of 1,000 B2B SaaS companies did not respond in RevenueHero’s 2024 test.
Read the original study ↗The problem
We lose track of unanswered inquiries.
A potential client gets in touch. The message sits in an inbox, nobody owns the next step, and the reply slips. Make every inquiry visible before choosing how to improve the work.
A missed reply can mean a missed opportunity.
When your team cannot see who is replying, it cannot reliably move an inquiry toward a decision. You can spend time attracting a potential client and still leave their request unanswered. Research shows that response gaps occur even in teams with established sales operations.
was the average time to a first response, including automated replies.
See the method and results ↗Vendor-run study published March 20, 2024; mostly companies with 51–500 employees. This measures response behavior, not lost revenue, and is not a benchmark for small service teams. Some requests may have been disqualified.
What these numbers can — and cannot — tell us
The researchers submitted sales inquiries and demo forms using a work email. The share without a response is calculated as (1,000 − 365) ÷ 1,000. The report does not clearly state a common observation cutoff. It cannot tell us how many inquiries your business loses or what fixing the process would earn. Use your own register to measure that.
Illustrative scenario · change the inputs
What could be at stake for your team?
Estimate the sales opportunity associated with inquiries that receive no reply. Use a plausible win rate if those inquiries were handled.
Monthly opportunity estimate
8 unanswered inquiries × 25% × $2,000
Example assumptions, not measured loss or promised revenue. This is gross sales value before costs; not every unanswered inquiry is suitable or recoverable.
Three useful changes you can make.
Start with the process if ownership is unclear. Add automation for repeated steps, or an agent when reading and interpreting requests takes time. You can combine them.
Give every inquiry an owner and a next step.
Set up a shared tracker, reply checks and a daily review. You can do this with the tools you already use.
Track client inquiries and replies →Turn form submissions into inquiry records.
Store the original input, link it to the right job and handle repeated submissions without extra copying.
Turn forms into inquiry records →Read the request and prepare the next reply.
Let an agent look up approved service information and draft questions for the person handling the inquiry.
Prepare the inquiry agent →Two common tracking obstacles
One process. Help where you need it.
The owner stays responsible. Automate intake, then let an agent help prepare a reply if that step needs interpretation.
Form arrives
Keep the original request.
Record created
Assign an owner and a next action.
Agent drafts
Optional help with interpreting the request.
Owner reviews & sends
Check the latest thread before replying.
Check whether your change helps.
For the next two weeks, record when each inquiry arrives, its owner and the first useful human reply. Count unanswered inquiries and compare reply times. Keep automatic acknowledgements separate. Track quotes and won jobs over your normal sales cycle to assess the commercial effect.