The Probative Standard · v1.0 · §Intake metrics
Speed to lead, answer rate and intake measures
Definition
How The Probative Standard measures intake: answer rate, missed calls, billable Local Services Ads missed calls, speed to lead and junk rate.
Speed to lead is the number of minutes from a form, chat, text or missed call to the firm’s first live attempt to reach the person. It sits with five other intake measures, because marketing can only be judged fairly once intake is measured too.
The intake measures
| Measure | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Answer rate | Calls answered live by a person ÷ eligible inbound calls | Eligible calls exclude spam, silent and test calls. An IVR menu or voicemail isn’t an answer. By hour, day, line and language; business hours are the firm’s listed Business Profile hours |
| Missed-call rate | 1 − answer rate | Same denominator |
| Billable Local Services Ads missed calls | Missed calls during listed hours, while ads run, with the caller on more than 20 seconds | From the lead records and their charges, under Google’s billing rule (Google) |
| Speed to lead | Minutes to the first live attempt | Median and 90th percentile, in and after hours, by language; calls answered live count toward answer rate instead |
| Leak list | Leads with no live attempt after 24 hours | Listed by lead ID, never by name |
| Junk rate | Paid contacts coded spam, silent, wrong number, job seeker, vendor or out of scope ÷ all paid contacts | Published monthly, with out-of-scope shown separately |
| Intake quality score | Mean score on a 100-point rubric across graded calls | Weighted most to complete qualification (20 points), answer speed (15) and a booked next step (15); two graders score a shared sample monthly to stay calibrated |
Secret-shop calls
The Standard’s “ghost call” is a test call we place into the firm’s own intake, only with its written consent, in English and Spanish, through its own recorded lines. Ghost calls are excluded from every count except the test log.
Why it matters
A missed call can now cost money as well as a case: Local Services Ads bills some business-hours missed calls as leads. Measured by hour and language, intake gaps show up where they are, such as evenings or Spanish calls, instead of being blamed on the ads.
Cite as: The Probative Standard v1.0, Speed to lead. Last reviewed October 24, 2026, by the Probative editorial team.
Questions firms ask
- What is speed to lead?
- The minutes from a form, chat, text or missed call to the firm’s first live attempt to reach the person, reported as the median and 90th percentile, in and after business hours, by language.
- Does voicemail count as answering?
- No. An IVR menu or voicemail isn’t an answer; answer rate counts calls answered live by a person.
- Which missed calls does Local Services Ads bill?
- Missed calls during the listed hours, while ads run, with the caller on the line more than 20 seconds, counted from the lead records and their charges.
Sources
- Google, how Local Services Ads charges for leads · Accessed October 24, 2026
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