The 5-Minute Rule: Why Speed to Lead Is Your Biggest Competitive Advantage

Here’s a stat that should change how you think about leads: 78% of customers go with the first contractor to respond.

Not the cheapest. Not the best reviewed. The first. Slow response is one of the primary causes of missed leads in home service businesses. When you understand how marketing performance is measured, speed becomes the variable that separates captured demand from lost demand.

In home services, speed isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s often the deciding factor between winning the job and never hearing from the lead again.

What the data says

The research on response time is damning.

When you call a lead within 1 minute of their inquiry, conversion rates increase by 391%. After 5 minutes, your odds of qualifying that lead drop by 80%. After 10 minutes, they drop by 400%. Leads contacted in under 5 minutes are 21 times more likely to convert than those contacted after 30 minutes.

And 78% of buyers simply choose the first company to respond.

Meanwhile, the average business takes 47 hours to respond to a lead. That’s almost two full days. And only 27% of leads ever get contacted at all, meaning nearly three out of four people who reach out to a business never hear back. A RapidWire analysis of field service businesses found that only 0.1% respond within 5 minutes. You read that right: one in a thousand.

Hatch analyzed 132,000+ HVAC speed-to-lead campaigns (December 2024) and the gap between top and bottom performers was staggering. The best campaigns hit an 89.86% response rate while the worst managed just 8.56%. The difference came down to follow-up cadence: top campaigns sent 7 messages (5 texts, 2 emails) over 5 days. Single-message campaigns got only 8% response rates.

These aren’t small differences. We’re talking about being 21 times more likely to win the job just by being fast. And the average contractor is leaving 47 hours on the table.

Why speed matters even more in home services

Home services has unique dynamics that make speed especially critical.

When someone’s AC breaks in July or their toilet is flooding the bathroom, they’re not researching contractors for days. They need help now. The first contractor who picks up the phone gets the job. Emergency calls convert 40-70% higher than routine maintenance requests. Emergency plumbing and HVAC calls during peak season hit 65-80% conversion rates with rapid response, compared to a 4-6% baseline for routine maintenance inquiries.

Think about what happens when a homeowner fills out your website form. They probably filled out 2-3 other forms at the same time because that’s what people do when they’re shopping for services. The first company to respond gets the first conversation, builds the first relationship, and has the inside track on the job.

The moment someone submits that form is their peak interest. They were actively thinking about the problem and motivated enough to take action. Every minute that passes after that, life gets in the way. They get distracted. The urgency fades. They forget they even reached out.

When you respond immediately, you signal that you’re professional, responsive, and ready to help. When you respond two days later, you signal that you’re slow and disorganized. And the homeowner is left wondering how the actual job will go if this is how you handle inquiries.

Why most contractors are slow

If speed is so important, why is the average response time 47 hours?

Because home service businesses aren’t built for speed. Your best people are out in the field doing jobs, not sitting at a desk waiting for leads. Your office staff is juggling scheduling, customer service, and vendor calls. Leads come in during evenings and weekends when nobody’s working. And there’s usually no one specifically responsible for immediate lead contact.

These are real operational challenges, but they’re not excuses. They’re problems to solve.

The cost of slow response

Let’s do the math on what slow response actually costs you.

Say you spend $5,000 a month on marketing and generate 50 leads. If you respond within 5 minutes, you’ll connect with about 40 of them and close around 10 jobs. If you respond in 47 hours like the average business, you’ll connect with maybe 15 and close 2 jobs.

Same $5,000 spent. Same 50 leads. But 10 jobs versus 2 jobs.

That’s not a tweak or an optimization. That’s 5x the result from the exact same marketing spend. Hatch’s data across those 132,000+ campaigns confirms it: improving from a 20% to an 80% response rate produces 4x more appointments from the same lead volume. Speed doesn’t cost anything extra. It’s free revenue you’re leaving on the table.

What fast actually means

The research is clear that under 5 minutes is the target. Here’s what that looks like in practice.

If a form gets submitted at 2:14pm, you should be calling by 2:19pm. If you don’t reach them, you should be texting by 2:20pm. That’s the goal for every lead, no exceptions.

Here’s what fast is NOT: “same day” is too slow, “within the hour” is too slow, and “next morning” is way too slow. After 5 minutes you’ve already lost most of the advantage.

How to actually respond in 5 minutes

The question contractors always ask is how to make this actually happen when everyone is busy with other work.

The ideal setup is having someone whose primary job is contacting new leads immediately. When a lead comes in, they drop whatever else they’re doing and call. This only works if that person isn’t also answering service calls and has the authority to prioritize leads above everything else.

Tommy Mello built A1 Garage Door Service into a $200M+ revenue operation, and he tracks booking rates “down to the T.” His CSRs target 70%+ booking rates, and he ties performance pay to booking success rather than straight commission. On The Home Service Expert podcast, Mello has talked about fighting for every single call because he knows the math on what each missed connection costs.

For many small companies, a dedicated team like that isn’t practical. But there are other options.

If you can’t call in 5 minutes, you can text in 5 seconds. Set up automated text responses that go out the moment a lead comes in. Something like: “Hi, we got your message about [service]. I’ll call you in the next few minutes. If you need to reach me sooner, call or text this number.” That buys you time while signaling responsiveness. The homeowner knows you’re on it and is less likely to call the next contractor.

Live answering services can take calls 24/7, capture lead information, and even book appointments. A decent service runs $100-400 a month. If it helps you capture even 2-3 extra leads per month, it pays for itself many times over.

For leads that come in after hours, you need a plan. Route calls to a mobile phone. Use an answering service for evenings and weekends. Set up auto-texts acknowledging the inquiry. Have someone check leads first thing in the morning before anything else.

The point is that leads don’t stop coming in because you’re closed. Your system needs to handle that reality.

Speed vs everything else

Contractors sometimes ask whether speed really matters if they’re not the cheapest or don’t have the most reviews.

Speed can overcome both.

When you respond first, you get the first chance to build rapport, establish trust, and explain your value. You set the anchor for the conversation. The contractor who responds 2 hours later is now playing catch-up against the relationship you’ve already started building. The homeowner might already have a mental commitment to you before the second call comes in.

This is why 78% go with whoever responds first. It’s not random. It’s human psychology. People go with what they know, and the first responder becomes the known option that everyone else gets compared against.

The competitive advantage

Here’s the good news: most contractors are slow. The data proves it.

Which means speed is one of the easiest competitive advantages you can build. You don’t need more money. You don’t need better leads. You don’t need a bigger team. You just need a system that ensures fast response and the discipline to follow it.

When you respond in 5 minutes and your competitor responds in 5 hours, you win. Even if they have more reviews. Even if their price is a little lower. You were there when it mattered.

And speed compounds over time. Fast response means higher contact rates. Higher contact rates mean more appointments. More appointments mean more chances to sell. And a reputation for responsiveness builds trust that pays dividends for years.

Where to go next

Speed is the first step, but you need the full picture. To understand why leads die after first contact, read about common conversion problems. To know what good benchmarks look like for your trade, check the cost per lead data. And to track whether any of this is working, set up proper marketing attribution.

The 5-minute rule isn’t a hack. It’s a discipline. Build the system, enforce the standard, and watch your conversion rates climb.