# How to measure lead response time

> Measure lead response time from two timestamps per lead: when it arrived and when someone first reached out. Six steps, a weekly review and common mistakes.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-11-08
- **Category**: Lead generation
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-measure-lead-response-time

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To measure lead response time, record two times for every lead, when it arrived and when someone first reached out, and subtract one from the other. Do it for a week, take the median and the share of leads inside your target, and review those two numbers every Monday.

## What you are measuring

Lead response time is the gap between a lead arriving and a person first contacting it. A lead received at 14:11 and called at 14:35 took 24 minutes. The measure only works if both times are real and recorded the same way for every lead. The [speed to lead](/glossary/speed-to-lead) page explains why the gap costs money.

## Step by step

1. **Agree what "contacted" means.** Write one rule. For most teams it is the first call attempt by a person, answered or not, or a personal WhatsApp message. Auto-replies do not count.
2. **Find the received time.** For Meta lead forms, use the time the form was submitted. Meta's Leads Center and most CRMs show it with each lead. For Google Ads lead forms, use the submit time in your download or CRM.
3. **Capture the contacted time when it happens.** Ask callers to change the lead's stage or log the call right away. A time written at day end is a guess.
4. **Put both times in one sheet.** Use one row per lead, with these columns: lead ID, received, contacted, owner, minutes.
5. **Work out the minutes.** In Google Sheets or Excel, `=(C2-B2)*1440` turns the gap between two date-times into minutes.
6. **Summarise the week.** Count leads, leads never contacted, the median minutes and the share inside your target.

## Run a weekly review

Once a week, take 15 minutes with the sales lead and go through five numbers.

| Number | Example week | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Leads received | 212 | Volume to plan staff around |
| Never contacted | 18 | Leads you paid for and lost |
| Median response | 14 min | How the typical lead is treated |
| Share within 15 min | 61% | How often you hit the target |
| After-hours median | 11 h 20 min | Whether nights need a plan |

The numbers are made up. Then look at the five slowest leads by name. Each one usually has a simple cause: a lunch gap, a caller on leave, a form nobody watches. Fix one cause each week. Share the result in the same place as your [weekly ad report](/templates/weekly-ad-report-template), so ad spend and follow-up are read together.

## Common mistakes

- **Using the average only.** One overnight lead can add hours. Lead with the median.
- **Mixing time zones.** A Dubai team using India timestamps is 90 minutes off on every lead.
- **Counting the auto-reply.** It makes response time look like zero.
- **Dropping uncontacted leads.** They vanish from the minutes column but are the most expensive rows. Count them separately.
- **Measuring without a target.** Pick a number, such as 10 or 15 minutes in office hours, so "good" means something.

Leads that arrive where your team already works get answered sooner. Our [Slack lead notifications guide](/guides/how-to-get-facebook-lead-notifications-in-slack) covers the setup. We make Marxx. Its Slack lead message shows when each Meta lead was received, and pressing Mark contacted moves the lead to Contacted in Marxx and shows who did it. See [Marxx in Slack](/features/slack).

## FAQ

### How long should I measure before acting?

One full week shows the pattern across busy and quiet days. Start fixing the obvious gaps after the first week, and keep measuring.

### Can I measure it without a CRM?

Yes. A shared sheet with received and contacted times works for a small team. The habit of logging at once matters more than the tool.

### Should I measure each caller separately?

Yes, but share it gently. Slow times often come from routing or shift gaps, not from one person.

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