Summit Research · Lead Response Audit
You respond fast. They never hear from you again.
You just don't see it.
We audited 35 Personal Injury firms in the Denver market.
We submitted real inquiries and tracked every response. Most leads were lost after the first contact. Not at intake, but in the silence that followed.
Your first response time is probably fine.
The lead is lost in the silence after it.
Lead spotlight · Denver Personal Injury
35 firm timelinesReal inquiry submitted to a local firm. This is what we observed.
This lead was never contacted. It was lost the moment it came in.
What the data actually shows
of firms in this market respond once, then disappear.
More than half your leads never hear from you again.
No follow-up.
No second chance.
From our audit of this market.
The staffing theory, tested
This isn't a staffing problem.
Full staffing changed nothing.
Follow-up improved by 0 points.
This isn't a staffing issue. It's a system failure.
Weekday: 43% follow-up rate. Weekend: 46%.
Market breakdown
Only 7 of 35 firms consistently follow through.
Everyone else responds once and goes silent, or doesn't respond at all.Elite firms average 6.3 touches per lead.
They don't let leads go cold.
Fast, persistent, multi-touch
They respond... then disappear.
Responds once, then silence
They never respond at all.
No response or critically delayed
The lead isn't lost on the first reply.
It's lost in the silence that follows.
Your position
Adjust your process. Watch what actually changes, and what doesn't.
You're fast, but you only follow up once. That single gap is where leads go cold.
Bottom half of Denver firms.
Top firms average 6.3 touches. You stop at 2.
The Second-Touch Gap
Not at inquiry. Not at the first reply. In the silence that follows.
After the first reply, most firms never follow up.
Firms that replied in under 2 minutes went quiet for hours. By then, the lead had already heard from someone else.
What happens during the silence
The cost of silence
This is what silence is costing you.
Every lost lead has a dollar value. Most firms underestimate this by 5–10x.
Based on 57% of firms in this market sending no follow-up after the first reply.
Based on leads lost to silence after the first reply. No follow-up, no second chance.
Closing the second-touch gap
Most firms think they handled the lead after the first reply.
That's exactly where it's lost.
The issue isn't response speed. It's that nothing happens when a lead goes silent.
What's missing is a system that follows up when the conversation goes silent. Before the lead moves on.
We submitted identical inquiries to each firm and tracked response time, follow-up, and outcome. We know exactly where your leads go cold.
Most firms think they have this handled. The data usually says otherwise.
We run the audit. 24–48 hours. No setup required.
Limited audits per market.
Most firms think they're in the top half. Very few actually are.
Each firm received the same inquiry. We tracked response time, follow-up, and outcome. Ranked by what happened after the first reply.
| # | Firm | Type | Score | 1st response | 2nd touch gap | Touches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 of 35 | Firm 01 | Elite | 100 | 0m | 3m | 8 |
| #2 of 35 | Firm 02 | Elite | 95 | 1m | 7m | 8 |
| #3 of 35 | Firm 03 | Elite | 95 | 0m | 0m | 6 |
| #4 of 35 | Firm 04 | Elite | 92 | 3m | 10.0h | 6 |
| #5 of 35 | Firm 05 | Elite | 85 | 0m | 0m | 9 |
| Most firms in this market land below this line | ||||||
| #6 of 35 | Firm 06 | Elite | 75 | 0m | 0m | 4 |
| #7 of 35 | Firm 07 | Elite | 74 | 0m | 0m | 3 |
| #8 of 35 | Firm 08 | Fragile | 69 | 0m | 39m | 3 |
| #9 of 35 | Firm 09 | Fragile | 69 | 10m | 0m | 4 |
| #10 of 35 | Firm 10 | Fragile | 62 | 0m | 3.0h | 2 |
| #11 of 35 | Firm 11 | Fragile | 54 | 0m | 0m | 3 |
| #12 of 35 | Firm 12 | Fragile | 48 | 0m | 0m | 2 |
| #13 of 35 | Firm 13 | Fragile | 47 | 3m | - | 1 |
| #14 of 35 | Firm 14 | Fragile | 47 | 4m | - | 1 |
| #15 of 35 | Firm 15 | Fragile | 41 | 7m | 18m | 2 |
| #16 of 35 | Firm 16 | Fragile | 41 | 7m | 1m | 2 |
| #17 of 35 | You're here. 46% of firms in this market outperform you Top firms average 6.3 touches. You stop at 2. | Fragile | 40 | - | - | - |
| #17 of 35 | Firm 17 | Fragile | 35 | 0m | - | 1 |
| #18 of 35 | Firm 18 | Fragile | 33 | 23m | 0m | 2 |
| #19 of 35 | Firm 19 | Broken | 25 | 5.3h | - | 1 |
| #20 of 35 | Firm 20 | Broken | 25 | 1.1h | - | 1 |
| #21 of 35 | Firm 21 | Fragile | 20 | 11m | - | 1 |
| #22 of 35 | Firm 22 | Fragile | 20 | 12m | - | 1 |
| #23 of 35 | Firm 23 | Broken | 20 | 21m | - | 1 |
| #24 of 35 | Firm 24 | Broken | 10 | 1.8h | - | 1 |
| #25 of 35 | Firm 25 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #26 of 35 | Firm 26 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #27 of 35 | Firm 27 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #28 of 35 | Firm 28 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #29 of 35 | Firm 29 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #30 of 35 | Firm 30 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #31 of 35 | Firm 31 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #32 of 35 | Firm 32 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #33 of 35 | Firm 33 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #34 of 35 | Firm 34 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| #35 of 35 | Firm 35 | Broken | 0 | - | - | 0 |
Firm identities kept confidential. Available in your private audit report.