Lead response time
How fast a store or salesperson responds to a new inquiry decides whether the conversation ever starts. These studies measured what actually happens when leads come in.
Of 2,241 US companies audited with test web leads, only 37% responded within an hour. The average response time was 42 hours, and 23% never responded at all.
Source: "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington), Harvard Business Review, March 2011. Read the study
Companies that attempted contact within an hour were nearly seven times more likely to qualify the lead than those that waited even one more hour, and more than 60 times more likely than companies that waited 24 hours or more.
Source: "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" companion analysis of 1.25 million leads across 42 companies (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington), Harvard Business Review, March 2011. Read the study
In 2026, 62% of dealerships followed up on website leads with both a call and a text, up from 49% in 2025. The industry-average internet-lead-effectiveness score rose six points to 71 out of 100.
Source: 2026 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) Auto Industry Study, reported by Car Dealership Guy, February 24, 2026. Read the report
Follow-up persistence
Most leads are not lost on the first attempt. They are lost because the attempts stop. These numbers show what persistence actually changes.
Making a second call attempt instead of just one increased the chance of contacting a lead by 87%. But half of all leads were never called a second time.
Source: Leads360 analysis of more than 15 million leads, reported by Claims Journal, June 8, 2010. Read the report
The same Leads360 research found six attempts to be the optimal number for working a lead. On the sixth attempt of contacting a contactable lead, the chance of making contact improved by 93%.
Source: Leads360 analysis of more than 15 million leads, reported by Claims Journal, June 8, 2010. Read the report
Dealerships that improved their internet-lead handling from scoring under 40 to scoring over 80 on Pied Piper's scale sold 50% more units from the same quantity of internet leads.
Source: 2025 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) Auto Industry Study, reported by Auto Remarketing, March 2025. Read the report
Even in 2025, about 19% of dealership internet inquiries got no personal response within 24 hours. The best-performing brand's dealers failed only 8% of the time.
Source: 2025 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) Auto Industry Study, reported by Auto Remarketing, March 2025. Read the report
Sold-customer value
The deal does not end at delivery. How a store and a salesperson treat sold customers decides who comes back for service, and who buys the next car from the same person.
When service satisfaction scores hit 950 or higher, 86% of mass market customers say they "definitely will" return to the dealer for paid service, and 88% of premium customers say the same.
Source: J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, released March 12, 2026. Read the study
In 2025, only 54% of owners with vehicles two years old or newer returned to their purchasing dealership for service, down from 72% in 2023. Dealerships have lost 12% of service visits to competing providers since 2018.
Source: Cox Automotive Service Industry Study, 2025, reported by Digital Dealer, November 2025. Read the report
Customers who service their vehicles at the dealership are 74% likely to buy their next vehicle from that same store. Among buyers who returned for service in the past 12 months, 74% say they are likely to repurchase from the same dealer, versus 44% of those who did not.
Source: 2025 Cox Automotive Fixed Ops and Ownership Study. Read the study
Referral rates
Referrals are the cheapest leads in the building, and they come from customers who were worked well after the sale.
69% of recent car buyers said they would recommend their dealership to friends and family, and 60% would consider returning to the same dealership for a future purchase. 17% said they would not return.
Source: CarEdge Car Buyer Satisfaction Survey, Q4 2024. Read the survey
Stats are only useful if someone acts on them.
PocketRep is an AI-assisted follow-up app for individual automotive salespeople. Rex helps you respond faster, keep following up without dropping leads, and stay in touch with sold customers while you stay in control of every send.
Written by Eddie Ponce, founder of PocketRep and automotive sales professional with nine years of experience.