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How much are slow enquiry replies costing you?

Q: How fast should a business reply to an online enquiry?

Within an hour if you can. In the Harvard Business Review study of 2,241 US companies, firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify it as firms that waited longer.

Q: What is the average reply time to an online enquiry?

In the same 2011 study the average first response time was 42 hours, and 23% of companies never responded at all.

If people email, message or fill in a form before they buy from you, the speed of your first reply matters. Put in your own numbers and see a rough monthly figure.

Enquiries per monthEmails, forms, DMs, portal messages

What one new customer is worth (€)Average first job, sale or commission

Your close rate when you reply fast (%)Out of 100 quick replies, how many buy? Not sure? Start at 5-10%.

Share of enquiries answered after 1 hourEvenings, weekends, busy days count

50%

How much better fast replies convertDefault 2x is deliberately cautious. The HBR study measured almost 7x for qualifying leads, which is not the same as closing.

Estimated money lost to late replies

€0

per month, €0 per year

Late enquiries per month0

Customers you win from them now0

Customers if they were answered fast0

Customers missed per month0

Key takeaways

In a 2011 Harvard Business Review study, the average first reply to an online lead was 42 hours in a study of 2,241 US companies; 23% never replied.
Firms that tried to reach a lead within an hour were nearly 7x as likely to qualify it as firms that waited longer.
Your biggest leak is usually not the busy weekday: it is the evening and weekend enquiries nobody sees until Monday.

How the estimate works

Late enquiries = enquiries × share answered after an hour. Fast replies win at your close rate. Late replies are assumed to win at your close rate divided by the multiplier you choose. The gap between the two, times what a customer is worth, is the monthly estimate. It is a rough guide, not a promise: change any number to match your business.

Fixing it without hiring anyone

Most small businesses fix this in one of three ways: someone checks the inbox every hour (hard to keep up), a shared rota (costs evenings), or an automatic first reply that answers in your tone with the useful details the customer asked for, while you approve anything important. The third option is what we build at TheCopyGrind3r.

See how an instant, on-brand reply would work for you

Questions

How fast should a business reply to an online enquiry?

Within an hour where possible. The study found the chance of qualifying a lead drops sharply after the first hour.

Does an automatic reply feel robotic?

A generic "we got your message" does. A useful reply that answers the actual question (availability, price range, next step) in your own words reads like a fast human. You can keep approval on anything that matters.

Is my data stored?

No. The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is sent or saved.

Is this calculator exact?

No. It is an estimate based on your own numbers and an adjustable assumption about how much better fast replies convert. Change the inputs to match your business.

What is the average reply time to an online enquiry?

In the 2011 study the average first response time was 42 hours, and 23% of companies never responded at all.

Source: Oldroyd, McElheran & Elkington, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads", Harvard Business Review, March 2011 (hbr.org).