Speed to lead.In plain English.

A customer with a burst pipe or a broken AC often contacts several businesses, so the first useful reply has the advantage.

Platforms reward it. Google's Local Services Ads ranking counts your responsiveness and average response time, and Google says missed calls may count against you. Thumbtack says responding quickly helps your rank in customers' search results, and that acting on each lead affects your response time even if you decline it.

Measure it from the moment the inquiry arrives to the first real reply. An instant text that says when you'll call back counts. An unanswered voicemail doesn't.

For example, an evening call that goes unanswered and gets a text reply a minute later has a speed to lead of one minute.