A potential client has an urgent problem. They search online, find your firm, send an enquiry through the contact form. Then: nothing. At least nothing they can see.
You received the enquiry — somewhere between 47 other emails. You will deal with it once the current deadline is sorted. Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps the day after.
Meanwhile, the client has contacted three other firms. One responds within 2 hours. Instruction given.
This is not an isolated case. Research from the B2B services sector shows: those who respond within 5 minutes of an enquiry are 21 times more likely to convert the lead than those who wait 30 minutes. After 24 hours, the chance is virtually zero.
The Three Most Common Reasons for Lost Enquiries
1. Response Time: The Invisible Disqualifier
Most firms do not measure their response time. If you review your emails: how long does it take, on average, from receiving an enquiry to sending the first substantive reply?
Typical figures we see at firms:
- Under 4 hours: Top tier (estimated 10% of firms)
- 4–24 hours: Average
- 24–72 hours: More common than most would like to admit
- Over 72 hours or never: Happens, particularly with enquiries via generic info@ addresses
The problem is not negligence. It is structure: enquiries land in inboxes that nobody treats as a priority, because existing client work seems more pressing.
Yet the maths is simple: a lost instruction worth $5,500 in fees costs more than the 15 minutes of a quick initial response.
2. Missing Follow-Up: The Silent Instruction Killer
Scenario: a prospect enquires. You respond after a day with a friendly "Happy to discuss your matter. When suits you?" The prospect does not reply immediately. And then — nothing happens.
No reminder after 3 days. No second follow-up after a week. The enquiry evaporates.
This happens more often than firms realise. Without a system for follow-up, everything depends on a partner or paralegal remembering who they have not yet replied to. With 30+ open matters, that is unrealistic.
The solution need not be a complex CRM. Even a simple table with three columns is a start:
| Date | Enquiry | Next Step By |
|---|---|---|
| 05.02 | Mr Miller, employment contract review | Call back by 06.02 2pm |
| 05.02 | Ms Schmidt, company formation | Send proposal by 07.02 |
| 03.02 | Mr Wagner, property dispute | Follow-up on 08.02 (no reply to initial email) |
What matters is not the technology, but the accountability: someone is responsible for ensuring no enquiry goes more than 48 hours without a response.
3. Unclear Intake Process: When Nobody Is Responsible
Ask yourself: what happens right now when a client enquiry arrives by email?
- Who sees it first?
- Who decides whether it is a fit for your firm?
- Who responds?
- How is it recorded that a response was sent?
If the answer to each of these is "it depends", you have an unclear intake process. This means: of 100 enquiries, some are handled quickly (because the right person happened to see the email), others are delayed (because it is unclear who is responsible), and some fall through entirely.
A defined intake process need not be elaborate. It must establish just three things:
- Entry point: Where do enquiries come in? (Ideally one channel, not five)
- First responsibility: Who reviews within 4 hours?
- Escalation: What happens if no response has been sent after 24 hours?
What the Data Actually Shows
We analysed the enquiry process with a commercial law firm (22 lawyers) over 3 months. The numbers:
- 142 initial enquiries in the quarter
- 63% answered within 24h (sounds good — it is not)
- 22% answered after 24–72h (clients have often already instructed elsewhere)
- 15% never answered (21 enquiries that simply disappeared)
- Estimated revenue loss from late/missing responses: $55,000–100,000 per quarter
After implementing structured intake with automatic acknowledgement and 24h escalation:
- 94% answered within 12h
- 0% unanswered (escalation catches everything)
- Conversion rate enquiry → paid consultation: from 35% to 52%
- Estimated additional revenue: $155,000/year — with the same enquiry volume
Five Measures You Can Implement This Week
1. Measure your current response time.
Take the last 20 enquiries and measure: when did the email arrive, when did the first response go out? The average will surprise you.
2. Set up an automatic acknowledgement.
"Thank you for your enquiry. We will be in touch within 24 hours." Takes 30 minutes to set up, reduces follow-up emails by half, and buys you time.
3. Define first responsibility.
One person (paralegal, assistant, junior associate) reviews all enquiries by 10 AM. Not to answer in detail — just to review, categorise, and forward.
4. Introduce a 48-hour escalation rule.
If an enquiry has not been answered after 48 hours, an automatic reminder goes to the responsible partner. No blame — just a safety net.
5. Track your conversion.
How many enquiries come in per month? How many become consultations? How many become instructions? Without these numbers, you do not know whether you have a problem — or how large it is.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most firms invest in visibility: website, SEO, conferences, networking. That brings enquiries. But between enquiry and instruction lies a process — and if that process is leaky, the investment in visibility is wasted.
It is like a sieve: you can pour more water in at the top (more marketing), or you can plug the holes (better intake). Plugging holes is cheaper and works faster.
If you are wondering where your firm stands and which levers would have the greatest effect: get in touch. We will review your enquiry process and tell you honestly whether automation makes sense — or whether three simple organisational changes would suffice.