What the percentage measures
New lead contact rate is the number of new leads who responded divided by the number of new leads first contacted in the selected period. Each phone number or email handle counts once, even if you send several messages or call several times.
A response is an inbound message, including a supported attachment or voice note, or an answered call classified as Person answered. A delivery receipt, read receipt, voicemail, or unknown call answer does not qualify.
You first contact 20 leads. Six text back and four answer a call. One of those people did both, so nine unique leads responded. Your contact rate is 9 ÷ 20 = 45%.
Which leads are new
The lead’s first recorded one-to-one interaction must be outbound outreach in the selected period. A sent, delivered, or read outbound message can establish that first contact; pending and failed messages cannot. A nonfailed outbound call can also establish first outreach.
A person who messaged you before your first outreach is not a new outbound lead for this metric. Adding a contact to an address book does not count as contacting them. Group conversations and shared-line activity are excluded from the new-lead calculation.
A phone number and an email address count separately, even if the same person uses both. This report does not automatically merge them into one person.
Why the call connection rate can be higher
A call connection can reach voicemail. The call connection rate can therefore include connections that do not qualify as a human response. For new lead contact rate, the call must have an answered result, an answer timestamp, and a human answer classification.
Review the call record and mark Person answered only when a person actually picked up. Mark voicemail accordingly and leave uncertain outcomes unknown. A long call by itself is not evidence of a human answer.
How the date range works
The date range selects when the lead was first contacted. Both start and end dates are included in the displayed timezone. Use the date and timezone controls, then Apply, to compare the intended calendar days; today is still in progress.
Responses are observed through now, even if the first-contact period is in the past. A lead who replies tomorrow can improve the rate for an earlier cohort. Allow similar amounts of response time when comparing groups.
Analytics supports ranges of up to 90 calendar days. Check the project, member, and channel filters along with the dates before comparing two reports. A missing percentage means there is no eligible sample; it is different from a measured 0% response rate.