One identical new-business enquiry, sent to groups of Irish firms one sector at a time, and timed from the moment it lands to the first human reply, the next step offered and the follow-up. No firm is ever named.
The method
1
Ten to thirty firms in one sector, chosen from public directories.
2
One realistic enquiry, sent through each firm's own website form, or by email where there is no form, on a Tuesday morning before 9:30.
3
Every reply logged with a timestamp for five working days. A reply counts when a person writes or calls. Automatic acknowledgements are noted separately. Replies after the window are noted as late.
4
Silence after the first reply is deliberate, to measure follow-up.
5
Results are reported as counts. Firms are never named and never contacted about their result.
The four measures
Speed: time to the first reply from a person.
Intake capture: how many questions the reply asks that the website form could have asked.
Next step: a specific time or booking link, a vague offer of a call, or nothing.
Persistence: follow-ups within five working days when the enquirer goes quiet.
Results so far
Sector one: insurance brokers and financial advice firms
August and September 2026
20 firms tested.
11 of the 20 had not sent a human reply within five working days.
Fastest human reply: 1 hour 34 minutes.
Of the 10 advice firms, none phoned.
Every broker that replied in writing asked 10 to 14 questions that its website form had not asked.
1 firm in 20 produced a quote, about 51 hours after the enquiry.
1 firm replied on working day 7, saying its own website form had routed the enquiry to a spam folder.
Next step offered by the 5 advice firms that replied: 1 a specific time, 3 a call with no time, 1 no next step (questions only).
Follow-ups within five working days of the enquirer going quiet: 0 of the firms that replied. 1 firm followed up later, 13 working days after the enquiry.
A new sector is added every five to six weeks.
Test your own firm in ten minutes
1
Before the clock starts, check where your form's notification actually lands: inbox or junk.
2
Ask a friend to send a realistic enquiry through your website form at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
3
Start a clock. Note the time of the automatic acknowledgement, the first human reply and the first phone call.
4
Count the questions in the first reply that your form could have asked.
5
Have your friend go quiet. Note who follows up, and on what day.
6
Score each of the four measures from 0 to 3 using the scoring sheet.
What good looks like: acknowledged within a minute, a human reply within the hour, no repeated questions, two follow-ups inside a week.
Get the scoring sheet
You get the scoring sheet now and the report when it is published. If you tick the box you also get the note. Unsubscribe any time. No firm's test result is ever shared.
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