Why test it yourself
Most owners guess how fast their team answers new inquiries, and the guess is usually kind. The only way to know is to send in an inquiry and time what happens.
Other people have done this. In a 2024 mystery shop of 92 franchise brands, half followed up on an online form. In a 2016 test of 85 UK law firms, 35% of the firms that received a website enquiry had not answered it two or three days later.
Those were franchise and law firm tests, not agencies. Your results will be different. That is the reason to test your own.
Set it up in 15 minutes
Make a test inquiry that looks real
- Pick one service you sell and a question a real buyer would ask
- Use a name and company your team will not recognize
- Use an email address you control. A plus address works, such as yourname+test1@gmail.com
- Use a phone number that is not saved in your CRM
Protect the test
- Tell one trusted person so they can delete the test leads afterward
- Do not tell the people who answer inquiries
- Do not claim a budget or agree to anything. Ask for a call or a meeting only
Make a score sheet
- One row per test
- Columns: channel, day and time sent, time of first reply, type of reply, next step offered, follow-ups received
Run six tests over one week
Send one at a time, on different days. Write down the exact minute you send each one. Do not nudge your team. The point is to see what happens on its own.
The six tests
- 1. Website form, weekday around 10 a.m.
- 2. Website form, weekday around 8 p.m.
- 3. Website form, Saturday morning
- 4. Email to your public address, weekday around 2 p.m.
- 5. A call to your main number, weekday over lunch
- 6. Website chat, if you have it, when no one is in the office
What to record
For every test
- The time you sent it, to the minute
- The time of the first real reply
- Who replied: a person or an automatic message
- How they replied: call, email, text or chat
- Whether the reply answered your question
- Whether they offered a specific time to meet
For the next 10 days
- Every follow-up that arrives, with the day and the channel
- The day the follow-ups stopped
The clock stops at the first reply from a person, or a message that answers your question. 'Thanks, we got your message' does not count.
Score it
Give each test up to 10 points. This is our own scale, not an industry standard. It is built to make gaps easy to see.
Speed (0 to 4 points)
- Within 5 minutes: 4
- 6 to 30 minutes: 3
- 31 minutes to 4 hours: 2
- Later that day, or the next business day: 1
- Longer, or never: 0
Next step (0 to 3 points)
- Offered a specific time to talk: 3
- Asked a question that moves things forward: 2
- Said only 'we will be in touch': 1
- Nothing: 0
Follow-up in 10 days (0 to 3 points)
- Three or more follow-ups, on at least two channels: 3
- Two follow-ups: 2
- One follow-up: 1
- None: 0
Add up the six tests and divide by six. 8 to 10 is strong. 5 to 7 means you have gaps. Under 5 means leads are leaking.
What good looks like, and what to fix first
Why 5 minutes? In a 2007 study of web leads, the odds of reaching a lead were far higher when the first call came within 5 minutes than at 30 minutes. That study is old and has limits, which we cover in the speed to lead guide. Treat 5 minutes as a sensible target, not a law.
A strong result
- A real reply within minutes, including at night and on weekends
- The reply answers what you asked, in plain words
- It offers two specific times to talk
- Follow-ups keep coming if you do not answer, by call, email and text
- The follow-ups stop once you book or say no
Fix the biggest gap first
- If nights and weekends scored lowest, fix coverage first
- If speed is fine but follow-ups are missing, build a follow-up plan
- If replies come fast but offer no time to meet, rewrite the first reply
Scouq runs this test for free before a client starts. We time how fast your team answers a real inquiry today and send you the results.
Sources
- Mystery Shopping '24: Researchers investigate first contact with potential franchisees (Franchise Update, 2025)
- 'Mystery shopping' exercise finds firms do not follow up enquiries (Legal Futures, May 2016, on a Shoppers Anonymous report)
- How Much Time Do You Have Before Web-Generated Leads Go Cold? Lead Response Management: New Research Summary (InsideSales.com and James Oldroyd, MarketingSherpa B2B Demand Generation Summit, 2007)
