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Methodology
Last reviewed June 13, 2026 · every statistic on this site links back to this page
We call ourselves proof-led, so the proof should be inspectable. Every statistic on this site lives in a single registry in the site's code, and each entry carries the publication it came from, the year, a link, the date we last verified it, and a verification status. This page renders that registry directly · if a number appears anywhere on the site, it appears here with its source.
What the status labels mean: “primary source verified” means we located the figure at the original publisher of the research and checked the exact wording and scope. “Secondary source” means a trade publication reporting someone else's research. “Internal estimate” means it is our own pricing, target, or assumption · labeled as such wherever it appears.
Corrections. In June 2026 we reviewed every figure on this site. Several numbers the industry repeats could not be traced past marketing blogs to any real study · a claimed advantage for whoever answers first, a popular after-hours share, a vendor's sub-minute booking rate. We removed them. A banned list now blocks them from every build. Where a solid replacement existed, we cite it below.
2023 Professional Smart Home Market Analysis (announcement) view source ↗
$29B
The US custom residential AV market is estimated at $29B.
primary source verified
Research by Ancrage Consulting for CEDIA; survey of US residential integrators expanded with D-Tools and Portal project data. The step up from CEDIA's earlier $20.1B estimate reflects a methodology change, not pure market growth.
accessed 2026-06-13
20,000
Approximately 20,000 integrators are currently serving the US market.
primary source verified
Stated verbatim in CEDIA's announcement; no newer CEDIA study supersedes the count as of June 2026.
accessed 2026-06-13
Lead Response Report 2021 view source ↗
8x
Conversion rates jump more than 8 times when the first contact attempt happens within 5 minutes of expressed interest, versus waiting between 5 minutes and 24 hours.
primary source verified
Successor research to the 2007 Lead Response Management Study, by the renamed InsideSales.com (XANT) · 5.7M inbound leads, 55M sales activities, 400+ companies, three years of data. Verified on the live report page and its infographic PDF; corroborated by the February 2021 press release.
accessed 2026-08-09
0.1%
Only 0.1% of inbound leads are engaged within 5 minutes.
primary source verified
Same 2021 dataset as the 8x conversion figure · the gap between the two numbers is the argument.
accessed 2026-08-09
57.1%
57.1% of first call attempts take place more than a week after the lead comes in.
primary source verified
Same 2021 dataset as the 8x conversion figure.
accessed 2026-08-09
We Tested Lead Response Times Of 1000 B2B Sales Teams view source ↗
29
The average first response to a demo request, among the 365 of 1,000 audited B2B software companies that responded, was 1 day, 5 hours and 17 minutes.
primary source verified
First-party vendor research with published methodology (March 2024): demo requests submitted to 1,000 B2B software companies, mostly 51-500 employees. Displayed as 29 hrs (1 day 5 hrs 17 min). B2B software scope, not home services.
accessed 2026-08-09
63.5%
635 of 1,000 audited B2B software companies never responded to a demo request at all.
primary source verified
Same audit as the 29-hour figure · only 172 of 1,000 companies responded instantly (under 2 minutes).
accessed 2026-08-09
Lead Response Management Study view source ↗
21x
The odds of qualifying a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 21 times.
primary source verified
Original 35-page study PDF, hosted by the 2007 presentation venue (MarketingSherpa B2B Demand Generation Summit). Web-generated leads; three years of data across six companies (~15,000 leads, 100,000+ call attempts). Retained for the record · superseded on-site by the 2021 Lead Response Report.
accessed 2026-06-13
100x
The odds of contacting a lead if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes drop 100 times.
primary source verified
Companion finding to the 21x qualification stat · same study, same dataset. Retained for the record · superseded on-site by the 2021 Lead Response Report.
accessed 2026-06-13
The Short Life of Online Sales Leads view source ↗
42
The average response time to a web-generated test lead, among the 2,241 audited US companies that responded within 30 days, was 42 hours.
primary source verified
Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington; HBR magazine, March 2011. 37% responded within an hour; 24% took more than 24 hours. Article is metered on hbr.org. Retained for the record · superseded on-site by the 2024 RevenueHero audit.
accessed 2026-06-13
23%
23% of 2,241 audited US companies never responded to a web-generated test lead at all.
primary source verified
Same audit as the 42-hour figure. Retained for the record · superseded on-site by the 2024 RevenueHero audit.
accessed 2026-06-13
~7x
Firms that tried to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times as likely to qualify the lead as those that tried even an hour later · and more than 60 times as likely as companies that waited 24 hours or longer.
primary source verified
"Qualify" is defined as having a meaningful conversation with a key decision maker. Drawn from a companion dataset of 1.25M leads received by 29 B2C and 13 B2B US companies. Retained for the record · superseded on-site by the 2021 Lead Response Report.
accessed 2026-06-13
2025 Software & Business Resources Deep Dive Survey view source ↗
78%
78% of integrators use spreadsheet software ("Excel remains ubiquitous").
primary source verified
General spreadsheet-software usage among surveyed integrators · not lead tracking specifically. cepro.com is bot-gated; verified on the live page and an archive snapshot.
accessed 2026-06-13
47%
Only 47% of integrators use CRM / marketing automation software.
primary source verified
Same usage breakdown as the spreadsheet figure (accounting 94%, proposal software 83%, spreadsheets 78%, CRM 47%).
accessed 2026-06-13
State of the CI Industry 2025: The Rise of the Middle Market view source ↗
$12,500
The median residential project price was $12,500 in 2024, a 39% decline from $20,357 in 2023 (while residential job counts rose 33%).
primary source verified
CE Pro's own exclusive survey research (Nov-Dec 2024); medians of integrator responses, residential-specific. cepro.com is bot-gated; verified via archive snapshot.
accessed 2026-06-13
2026 Forecast: 5 Field & Home Service Industry Trends to Watch view source ↗
41%
Across jobs booked online on Housecall Pro, 41% come in after hours.
primary source verified
First-party platform data: share of online bookings on Housecall Pro, published by the platform itself (Jan 2026). Single-platform scope.
accessed 2026-06-13
A few numbers on this site are ours, not research findings:
Pricing shown on the services page is our published pricing. Found a number on this site that isn't accounted for here? Tell us and we will source it or remove it.