Anyone interested in lead response time stats has probably read the famous Harvard Business Review study, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads. And while many of the findings from that iconic 2011 report still hold true, best practices for generating and converting leads have changed a lot since then.

Live chat took off in 2017 and quickly became the leader in lead generation and customer service. Within just a few years, live chat reshaped customer expectations across the board. Let's take a look at how webchat and other conversational marketing platforms affect B2B lead generation.

Fast facts about web chat and lead generation

• Over 40% of B2B buyers expect businesses to have live chat.
• Over 20% of live chat messages go unanswered.
• Nearly 40% of customers are more likely to buy from companies with live chat on their website.

Before we dive into more lead response time stats, let's review the second point. Over 20% of live chat messages go unanswered.

Why is that? For starters, customer service agents must manage live chat conversations. True live chat doesn't include automation, which means that someone must be standing by 24/7 to answer messages.

Obviously, that's not feasible for most businesses, particularly SMBs without huge customer service teams. All the more reason why local businesses need a hybrid webchat solution. Combine the personal touch of human interaction with the convenience of a chatbot, and you'll never miss another lead again.

3 important lead response time stats for 2020

Let's take a look at how lead response times affect your chances of generating and converting leads into happy customers.

It takes sales reps an average of 4 days to respond to a form submission and schedule a meeting.

(Source: Salesforce Pardot)

This slow response time significantly affects the decision-making process.

By the time it takes sales reps to respond, over a third of leads have already chosen another vendor.

Your sales team must have tools and processes in place to stay agile and respond quickly.

Sales reps who respond in 5 minutes or less are 100 times more likely to qualify the lead.

(Source: Lead Response Management)

And conversions skyrocket by nearly 400% when reps contact leads within one minute of requesting a demo.

20% of customers will stop using a product or service due to slow response times.

Not only are you losing leads when you don't respond quickly — you're losing paying customers, which means you're losing revenue.

Yikes.

Lead loss data: wrapping up

It's 2020. Prospects and customers expect instant answers from companies, no matter how big they are or what industry they're in.

Why? Because the most successful businesses never keep their customers waiting.

But how on earth can companies do that without a 24/7 support team?

Simple — with a chatbot.

When your business closes for the day, automated chat goes to work.

Hybrid solutions like ZyraTalk combine automated and live chat, freeing up time for your sales team while ensuring no one's left on read.

Plus, your reps can jump in and break the automation at any time.

Ready to discover how webchat can generate 3x more leads and revenue for your business? Request your demos today. Rest assured our sales reps won't keep you waiting.