How many leads are you losing to the clock?
Consultants, coaches and contractors all lose inbound work to whoever answers first, not to whoever is best. Answer five questions about how leads reach you and what happens next, and see where you stand.
Five questions about how leads reach you and what happens next. It takes about thirty seconds, there is nothing to install, and you get your score before we ask for anything.
No score is stored until you ask us to send it.
How the score works
Three of your five answers carry points. The other two set the comparison rather than the score.
- 50/100
Speed of first response
How long a new lead waits before a human reaches them. The heaviest factor, because it has the best evidence behind it and it is the one you can change this week.
- 30/100
Close rate on inbound leads
How many of the people you speak to become customers. Not tracking it scores lowest, because without it you cannot tell a traffic problem from a follow-up problem.
- 20/100
Ad spend, as a source of signal
Whether the account has enough conversions to optimise on. This measures signal, not size: past roughly $5,000 a month there is nothing more to earn here.
What the research says about response time
Contacting a lead within 5 minutes makes a business around 21 times more likely to qualify it than waiting 30 minutes.
MIT / Harvard Business Review lead-response research
Responding within 60 seconds lifts conversion by about 391% compared with responding after 5 minutes.
Velocify
78% of homeowners hire the first contractor who responds, rather than the highest rated or the cheapest.
Podium, 2026 (measured on home services)
Only around 12% of contractors respond within 5 minutes, and roughly 27% of inbound inquiries get no response at all.
Hatch and related 2026 home-services benchmarks (measured on home services)
These are published third-party benchmarks, not Burniston Media figures, and they are directional rather than a guarantee. Your report shows only the findings measured on businesses like yours.
Questions
How is the score calculated?
Three of your answers carry points. Speed of first response is worth 50 of the 100, close rate on inbound leads 30, and monthly ad spend 20. Industry and location are used to pick the right comparison, not to score you. The total is your score, and it falls into one of four bands.
Why is response time weighted the heaviest?
Because it has the strongest published evidence behind it and it is the factor you can change fastest. MIT and Harvard Business Review lead-response research found that contacting a lead within five minutes makes a business roughly 21 times more likely to qualify it than waiting 30 minutes. Nothing else in the model moves that much for so little cost.
How fast should I call a new lead back?
Inside five minutes if you can, and the research suggests the first minute is better still. Velocify found that responding within 60 seconds lifts conversion by about 391% compared with responding after five minutes. These are third-party findings rather than our own figures, and they are directional rather than a guarantee.
How much ad spend do I need before the numbers mean anything?
Roughly $500 a month is the point where a campaign starts gathering enough conversions to optimise on real data rather than guesswork. Below that the results look more random than they are, which is why the tool treats spend as a measure of signal rather than of size. Spending more than $5,000 does not earn extra points.
Does this work for consultants and coaches, or only contractors?
Both. Answering a lead late costs a consultant what it costs a roofer, so the scoring is identical. What changes is the comparison: pick a consulting, coaching or advisory business and the report leaves out the research that was measured on homeowners hiring contractors, because that is somebody else's market.
Do I have to give my email to see my score?
No. The score and the band are shown in full as soon as you answer the fifth question, with nothing to fill in. The email is only for the breakdown underneath: which factors moved the score, what each one is costing you, and what to change first.
Is this based on my real ad account?
No. Every input is self-reported, so the score is only as accurate as your answers. Nothing is connected to Google Ads, Meta or your CRM, and nothing is stored until you ask for the full report.
What are the four score bands?
Leaking leads (0 and above): Leads are arriving and going cold before anyone reaches them. Room to grow (40 and above): The basics are working. The follow-up is where the money is sitting. Solid (60 and above): A working pipeline. The next gain comes from volume, not repair. Dialed in (80 and above): Fast, converting and measured. You are ahead of most of your market.