What actually changes when you answer a lead in five minutes?
The average business replies to an enquiry in 42 hours. Replying within one hour makes you seven times more likely to qualify it. The numbers, and what they mean for your business.
The numbers
Harvard Business Review analysed 2.24 million sales leads. Firms that replied to an online enquiry within one hour were about seven times more likely to qualify it than those who waited longer, and sixty times more likely than those who waited a day.
The MIT-based Lead Response Management study shows the same curve more sharply: the odds of making contact in the first five minutes are far higher than at thirty. Around 78% of buyers go with whoever replies first.
Why it bites harder in Turkey
Most demand arrives on WhatsApp or by phone. The customer does not wait — they message the next company. A contractor on site, a clinic mid-consultation, a tradesman on a job: none of them can work and answer at the same time.
What it means for you
Three inputs are enough to size your own gap: monthly enquiries, the share you answer same-day, and your average sale. The calculator on this site works it out for your sector without inflated promises.