How fast should an HVAC or plumbing company call back a lead?
Within five minutes, and ideally within one. A homeowner contacts about 3.4 companies for the same job (BrightLocal, 2025), and the first company to call back usually gets the visit. Yet the median contractor takes 42 minutes to respond, and 23% never respond at all (Blazeo, 2026, 573 companies).
Updated · TradeSixty, a product of Black Layers Corp.
What the data says
| Finding | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Companies a homeowner contacts for one job | 3.4 | BrightLocal, 2025 |
| Median time before a contractor responds to a new lead | 42 minutes | Blazeo, 2026, 573 companies |
| Contractors that reply within 5 minutes | 12% | Blazeo, 2026 |
| Contractors that never reply | 23% | Blazeo, 2026 |
| Booking rate: instant text plus a call within 15 minutes | 62% | Hatch, 2025 |
| Booking rate: instant text alone | 38% | Hatch, 2025 |
Read together, the numbers say one thing. The homeowner is shopping several companies at once, most of those companies are slow, and a real phone call beats a text. A contractor who calls inside a few minutes is competing with almost nobody.
Why the first call usually wins
A homeowner with no cooling in July or water on the garage floor wants the problem gone, not the cheapest quote. The first company that calls, asks sensible questions and offers a time stops the search. By the time a slower company calls back, the visit is already booked with someone else and the homeowner often does not pick up.
Why most HVAC and plumbing companies are slow
- The people who could call are working. Techs are on a roof or under a sink. The office is on another call.
- Leads arrive in too many places. Website form, Google Local Services email, Facebook lead form, voicemail. Nobody watches all of them.
- Leads arrive at bad hours. Evenings, weekends and the first hot week of summer, when the office is closed or flooded.
- Nobody measures it. Most owners have never timed how long their own callback takes.
How to call every lead back in under 60 seconds
- Send every lead source to one place. Forms, Google Local Services emails and Facebook lead forms should all land in one system.
- Call automatically, not when someone is free. A person cannot promise 60 seconds at 2 AM. Software can.
- Ask the dispatcher questions. What is wrong, how urgent, own or rent, zip code, best time.
- Book only real open windows. Offer times your calendar actually has, never a guess.
- Tell the owner right away. A text with name, address, problem, booked time and the call recording.
- Time your own callback this week. Fill your own form from your phone and start a stopwatch. That number is your baseline.
Straight answers.
What is speed to lead?
Is texting a lead enough?
Is it legal to call a web lead automatically in Texas?
How does TradeSixty get the callback under 60 seconds?
Hear Alex call a lead in 60 seconds.
Read more: AI answering service vs. live answering service for HVAC and plumbing companies · Dallas–Fort Worth · Houston