Start the clock
For one week, record the submission time of every inbound lead and the exact time of the first human response. Do not average yet. Look at the actual spread. One lead may get a five-minute reply while another waits until the next day because it arrived after dinner.
Measure four timestamps
Inquiry received. First outbound contact. First two-way conversation. Quote or next concrete step. Those four timestamps reveal whether the bottleneck is marketing, routing, response, qualification or quoting.
Do not confuse speed with quality
A robotic “Thanks, someone will contact you” message is not the same as a useful reply. The goal is to acknowledge the request, confirm the key need, and make the next step easy. A fast bad reply can still lose a buyer.
What changes after the test
Businesses usually discover that they do not need another lead source first. They need ownership rules, after-hours coverage, better templates, or one shared place where every inquiry is visible. That is a cheaper problem to solve than low demand.