Counting what it brings back

Without measurement, follow-up discipline collapses within six weeks: nobody defends an effort whose result they cannot see. Good news: three numbers are enough, five minutes a month.

The three numbers

1. Follow-ups sent. The raw volume, all categories. Your consistency indicator: if it collapses, the rest follows a month later.

2. Replies received. Yes, no, or “give me time”: everything counts. A “no” closes a file and frees time. That is a result, not a failure. Aim for the reply rate, not the yes rate.

3. Recovered cash. Quotes signed after a follow-up, invoices paid after a reminder. Not “invoiced”: cash collected. This is the number that justifies everything else.

The other column: hours

Time one manual follow-up once: finding the file, the history, writing, logging. For most of our clients it is eight to twelve minutes. Multiply by monthly volume: those are the hours recovered the day preparation stops being manual. It is exactly the calculation the action plan runs, with your team's numbers.

The monthly check-in

Five minutes at month end, the three numbers side by side with last month. As long as “follow-ups sent” holds and “recovered cash” is positive, the system earns its keep. The day volume overflows, you will know precisely what automation should take over, and what it should leave you: the phone.

This week: create the three-column table and fill in the current month. The first “recovered cash” number is usually the best surprise of the quarter.