Data-backed insights from 939 B2B companies (Q1-Q3 2025)
B2B average lead response time: 47 hours. Best-in-class (<5 minutes) achieve 2.6x higher close rate vs. 24+ hour response. By speed: <5 min: 32% close rate, <1 hour: 24%, <24 hours: 15%, >24 hours: 7%. Only 23% of companies respond within 5 minutes. 42% take longer than 24 hours. AI-powered routing and auto-response increase speed by 8x. Source: Optifai Sales Ops Benchmark 2025 (N=939 companies, Q1-Q3 2025)
⚡ Calculate your response time ROI
Across all B2B companies, the average time from lead submission to first sales response is 47 hours (nearly 2 days). This painfully slow response is one of the biggest missed opportunities in B2B sales. Research shows that leads contacted within 5 minutes are 21x more likely to qualify than those contacted after 30 minutes.
Under 5 minutes
5-30 minutes
30 min - 1 hour
1-24 hours
Over 24 hours
The shocking reality: Only 23% of B2B companies respond to leads within 5 minutes. A staggering 42% take longer than 24 hours. This leaves massive opportunity for fast movers.
Speed kills. Faster response times dramatically increase close rates:
Under 5 minutes
Catch prospect while they're hot. Highest intent. Less competition.
5-30 minutes
Still fast. Prospect likely hasn't engaged with competitors yet.
30 min - 1 hour
Decent. But prospect may be talking to 1-2 other vendors.
1-24 hours
Slow. Prospect has moved on or engaged with faster competitors.
Over 24 hours
Very slow. Prospect likely already chose a vendor or lost interest.
Key insight: Responding within 5 minutes achieves 32% close rate (2.6x vs. 24+ hour response). Every minute you wait, your odds of closing drop dramatically.
Best-in-class
3h
Worst performers
96h
Highest urgency. Prospect actively researching.
Best-in-class
<1h
Worst performers
5h
Instant. Prospect on the line expecting immediate answer.
Best-in-class
1h
Worst performers
30h
High urgency. Real-time conversation expected.
Best-in-class
12h
Worst performers
120h
Medium urgency. Early-stage research.
Best-in-class
24h
Worst performers
168h
Lower urgency, but follow up within 24hr while memory fresh.
Catch email clicks instantly + 7-day auto-follow to never miss a deal.
Includes ROI Proof to measure AI revenue contribution.
Respond within 5 min:
28%
More tech-savvy. Better automation. Still not fast enough.
Respond within 5 min:
15%
Legacy processes. Salespeople in field. Poor lead routing.
Respond within 5 min:
22%
Consultant-led. Depends on availability. Mixed results.
Respond within 5 min:
18%
Relationship-driven. Less urgency on inbound leads.
8x faster
Instantly route to available rep based on territory, product, language. No manual assignment.
5x faster
Instant email with calendar link. "Book a call in the next 15 minutes for priority response."
4x faster
Text message alert when hot lead comes in. Push notification to mobile app.
3x faster
Distribute leads evenly. Next available rep gets lead. No cherry-picking.
3x faster
Slack/Teams notification. Desktop pop-up. Sound alert. Impossible to miss.
6x faster
1 SDR always monitoring. 2-hour shifts. Respond within 90 seconds guaranteed.
Solution: Automate routing. Use Salesforce/HubSpot lead assignment rules or Chili Piper.
Solution: Territory-based routing. Skills-based routing. Language-based routing.
Solution: SMS alerts. Push notifications. Slack integration. Make it impossible to miss.
Solution: Lead scoring. Flag high-intent leads (demo request > whitepaper download).
Solution: Set 5-minute response SLA. Track in dashboard. Tie to comp/KPIs.
See exactly how much revenue you're losing with slow lead response times. Our free calculator shows the revenue impact of improving your response time to 5 minutes—based on the same research data above.
Calculate Your ROI →This analysis is based on CRM and marketing automation data from 939 B2B companies tracking inbound lead response times between Q1-Q3 2025. Response time is measured from lead creation timestamp to first sales activity (call, email, or meeting booked).
Data sources: CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive), marketing automation platforms, and industry reports (InsideSales, LeanData).
View Full Methodology →