What should I measure about follow-up?

Hours to first human reply, the share of enquiries getting more than one message, the share of quotes that become work, and the share of enquiries that eventually become customers. All four come from a simple enquiry record.

Why look at the worst case rather than the average?

Because averages hide the cases that cost you work. A respectable average can conceal a quarter of enquiries waiting two days, and those are precisely the people who went elsewhere.

How often should I review these numbers?

Quarterly. They move slowly and rest on small numbers, so monthly review mostly produces noise and encourages reversals that make things worse.

What does a low quote win rate mean?

Either the quote itself is unclear or unconvincing, or nothing happens after it is sent. Check both: how the quote is presented, and whether anybody follows up on a schedule.

How do I know follow-up is worth the effort?

Once a year, put your enquiry conversion rate beside the average value of the work. That turns follow-up into a financial question and usually ends the debate about whether it deserves attention.

Is your follow-up actually working?

Follow-up is the least measured part of most businesses, which is unfortunate, because it is also the cheapest place to find revenue. Four figures, reviewed quarterly, tell you nearly everything.

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Measure four things: hours to first reply, the share of enquiries that receive more than one message, the share of quotes that turn into work, and the share of enquiries that eventually become customers. Each points at a different fix when it looks wrong, and all four come from a simple enquiry record.

The four figures

None require software beyond the record you should already be keeping, and together they cover the whole path from enquiry to work won.

Hours from enquiry to first human reply, as an average and as a worst case.
Share of enquiries that received more than one message.
Share of quotes or proposals that turned into work.
Share of all enquiries that eventually became customers.

What each one tells you

The value is in knowing which fix each number points at, because the remedies are completely different and applying the wrong one wastes a quarter.

Slow first replies point at routing and ownership. Few second messages point at the absence of a sequence. A low quote win rate points at the quote itself, or at what happens after it goes out. A low overall conversion with healthy quotes points upstream, at the mix of enquiries you are attracting.

Track the worst case, not just the average

An average reply time can look respectable while a quarter of enquiries wait two days. Averages hide exactly the cases that cost you work, since the people who waited longest are the ones who went elsewhere.

Look at the slowest few every quarter and ask what they had in common. Usually it is a day of the week, a person's absence, or a particular route by which the enquiry arrived.

Quarterly, not monthly

These figures move slowly and depend on small numbers, so monthly review produces noise and overreaction. A quarter usually contains enough enquiries to show a pattern.

Look at the same quarter last year where your business has a season, since a change in enquiry volume affects reply speed all by itself.

Connect it to money once a year

Once a year, put the enquiry conversion rate beside the average value of the work. That converts follow-up from an administrative subject into a financial one, and it usually settles any argument about whether it deserves attention.

It also tells you what a small improvement is worth. If moving the conversion rate slightly is worth a meaningful sum, that justifies reorganising who answers the phone.

Beware measuring activity instead of outcome

It is easy to start counting messages sent, which rises whenever somebody is busy and says nothing about whether the follow-up worked.

Keep the four outcome figures as the measure and treat activity as a diagnostic. The point is work won, not correspondence generated.

How Licheo reports on this

Because enquiries are captured with their date, source and page, the first three figures come out of the record without additional work.

We report them in plain language and say when the numbers are too small to support a conclusion, rather than presenting a percentage built on four enquiries.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of Follow-up revenue. The other parts:

Questions people ask

What should I measure about follow-up?: Hours to first human reply, the share of enquiries getting more than one message, the share of quotes that become work, and the share of enquiries that eventually become customers. All four come from a simple enquiry record.
Why look at the worst case rather than the average?: Because averages hide the cases that cost you work. A respectable average can conceal a quarter of enquiries waiting two days, and those are precisely the people who went elsewhere.
How often should I review these numbers?: Quarterly. They move slowly and rest on small numbers, so monthly review mostly produces noise and encourages reversals that make things worse.
What does a low quote win rate mean?: Either the quote itself is unclear or unconvincing, or nothing happens after it is sent. Check both: how the quote is presented, and whether anybody follows up on a schedule.
How do I know follow-up is worth the effort?: Once a year, put your enquiry conversion rate beside the average value of the work. That turns follow-up into a financial question and usually ends the debate about whether it deserves attention.

Find out what follow-up is worth to you

Enquiries captured with date, source and page, so the figures come out of the record rather than out of memory.

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