Appointment setting floor metrics and how to read them

Define every metric before you track it

Floors argue about numbers mostly because they define them differently. Write down exactly what each term means on your floor and use the same definitions in every report. Is a dial every attempt, or every unique record called? Does a contact include voicemail, or only a live person? Does a conversation need a minimum talk time? Does an appointment count when it is booked, or only after it is confirmed? Pick one answer for each and keep it, or month over month comparisons stop meaning anything.

The core funnel metrics

These are the numbers that follow a record from the first dial to an appointment that actually happened.

• Dials: outbound call attempts. The raw activity number.
• Contact rate: live contacts divided by dials. It mostly reflects data quality, caller ID reputation and when you call.
• Conversation rate: contacts that became a real conversation, divided by contacts. It reflects the opener and the targeting.
• Set rate: appointments booked divided by conversations, or by contacts if that is how you define it. It reflects setter skill, the script and the offer.
• Show rate, also called sit rate: appointments that actually happened divided by appointments booked. It reflects appointment quality and the confirmation process.

The cost metrics

Cost per appointment is total floor cost for a period divided by appointments booked in that period. Cost per sit is the same cost divided by the appointments that actually sat. Cost per sit is closer to what a closer or an appointment buyer actually receives, which is why the two numbers belong side by side. Include every real cost: setter pay, management, data, dialer, carriers and numbers.

The operating metrics

Next to the funnel, keep an operating view that shows how the floor is running hour by hour.

• Dials per setter hour: the pace. A drop can reveal a dialer, list or staffing problem before it shows up in sets.
• Conversations per setter hour: how much real selling time setters actually get.
• Talk time and wait time: whether setters spend their hours talking or waiting for the dialer to connect someone.
• Abandon rate for any predictive campaign, measured per campaign over 30 day periods, because it carries legal limits.

A worked example

The numbers below are made up to show the math. They are not benchmarks.

Say a week of floor cost comes to 10,000 dollars and the floor books 100 appointments. Cost per appointment is 100 dollars. If 60 of those appointments sit, cost per sit is about 167 dollars. If a better confirmation process raises sits to 75 without changing anything else, cost per sit falls to about 133 dollars. The same spend, read through show rate, tells a very different story.

Reading the funnel

The point of these metrics is diagnosis. Each one points at a different part of the floor, so read them in order and look for the first step that falls short of your own history.

• Low contact rate with everything else normal usually points to data, caller ID labels or calling at the wrong times.
• Plenty of contacts but few conversations points to the opener or to calling people who are a poor fit.
• Conversations but few sets points to the script, the offer or setter skill.
• Plenty of sets but a weak show rate points to booking people who were not really interested, booking too far out, or a weak confirmation process.
• Rising cost per appointment with a steady set rate points to spend: more seats, pricier data or carrier changes.

Read setters as a pair of numbers

Set rate alone rewards the wrong behavior. A setter who pushes hesitant people into appointments will post a strong set rate and a weak show rate, and the closers will feel it before the report shows it. Look at every setter's set rate and show rate side by side, and compare their cost per sit, not just their bookings. The same applies to lists and campaigns: a list that books well but sits poorly costs more than it looks.

Close the loop with closers

Show rate and everything after it come from the closers, not the dialer. Agree on how and when closers report whether each appointment sat and what happened, and chase missing updates quickly, because an appointment with no update quietly distorts every number downstream. Feeding outcomes back by setter and by list is what turns the funnel into a coaching tool instead of a scoreboard.

Cadence and sample size

Small numbers swing. One setter's set rate over a single afternoon tells you very little, while the same number over several weeks tells you a lot. Review activity daily, funnel rates weekly, and cost per sit over a period long enough for appointments to actually happen, since show rate is unknown until the appointment date passes. Segment by setter, list, campaign, market and hour so you can see where a change came from.

Watch trends rather than single days. A slow drift down in contact rate can be an early sign that numbers are being labeled or that a list is wearing out.

If your cost per appointment keeps rising and you want help reading these numbers on your own floor, the Telgrow consulting page is where to book a short intro call with Moses Herrera, who runs remote setting floors.

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