Lead Response Time Tracker Spreadsheet
This spreadsheet records how long each enquiry waited for an answer, and prices what that wait was worth.
Everybody counts the enquiries — how many came in, where from, how many turned into work. Almost nobody writes down what time they were answered, which is the one part of an enquiry you actually control. This file bands the gap between the question and the reply, then puts a figure on it.
What is in it
- Nine linked tabs, from Start Here through to a one-screen Overview.
- Enquiries — one row per enquiry: eight things typed, six worked out on the row.
- By Response Time — eight speed bands you name yourself, with the win rate and the money in each.
- By Channel — which way in gets answered quickly, and which sits in a folder.
- Price Of An Hour — one enquiry, priced at every speed of reply.
- Setup — eight numbers and three short lists that drive the whole workbook.
Who it is for
Anywhere somebody asks a price and then waits: trades, agencies, clinics, installers, hire firms, consultants, wedding suppliers, dealers, anyone quoting for work. The arithmetic does not care what you sell.
The worked example
The worked year holds 322 enquiries across six channels, worth $5,542,900 in what people asked about. 106 landed, a win rate of 32.9%, and they produced $239,961 of gross profit. But 54% of enquiries answered inside the hour were won, against 11% of those answered after a working day — same yard, same stock, same prices.
Answering every enquiry that came in all year took 106 hours and cost $3,812. The 86 that waited longer than a working day asked about $1.55m of machines and returned $22,156. Against this business’s own within-the-hour win rate, the year was $120,860 short of what a faster reply would have made. The phone was answered in two and a half hours on average; the website form waited fourteen.
How it works
Compatible with Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer on Windows or Mac, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice. No macros, no add-ons, no account to create, nothing to install.
The download has two workbooks: one with the example above already filled in, so you can see what every column expects, and the same file completely blank for your own figures. A plain-English guide comes as a PDF. Buy it on Etsy — $9
Sold through my Etsy shop, ThePlainLedger, so the download, the payment and the buyer protection are all handled by Etsy.
A look inside the file
Questions people actually ask
How do I work out what a slow reply to an enquiry is costing us?
You band every enquiry by how many hours it waited, then compare the win rate in each band. In the worked year inside the file, enquiries answered inside the hour were won 54% of the time and those answered after a working day 11%, and closing that gap was worth $120,860 across the year. The Price Of An Hour tab prices one enquiry at every speed of reply: $1,734 inside fifteen minutes, $1,121 inside the hour, $293 the next day.
We are not a dealer. Does this work for a service business?
Yes, it works anywhere somebody asks a price and waits. Trades, agencies, clinics, installers, hire firms, consultants, wedding suppliers, anyone quoting for work. The arithmetic does not care what you sell.
We do not record our response times anywhere. Where do I get the data?
Start today and write the hours in as you go for a month, which is enough to see the shape. It does not have to be precise to be useful. If you have a CRM, export the two dates and this file will do the part the CRM does not: band the gap, price it, and put it next to what answering costs you.
Is it Excel only, and does it need macros or a subscription?
It runs in Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice. It is built as .xlsx for Excel 2016 or newer, and goes into Google Sheets through File then Import then Upload. No macros, no add-ons, nothing to install and no subscription. You download a file and it is yours.
Is this not just correlation, and does it store customer details?
It is partly correlation and the file says so plainly rather than pretending otherwise, which is exactly what the ceiling figure in Setup is for. It holds no personal data: enquiries, channels and amounts, with no customer names anywhere. It is not a CRM or an inbox and it times nothing for you, so it will not make you answer faster; it tells you what every hour you did not is worth.
Need it built around your business?
This file assumes an enquiry arrives, somebody quotes it, and the customer decides. If your funnel is shaped differently — a tender with a fixed submission date where speed cannot help you, a clinic where the enquiry is a booking request rather than a price, a service desk where the first reply is an acknowledgement and the real answer comes days later — I can build the same arithmetic around how enquiries actually move through your business.
All other templates are listed on the Excel & Google Sheets Templates page.