followupdesk.app/tools/lead-response-speed-checker
Your tier
Slow
At under 24 hours, your relative conversion odds are roughly 17% compared to a sub-1-minute responder (set to 100% as the benchmark).
Responding in under 5 minutes would improve your odds by an estimated +61 points.
Conversion vs. response speed (industry benchmark)
Sign in to see exactly how to hit sub-5-minute responses without sitting on your phone — using auto-acknowledgements, AI drafts, and queued follow-ups.
Lead conversion drops off a cliff after the first 5 minutes. This checker shows where your typical response time lands on the curve and what tier of contractor you're competing with at that speed.
Enter your average response time. See your conversion odds vs. the industry — and how much faster you'd need to be to land in the top 10% of contractors who win the most jobs.
The Lead Response Speed Checker is a free benchmarking tool that shows where your average lead response time ranks against the contracting industry — Elite (under 5 min), Top 10% (under 15 min), Strong (under 2 hr), Average (under 24 hr), Slow, or Cold. Built for roofers, HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians, remodelers, and any home-service business competing for the same inbound homeowner leads.
The landmark MIT/InsideSales lead response study found that contacting a web lead within 5 minutes makes you 21x more likely to qualify it than waiting 30 minutes. For contractors, the effect is even stronger: most homeowners request quotes from 2–3 contractors simultaneously, and the first to reply with a real human message wins the job 60–80% of the time — regardless of price. Slow response time is the #1 silent killer of contractor conversion rates.
Nobody answers every lead in 5 minutes by willpower. Top-performing contractors use three things: (1) an instant auto-acknowledgement SMS that buys breathing room, (2) a shared inbox so any team member can claim a lead, and (3) AI-drafted replies queued in a CRM so the actual response is one tap. FollowUpDesk bundles all three into a $29/month flat plan — and this checker shows you the exact conversion lift you'd unlock by getting there.
Enter your typical response time
In minutes, hours, or days — be realistic about evenings and weekends.
See your tier
Elite, Top 10%, Strong, Average, Slow, or Cold.
Compare to the benchmark
A visual chart of conversion odds across every response-time bucket.
Get the speed-to-lead playbook
Create your free FollowUpDesk account for the exact playbook contractors use to hit sub-5-minute responses without living on their phone.
Example — 2 hours average response time
Your tier: Strong Relative conversion odds: 55% Lift if you replied in under 5 minutes: +23 points
Under 5 minutes is the industry benchmark for top performers. Under 1 hour is acceptable. Over 24 hours and you've effectively lost the lead to whoever responded first.
Most homeowners request quotes from 3 contractors at once. The first to respond with a real human reply is 60–80% more likely to win the job, regardless of price.
Auto-acknowledgement texts buy you breathing room, then a CRM queues an AI-drafted reply you can send in one tap. That's exactly what FollowUpDesk is built to do.
Hiring trades? We recommend BlueCollarJob.online
It's basically LinkedIn for blue collar workers — a dedicated job board and network for contractors, tradespeople, and skilled labor. Great for finding crew, subs, and apprentices.