage.

In this blog post, we'll explain why response times are such an important part of the sales process. We'll then offer you five tips to help improve your response speed.

**What is the Ideal Response Time?**

The optimal response time for phone call follow-ups is five minutes or less. According to a study on phone call response management by InsideSales.com (now XANT), the probability of reaching buyers within these five minutes is ten times higher than if you let ten minutes elapse.

A Harvard Business Review study also notes that companies that respond within the hour are almost seven times more likely to have meaningful conversations with decision-makers. If you wait longer, you risk missing your chance to sell effectively to the right people.

However, the Harvard Business Review study indicates that only 37% of companies responded within the hour. Ricochet 360 also indicates that the average response time for online leads is 17 hours. Given that the average brand doesn't respond within the first hour (or even the first day), it's clear that most sales teams are leaving aside many business opportunities.

If the follow-up is by email – a channel with lower conversion rates than phone calls, according to the study – the response speed must be even greater. When leads sign up for a newsletter, for example, 74% of subscribers expect to automatically receive a welcome email.

As high-speed internet continues to influence our lifestyle, customers can expect brands to approach instant responses across all channels.

**Some Statistics on Lead Response Time**

Need an extra reason to aim for a callback time of less than one minute with Versatik's Call-your-leads service? Here are nine statistics that prove the importance of your first response time:

1. People Who Respond Quickly Win Up to 50% of Sales

Slowness and steadiness don't win the race when it comes to responding to leads. The first salespeople to respond to leads win 35 to 50% of sales. According to Vendasta and Ricochet360, this figure can exceed 78%. This first interaction sets potential customers' expectations. Therefore, if you're not the brand leading the way, you need to meet those expectations.

If you miss the ideal five minutes by a minute, you risk losing a very lucrative customer. And if you don't respond at all, Website Builder states that 30% of buyers will go directly to a competitor.

2. Calling After 30 Minutes is 21 Times Less Effective

Your prospects don't spend half an hour waiting for your call. According to LeadSimple, calls received within five minutes are more likely to lead to real conversations. Conversely, letting 30 minutes or more elapse can reduce your chances of selling to nothing. Even by calling after five minutes, prospects are 10% less likely to answer.

3. A One-Minute Response Time Can Result in 391% More Conversions

Want a foolproof way to get the best results?

Aim for a one-minute response time instead of five. A Velocify study indicates that a one-minute response time can improve conversions by 391%. Responding one minute later (for a two-minute response time) offers less than half the improvement, at 160%.

Each passing minute is like a time bomb that quickly slows the growth of your conversions.

4. 82% of Consumers Expect a Response Within 10 Minutes

Buyers don't want to wait if they don't have to. Thanks to the rapid evolution of the digital world, most buyers say that response times of 10 minutes or less are important, especially when it comes to sales. Consumers are even less patient for sales help than for customer service, which is why maintaining the shortest possible response time is essential.

5. Less Than 25% of Companies Respond to Leads by Phone

Despite the power of phone calls, OpenView reports that the majority of companies don't contact their potential customers by phone. With many companies choosing ease, often with automated emails, calling leads can help you stand out.

6. Thursday is the Best Day to Respond

Response times are the most important factor in converting leads, but the day of the week you respond can also make a difference. A Lead Response Management study showed that calls made on Thursday led to higher lead qualification rates, with Wednesday coming just behind and Friday being the worst.

Although you don't want to wait for a response, you can schedule your lead acquisition ads for mid-week, so your same-day responses get the best results.

7. Good Email Timing Can Increase Conversions by 49%

If it's not already very clear, timing is paramount. According to a Velocify statistic referenced by Xoombi, timing your calls to a potential customer can significantly increase conversions. Additionally, good email timing can increase conversions by 53%.

8. 71% of Customers Made Purchases Based on Experience Quality

When buyers choose between several brands, customer experience is an important factor in their decision. Your lead response time gives potential customers the first impression of your brand experience. If you're not readily available for immediate assistance, they may not believe you'll offer them the help they need later.

9. With Slow Response Times, Companies Can See Their Churn Rate Increase by 15%

Failing to respond to leads within the allotted time can increase your customer churn rate, meaning fewer people will progress through your sales funnel. That's as much lost business.

**Tips to Improve Your Lead Response Speed**

To help you improve your response speed while maintaining a high level of quality, we've compiled five lead response optimization tips that will help you impress your potential customers.

1. Use Customer Relationship Management Systems to Manage Incoming Leads

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are useful sales tools that document your interactions with potential customers. Platforms like Hubspot CRM can directly help you speed up contact:

• by alerting you to the creation of a new contact
• By showing you who still needs a first response
• by evaluating leads, so you can prioritize your responses when faced with a high volume of new leads.

2. Invest in Automation Tools Like Call-your-leads

Once you have your prospect's contact information, you can call them back very quickly with Call-your-leads, which offers an instantly created personalized voicebot system. Voicebots can answer basic questions on your behalf, with instant response times. And if additional help is needed, they can collect contact information and help with lead qualification by asking key questions to potential customers, before transferring the conversation.

3. Offer Live Sales Support

The best wait time is no wait time. And if you can respond to potential customers in seconds with a voicebot, you score points.

Often, your website visitors want live, real-time support. You can offer them this service in several ways:

• Make your phone number available on your site.
• Create a popup with a mini form
• Place a mini form on your site

4. Use Analytics to Schedule Your Sales Representatives

One of the trickiest aspects of quick lead response is ensuring you have the necessary staff to do it.

Analyzing data related to lead generation will help you identify the best days and hours to keep more salespeople available. For example, if you notice that most internet leads arrive on Tuesday afternoon, you can strengthen your sales support during that period.

Hiring salespeople to improve response rate can also be helpful. Instead of dispersing your team members, you can entrust Call-your-leads with the responsibility of first responses. Then if necessary, the conversation will be transferred to the right person, thus ensuring a solid customer experience from the start.

5. Regularly Monitor Your Voicebot's Response Quality

To improve your response times, you need to know where you stand. Review your responses at least once a week to ensure they meet your customers' expectations. With Call-your-leads, you can:

• Access transcripts or listen to conversations
• Read a summary of conversations
• Have an evaluation of the conversation (successful or not for example) to improve the voicebot
• Extract structured data from conversations

**Reduce Your Response Times with Call-your-leads**

Brands that respond fastest to leads are those most likely to win the sale. To improve response speed, consider investing in tools such as CRMs, chatbots, and Call-your-leads.

Most consumers prefer to receive responses quickly, which is why improving your response times is essential for your sales efforts to be successful. With Call-your-leads from Versatik, you can impress potential customers by reducing your response times to seconds.