01 / THE DETAIL
Choose the unit you are counting
Decide whether your record counts contact attempts or distinct customer requests. Those are different measures. A homeowner who calls and then submits a form may represent two attempts concerning one job. Keep a reference connecting them so the same opportunity does not appear twice in a business-outcome report. Record the review dates and keep the method unchanged while comparing periods.
If your worksheet includes a duplicate category, label the total as contact attempts and explain that duplicates remain in that total. Do not silently switch between attempts, people, and jobs when presenting the result.
02 / THE DETAIL
Write rules your office can repeat
A suitable inquiry generally concerns an offered service at a property you can serve. A garage door company that repairs openers should distinguish those requests from automobile door repairs. An air duct business may need to separate dryer-vent work if it does not offer that service. Confirm these boundaries with whoever schedules the work.
Use mutually exclusive categories for a simple worksheet. Agree how to handle a request that is both outside your area and for an unsupported service. A written priority rule prevents two reviewers from placing the same attempt in different categories.
03 / THE DETAIL
Separate fit from what happened next
A suitable inquiry can still fail to become an appointment. Perhaps the office could not reach the customer, the available date was unsuitable, or the customer chose another estimate. These outcomes matter, but they do not automatically make the original request irrelevant. Keep qualification and follow-up status separate when your record supports both.
For a compact count worksheet, distinguish qualified requests awaiting a response from those already contacted. Discuss booking and completed work in a separate review rather than treating contacted as a synonym for sold. Leave uncertain entries unclassified until someone can resolve them.
04 / THE DETAIL
Use the review to choose one correction
Look for an operationally useful question. Repeated wrong-service calls may justify clearer wording on a service page. Out-of-area requests may reveal an ambiguous coverage statement. Suitable inquiries waiting for follow-up may point to notification or staffing issues. Check individual examples before choosing a fix; a classification label does not establish the cause.
Share aggregate counts with your marketing partner and restrict customer details to people who need them. Review the definitions after the first session, record changes, and repeat the exercise consistently. The objective is a better decision about the next task, not a flattering percentage.
USEFUL QUESTIONS
BEFORE YOU START.
Should a price shopper count as unqualified?
Not automatically. If the service and property fit, record the inquiry as suitable and track the estimate outcome separately. Your business can define additional qualification criteria, but apply them consistently.
Can this prove that SEO produced the work?
Classification describes the requests you reviewed. Attribution needs additional evidence about their source, and booked work requires a connection to your operational records. Keep unknown sources visible.