Every marketing page about leads says the same thing: reply in five minutes or you’ve lost them. Some of the numbers behind that line come from real research. Some of them get quoted everywhere and can’t be traced back to anything at all.
If you’re a tradie, the useful question isn’t “what’s the magic number”. It’s “how fast is fast enough for my customers, on each channel, and how do I get there while I’m on the tools?” This guide covers what the research actually found, what fast means for a phone call, a web form and a Facebook message, and how to set a reply standard you can keep.
What the research actually says
The study most of the numbers trace back to is “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads”, published in Harvard Business Review in March 2011 by James Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington. They sent a test enquiry through the websites of 2,241 US companies and timed the replies.
- Only 37% replied within an hour.
- 24% took more than 24 hours, and 23% never replied at all.
- Among the companies that did reply within 30 days, the average wait was 42 hours.
They also looked at a much larger set of real leads, and found that firms which tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that waited even an hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited a day or more.
Two things to keep in mind before you treat that as gospel. It’s US data from 2011, mostly from businesses with sales teams, not trades. And the even bigger numbers you’ll see (“100 times more likely to make contact in five minutes”) come from an earlier study run with a sales software company, not a peer-reviewed paper. Others, like “78% of customers buy from whoever responds first”, have no traceable source at all.
So the precise multipliers are shaky. The direction isn’t. Every credible study finds the same thing: interest fades fast, and the business that gets back first has a head start that’s hard to claw back.
Why speed matters even more for trades
Think about how people find a tradie. They search, they see three or four names in the map pack, and they ring or message more than one. The first person who gets back to them with something useful sets the bar. The others are now competing against a conversation that’s already started.
It matters most for:
- Urgent work. Someone with a leak, no power or no hot water rings until somebody answers. If that isn’t you, the job is gone in minutes, not hours.
- Shared leads. Directory and marketplace leads go to several tradies at once. The first sensible reply usually gets the site visit.
- Planned work on a short list. A homeowner getting three quotes for a deck will give the first visit to whoever made it easy. Slow replies don’t lose the job outright, but they push you to the back of the queue.
Where it matters less: big, considered jobs (a new build, a full renovation) where people expect to wait a few days and care far more about trust than speed. Even then, a quick acknowledgement does no harm.
What “fast” means on each channel
A single number doesn’t work, because people expect different things from a phone call, a form and a message.
| How they got in touch | What they expect | A standard you can keep |
|---|---|---|
| Phone call | Someone answers now | Answered live, or the caller’s details taken and a call back within the hour |
| Website form | Proof it arrived, then a person | An instant email confirming it arrived, then a real reply the same working day |
| Facebook or Instagram message | A reply like a text from a mate | A reply within a few hours in working time |
| Marketplace or directory lead | You’re racing other tradies | As soon as you can, ideally before smoko is over |
| After hours | Nothing tonight, but proof they’ve been heard | An acknowledgement now, and a call first thing |
Notice the pattern. Almost every channel has two parts: an acknowledgement that proves the enquiry landed, and a real reply from a person who knows the job. The acknowledgement can be instant and automatic. The real reply is where your time goes, and it lands better when the customer already knows you’ve seen them.
Acknowledgement isn’t the same as a reply
An automatic “thanks, we’ve got your message” email is worth having on every enquiry. It stops the customer wondering whether the form worked, and it buys you time.
But on its own it isn’t a reply. If the customer gets a robot email at 9 am and then hears nothing for three days, you’re no better off than the business that didn’t reply at all. The acknowledgement should say what happens next and roughly when, and then you need to keep that promise.
A good acknowledgement does three things:
- Confirms the enquiry arrived, in plain words.
- Says what happens next (“Dave will give you a ring this afternoon to talk it through”).
- Gives them something useful while they wait: photos of similar jobs, what to have ready for the site visit, or a link to book a time.
Test your own reply time this week
Before changing anything, find out what a customer actually experiences. It takes ten minutes:
- Fill in your own website form with a different email address. Time how long until something comes back, and read it as a customer would.
- Ring your own business number from someone else’s phone during a busy part of the day. Does anyone answer? If not, what does the caller hear?
- Send your Facebook page a message from a friend’s account and see how long a reply takes.
- Do the same after 6 pm.
Most tradies are surprised by at least one of the four. The form that emails an inbox nobody checks, the voicemail that’s full, the Facebook messages that sit unread for a week. If phone calls are the leak, who answers the phone when you’re on the tools goes through the options. If it’s what happens after dark, see after-hours calls when you don’t do emergency work.
How to reply faster without living on your phone
You can’t stop work every time the phone buzzes. You don’t have to. Most of the speed comes from setting things up once.
- Get every enquiry in one place. Form leads, Facebook messages and missed calls spread across three inboxes and a voicemail are how things get lost. One inbox you actually check beats four you don’t.
- Turn on notifications for the channels that matter. A push notification for every new form lead means you know it’s there, even if you reply at smoko.
- Use saved replies. Write your best answers to the common questions once (prices, how quotes work, when you can come out) and reuse them. Faster and more consistent.
- Give people a way to book themselves in. A booking link for site visits or a call back means the customer can lock in a time without waiting for you.
- Offer a “request a call back” option on your website. People who’d rather not ring can leave their details and a good time, and you call them when you’re free.
- Decide who replies. If you have an office person, agree what they handle and what comes to you, so nobody assumes the other one has it.
And when the first reply is done, the job isn’t. Quotes go quiet for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with price. Do you actually follow up your leads? covers the check most tradies skip.
The automated version
This is what we set up in the System for the trade businesses we work with:
- An instant email reply to every website enquiry, written in your voice, saying what happens next.
- AI chat on your site that answers the common questions and gathers the job details you’d need to quote.
- An AI receptionist for the calls you can’t take: missed calls, busy lines and after hours. It says up front that it’s an AI, takes the caller’s details and the full problem, and you hear about it however suits you (email, a push notification, the recording or a summary).
- Email follow-up that keeps going until the lead books or says no, or for about a week ending with a final check-in, depending on how you’d like it run. How the sequence works.
Everything lands in one place, one conversation per customer, so you can see at a glance who needs a call back. None of it replaces you. It makes sure the customer hears from your business straight away, so the reply you make at smoko lands with someone who’s still waiting for it. See how it works.
Lead response time: FAQ
How quickly should a tradie respond to an enquiry?
Acknowledge every enquiry straight away (an automatic email is fine), answer urgent calls live or call back within the hour, and give a real reply to a web enquiry the same working day. For marketplace leads that go to several tradies, reply as soon as you can, because you’re racing the others.
Is it really true you have to reply within five minutes?
The direction is right but the precise numbers are shaky. The best-known study, Harvard Business Review’s from 2011, found firms that replied within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify a lead as those that waited longer. The “five minutes” figures come from earlier research run with a sales software company, and some of the most quoted stats have no source at all.
Does an automatic reply count?
As an acknowledgement, yes, and every enquiry should get one. As a reply, no. It needs to say what happens next and when, and then a real person needs to follow through.
What should I say in the first reply?
Thank them, confirm you’ve got the details, say what happens next and roughly when, and ask the one or two questions you need to quote properly. Keep it short. The goal is a conversation, not a brochure.
How do I reply to enquiries when I’m on the tools all day?
Set things up so the customer hears from your business straight away without you: an instant email reply, a booking link, AI chat on your site and an AI receptionist for the calls you can’t take. Then block out two short windows in the day (smoko and knock-off) to make the real replies.
Want to know how fast your business replies right now, and what it’s costing you? Get a free leads audit: we’ll test your form, your phone and your follow-up and show you exactly where enquiries are slipping.