What slow replies are costing you
Move the sliders to your own numbers and switch 5clicks.ai on – you'll see the difference
Now switch 5clicks.ai on
Same leads, same budget. The only thing that changes is reply speed.
| What we turn on | Turn into jobs | Jobs / mo | Adds $ / mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| As it is now, without us | 20% | 12 | $2,400 |
| Reply in 5 seconds off | 24% | 14 | +$432 |
| Auto-call to you off | 25% | 15 | +$170 |
| Bringing back the ones who went quiet off | 27% | 16 | +$180 |
| Repeat jobs from your customer base reaches this level in 6–12 monthsoff | — | +3 | +$573 |
| Total with 5clicks.ai | 27% | 19 | $3,755 |
- Everything is calculated from your own conversion rate, not a market average. Don't know yours – divide last month's jobs by the number of leads.
- The levers apply one after another, each working on the already-raised conversion rate. That's why the first one adds the most.
- Reply speed ×1.18 · auto-call ×1.06 · bringing back quiet leads ×1.06. Cap 45%.
- Repeat jobs: 18% of closed customers come back; it takes 6–12 months to reach that level.
What is a lead response calculator?
A lead response calculator estimates how much money a home-service business loses when it answers Yelp and Thumbtack leads slowly or not at all. You enter four numbers, your leads per month, your average job, your cost per lead and your close rate, and it shows the jobs, revenue and ad spend at stake, and what changes if every lead gets an instant reply.
How does the calculator work?
Today
Jobs = leads × close rate
Revenue = jobs × average job
Ad spend = leads × cost per lead
Spent on leads that did not become jobs = ad spend × (1 − close rate)
With 5clicks.ai
Your own close rate is raised by three levers applied one after another: reply speed, an automatic call to you, and bringing back quiet leads. Each multiplies the already raised rate, up to a cap. Extra revenue = extra jobs × average job. Repeat customers are added as a separate bonus, and the monthly plan price is subtracted for the net figure.
What is speed to lead?
Speed to lead is how long a business takes to make first contact after a lead arrives. The most cited study is Harvard Business Review's 2011 analysis of 1.25 million leads: firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that tried an hour later. The study is from 2011 and not specific to home services, so read it as direction, not a promise. We break down what HBR, Yelp, Thumbtack and Google actually say in Speed to Lead: What the Research Actually Says.
Calculator questions
Which numbers should I enter?
Leads per month from Yelp and Thumbtack combined, what one average job brings in, your cost per lead (the platform invoice divided by the number of leads) and your close rate. If you do not know your close rate, divide last month's jobs by last month's leads.
How accurate is the lead response calculator?
It is an estimate built on your own numbers and on the model's assumptions about how much faster replies, an automatic call and follow-ups raise your close rate. Conservative mode takes the smallest effect. Your real result depends on your trade, market and lead quality.
What is the difference between Conservative, Realistic and case mode?
The three modes use different multipliers and caps for the same three levers. Conservative credits the least and is the number that is hardest to argue with (×1.10 reply speed, ×1.04 call, ×1.04 quiet leads, cap 40%). Realistic assumes a typical effect (×1.18, ×1.06, ×1.06, cap 45%). The case mode mirrors one of our own client cases. The multipliers are assumptions of the model, not measured results.
Does replying faster guarantee more jobs?
No. Speed only helps if the reply is useful, and the customer still chooses who to hire. The research points the same way, faster first contact is linked to better odds of qualifying a lead, but it does not promise a booked job.