AI Automation
How Fast Should a Tradesperson Reply to a Quote Request?
2026-07-15
Within 5 minutes, if you can manage it. Leads contacted inside 5 minutes are 21x more likely to convert than leads contacted after 30 minutes (HBR). Most trades businesses aren't close to that: only 28% of tradespeople reply within an hour, and the average lead response time across all businesses is 47 hours (Logic4training; Casey Response).
Why speed matters more than price
When someone submits an enquiry through your website, sends a WhatsApp message, or fills in a Checkatrade form, they've usually done the same thing with two or three other businesses. They're not comparing quotes yet, they're comparing who bothers to reply. The first business to respond wins a disproportionate share of the work, regardless of who's cheapest or who has the best reviews.
This isn't a guess. Customers contacted within 5 minutes close at roughly 32%, compared to 12% for leads contacted after 24 hours or more, nearly three times the conversion rate, from the exact same enquiry, just answered faster.
What "fast" actually looks like in the trades
There's a difference between responding to an enquiry and delivering a quote. You don't need to price a job in 5 minutes. Nobody expects that. What they expect is acknowledgement: confirmation that you've seen the message and know roughly when you'll get back to them.
- 55% of tradespeople respond to enquiries the same day
- 28% respond within an hour
- 17% take 24 hours or longer
Even a short holding message, "Thanks for your message, I'll call you back around 5 today," keeps you in the running. It's the silence that loses jobs, not the gap between enquiry and finished quote.
For the actual written quote, a few days to a week after a site visit is normal and expected. That's a completely different clock to the first reply, and customers understand the difference.
Why most trades businesses miss this
It's not a discipline problem. You're on a roof, under a sink, or driving between jobs. Checking a form submission the moment it lands isn't realistic for most of the working day. The businesses winning on speed aren't doing it by checking their phone more; they've got something answering on their behalf the second an enquiry comes in, then flagging it to them the moment it's worth a personal reply.
That's the entire premise of speed-to-lead systems: the acknowledgement happens automatically, in seconds, and you only get pulled in for the leads that are actually worth your time.