How fast should you reply to a lead?
The research on lead response time, what 'fast' really means for a small business, and a reply you can turn on tonight.
Short answer: within five minutes, and a real reply, not a "we got your message" email.
What the research says
The best-known study on this is the Lead Response Management Study by InsideSales.com and MIT. It found that leads contacted within 5 minutes were 21 times more likely to qualify than leads contacted after 30 minutes, and that the odds of even reaching the lead dropped 100 times over the same window. Lead Response Management Study, InsideSales.com and MIT, 2007
The study is from 2007 and focused on sales teams, so treat the exact multiples with care. But the direction matches what owners see every day: people send the same inquiry to two or three businesses, and the first one that answers usually gets the booking.
Why most small businesses are slow
- The form goes to an inbox nobody watches at night. Most inquiries arrive after hours, when the person finally has time to look.
- The auto-reply says nothing useful. "Thanks, we'll be in touch" doesn't answer the question or offer a time.
- No one owns the reply. The front desk thinks the owner will answer. The owner thinks the front desk did.
What a good fast reply looks like
A good instant reply does three things: uses their name, answers the obvious question, and offers two specific times to book.
Two times work better than a booking link alone, because choosing between two options takes less effort than browsing a calendar. Add the link as a backup.
Set it up tonight
- Connect your website form to a tool that can send a text and an email (most CRMs and booking systems can).
- Paste the reply above and swap in your real openings or your two most common times.
- Send a test from your phone at night and time how long it takes.
Then track one number each month: your median time to first reply. If it's under five minutes, you're ahead of most of your competitors.
