Response time is the single support metric most closely tied to revenue. The maths is less forgiving than most teams expect.
Speed-to-lead studies consistently show a steep decay curve: contact a prospect within five minutes and the conversation is dramatically more likely to happen than at thirty.
The same shape applies to support. A customer waiting on a refund question is deciding whether to buy again, and that decision hardens well before your reply arrives.
The practical fix is rarely working faster. It is coverage — making sure someone is actually available during the hours enquiries arrive — and triage, so simple questions never queue behind complex ones.
Measure the median, not the average, and segment by channel. Averages hide the overnight gap that is doing most of the damage.