# How fast do you have to call back to win the lead?

Lead-response research is brutal: every minute past five drops your conversion rate by 80%+. See exactly how much speed (or lack of it) is costing your shop.

Primary keyword: lead response time calculator

## Methodology

- Decay curve halves close rate every five minutes past one minute — fits Harvard Business Review + InsideSales lead-response studies.
- Effective close = baseline × decay multiplier.
- Lost = (fast close − slow close) × leads × ticket size.
- RingDesk pickup averages 1.8 seconds — effectively no decay.

## FAQs

### Why does five minutes matter so much?

The HBR study (Lead Response Management Study) showed leads are 21x more likely to qualify when contacted within 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes. After an hour the lead is essentially cold.

### My field tech says he calls back fast.

Average self-reported response time is always faster than actual. Pull your call log, find ten leads from last month, and check the gap between inbound and your callback. The truth is humbling.

### What if I'm on a job?

That's literally what RingDesk solves. Your line answers in 1.8 seconds whether you're on a roof, in an attic, or asleep — at 1-minute response speed you're playing in the top quartile.