Where do I get the received and first-reply times?
Use the time the lead first reached you from a form, ad or inbox. For the reply, use the first time a person actually replied or called, depending on what your team agreed to measure. A note that someone was assigned the lead is a different event.
Put the times in two columns with the exact headers shown above. One lead goes on each row. Leave the second cell blank for an unanswered lead. Names, numbers and messages can stay in the original export. The audit only needs the two times.
Use a local timestamp and its actual offset for the date in question. For example, the sample’s −05:00 offset matches New York in November. If your export is in UTC, convert arrival times to the local offset first if you want the after-hours results to match your team’s clock.
How do I read a lead response time report?
First response time is the time from arrival to the first reply. The median is the middle wait among replied leads after sorting them. With an even number of replies, the tool averages the two middle waits. A lead that is still waiting counts as unanswered and stays out of the median.
After hours means outside 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, using the local time in the arrival timestamp. Look at the unanswered count beside the median. Ten quick replies can look great while three weekend leads are still wondering if anyone saw their form.
Start with the oldest unanswered lead. Then run the same check for a second week using the same definition of a first reply. If Friday evening keeps coming up, give someone that shift or agree when the team will call back.
See how to follow up with Facebook leads →