Glossary
What is a lead response SLA?
A lead response SLA is an internal agreement that every new lead gets a real first reply within a set time, in set hours, from a named owner, with a defined escalation if the time runs out. It turns speed to lead from a hope into a number you measure and report.
Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 24 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.
What goes into a lead response SLA?
- Scope: which lead sources it covers, such as web forms, ad forms and inbound messages.
- A definition of a reply: a real answer, not an automatic receipt.
- A target time and the hours it applies to.
- An owner and a backup for every lead.
- An escalation: who steps in when the time passes.
- A measure and a review rhythm.
What does it look like in practice?
| Item | Example setting |
|---|---|
| Scope | Website form and WhatsApp enquiries |
| Target | First reply within 5 minutes, 9:00 to 18:00 on weekdays |
| Outside hours | First reply by 10:00 the next working day |
| Escalation | No reply after 15 minutes goes to the team lead |
| Measure | Median time to first reply and share within target, each week |
All numbers are examples, not a benchmark. Set yours from your own median.
Report the median, not the average, because one lead that waited a weekend skews the average. Measure from the lead's request to the first real reply, using system timestamps.
How is it different from speed to lead?
Speed to lead is the measure: the time from a request to the first real reply. A lead response SLA is the promise you make about that measure, with owners and consequences. You can track speed to lead without an SLA, but an SLA without the measure cannot be checked.
How Sellinger handles it
The goal library has a goal to respond to every inbound inquiry within 5 minutes, and ad form leads are fetched quickly: Facebook lead form leads every 60 seconds and Google Ads leads every 300 seconds, then contacted by the campaign (see the fact register). A person can be flagged through needs attention rules for questions the agent should hand over.
Sellinger does not enforce an SLA for you. You set the target and the escalation, and use the CRM timestamps to report. A copyable text is in the lead response SLA template.
Common questions
What is a good target for a lead response SLA?
Is an SLA the same as speed to lead?
Does an automatic confirmation count as a reply?
Who should own the SLA?
Sources and method
Sellinger lead pollers and goal library from the fact register, checked 25 October 2026. Example numbers are made up.
Related: Speed to lead, Lead response SLA template, Speed to lead for ad leads, Lead qualification, Speed to lead SLA.
