InsightsResearch summary

Speed to lead: what the research says

The most cited number in sales follow-up comes from one study. Here is what it found, what it did not, and what to do with it.

By Jay Patel ยท October 12, 2026

The study

In March 2011, Harvard Business Review published "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" by James Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington. The authors audited how 2,241 US companies responded to leads submitted through their websites, and analyzed lead data from companies that tracked response times.

What it found

  • Most companies were slow. 37% responded within an hour. Among companies that responded within 30 days, the average response time was 42 hours.
  • The first hour mattered most. Firms that contacted a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it, meaning reach a decision-maker for a real conversation, as firms that waited even one more hour.
  • A day is fatal. Those firms were more than 60 times as likely to qualify the lead as companies that waited 24 hours or longer.

Companies responding within an hour

2,241 US companies audited

Share of companies responding to web leads within an hour37% of 2,241 audited companies responded within an hour; 63% responded later or not at all.02040608037Within 1 hour63Later or never% of companies audited
Source: Harvard Business Review, March 2011.

What it means now

Buyers in 2026 contact several businesses at once, often from a phone, often at night. The first business to answer with something useful usually gets the conversation. A one-hour target is the floor; the businesses that win respond in minutes.

The practical takeaway: you do not need more leads until every lead you already get hears back within minutes. Our own scan of 860 Chicago small business websites found 64% offer no way to book, chat or text when nobody is there to answer.

How to get under a minute

  1. Route every source to one place. Forms, portals, ads and missed calls all land in one inbox or CRM.
  2. Reply automatically, in your voice. An instant text and email that answers the obvious question and asks one back.
  3. Qualify before a person steps in. Two or three questions sort serious buyers from browsers.
  4. Hand off fast. Alert the right person, or offer a booking link right in the thread.
  5. Measure it weekly. Median response time, reply rate and booked appointments.

That is exactly what the speed-to-lead system does. To estimate what slow follow-up is costing you, use the revenue leak calculator.