Lead Decay Rate

Lead decay rate is a way to describe how an inquiry's commercial potential changes with elapsed time. A fresh service request may become less likely to turn into a job if the business delays its response or if the prospect receives another quote. The term is used differently across sales teams: some analyze the conversion probability of age-based lead cohorts, while others model changes in expected lead value.

To measure decay responsibly, define the event that starts the clock, the time intervals, what counts as a conversion, and how leads are grouped. Compare similar lead sources, job types, and business hours; urgent calls and long-cycle projects naturally have different timelines. A pattern in historical data is not proof that waiting alone caused every missed sale.

Lead decay differs from response time, which measures how quickly a company acts. Lead decay attempts to measure what happens to conversion potential as time passes. There is no single universal decay formula or benchmark applicable to every industry.