Is the 78% first responder statistic real?

Many sales pages repeat one number: 78% of customers buy from the first business that responds. It sounds like research. Before you repeat it, check whether there is research you can open.

Where does the 78% figure come from?#

A page that quotes it should point to a document you can open. A company name or "a survey" is not a document. If following that name leads only to more pages with the same number, not a report, the claim cannot be checked.

Here is what a usable statistic needs, and what to ask of the 78% claim.

A missing source does not prove the number is false. It means you cannot show it is true. A number nobody can check should not decide how you run your inbox.

How do you check a statistic like this?#

These five steps work on any number you find online.

1. Find the oldest page you can. Search the exact phrase and sort by date if the search tool allows it.
2. Look for a document, not a name. A real source is a report, a paper, or a dataset you can open. "According to a study" is not a source.
3. Find how many people were asked. 78% of 50 people is not 78% of 5,000 people.
4. Find the date. An old survey describes buyers from years ago.
5. Find the definitions. What counted as "buy"? Did "first" mean within a minute, or within a week?

A statistic that fails step 2 cannot be checked any further. The post on why form completion rate statistics disagree shows how much one definition can change a number. The 78% claim has no definitions to compare.

Does replying fast still matter?#

Probably. Here the people quoting the stat have a point. Someone often sends an inquiry while they are still deciding. A reply that comes while they are still at their desk has a better chance than one that comes after they called someone else.

Research on lead response time that states its method is worth reading for what it measured. It is not a source for the 78% figure.

So keep the habit and drop the number. "Reply fast" is good advice. "78% of buyers pick the first reply" is a claim with nothing under it.

How do you measure your own reply time?#

Your own numbers are the only ones that describe your customers.

1. Write down when each inquiry arrived and when you first replied. A spreadsheet is enough.
2. Write down what became of it. A job, a quote that went nowhere, or no answer back.
3. After a month, sort by reply time. See whether the inquiries you answered quickly became jobs more often.

Speed helps most when you know which inquiry to answer first. In Qualiform, your own rules put each lead on one of five rules by its score, from called right away down to politely turned away. The guide to lead routing rules covers what to do at each score.

Start with last week's inquiries. For each one, write the time between arriving and your first reply. If you cannot fill in that column, that is the first thing to fix. The guide to qualifying leads shows how to sort inquiries by fit next.