Blog  /  TOFU · Authority piece - original research

Speed-to-Lead Benchmark - I Mystery-Shopped 100 Remodelers

Real numbers on how fast remodeling businesses actually reply to a new inquiry.

By Jawad

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To find out how big the speed-to-lead problem actually is, I submitted a quote inquiry - the way a real homeowner would, through the website's own contact form - to 100 remodeling businesses across several major metros, then timed every response.

The pattern was stark: a meaningful share of businesses never responded at all within a week. Of those that did respond, the median reply time was measured in hours, not minutes, and a significant portion took more than a day. Only a small fraction replied within the first five minutes - the window shown elsewhere to have the highest win rate.

The businesses with the fastest replies weren't necessarily the biggest or the most polished online - several were small operations using a simple automated text as a first response, buying time for a personal follow-up later. That's the whole mechanism this site is built around: automation doesn't replace you, it protects the window before you can get to the phone.

This research directly shaped how the Found. Chosen. Booked. system is built - the follow-up piece isn't an add-on, it's the fix for the single biggest, most measurable leak this survey found.

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Written by Jawad - I build the systems that get local remodelers found, chosen and booked.

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