Measure unique opportunities and completed outcomes—not raw calls answered. Build a baseline before enabling customer-facing automation.
What should go into the baseline workbook?
For a missed-call project, use one row per opportunity, with linked call events where necessary:
| Field | Why collect it? |
|---|---|
| Opportunity ID | Connect repeat calls, forms and subsequent jobs |
| First-contact date, time and source | Compare similar periods and channels |
| New enquiry, existing job, supplier, spam or other | Avoid treating all unanswered calls as lost work |
| In-scope service and location | Separate suitable work from enquiries you would decline |
| Existing callback outcome | Avoid crediting AI for work your office already recovers |
| Booking requested and booking confirmed | Keep capture distinct from commitment |
| Job completed, cancelled or still open | Avoid counting provisional bookings as realised work |
| Contribution after variable delivery costs | Evaluate the work rather than headline invoice value |
| Staff handling and correction time | Measure supervision and rework |
| Complaint or exception | Track operational harm alongside commercial benefit |
Use aggregate or pseudonymised records for analysis where practical. Keep identifiable operational records in the systems where staff need them, rather than copying them into every reporting tool.
What should you measure for other workflows?
- Quotation follow-up: eligible open quotes, quote age, replies, decisions, completed jobs, contribution and estimator intervention time.
- Maintenance reminders: records eligible for contact, inaccurate due dates, replies, confirmed visits, completed visits and manual corrections.
- Heat-pump qualification: enquiry completeness, staff preparation time, surveys attended and avoidable repeat information requests.
Do not equate released time with cash savings. Report it as capacity unless you can identify a genuine reduction in overtime, external administration or another avoidable cost. Likewise, do not count the same completed job once under call recovery and again under quote follow-up.
Stage exit: Finance can explain the baseline and its uncertainties, including available delivery capacity.