The Follow-Up SLA
“We followed up” is not a process. A process has a clock, an owner and a next decision.
The case study
A three-clock follow-up SLA for a small revenue team that receives genuine enquiries but treats every unanswered lead as the same kind of problem.
The situation
Most follow-up systems measure activity: messages sent, reminders created, calls attempted. That is the wrong scoreboard. The buyer experiences only one question: did the next useful step happen while the context was still alive?
An unanswered lead can mean three different things. The team replied too slowly. The buyer needs a decision or missing detail. Or the timing is wrong and the lead needs a respectful recovery path. One generic reminder cannot solve all three.
What they did
- 1Set the first-response clock: define the maximum time before a human or approved automation acknowledges the enquiry with context, not a blank receipt.
- 2Set the decision clock: after the first exchange, assign the next decision — qualify, propose, ask one missing question, or close the loop — with one owner and a due time.
- 3Set the recovery clock: if the buyer goes quiet, choose a different useful follow-up rather than repeating the same “just checking in” message.
- 4Review clock failures weekly: separate slow responses, unclear decisions and poor recovery so the fix matches the leak.
The operating rule
Before / after
Stop counting reminders
Reply "CLOCKS" and I will help you separate first response, next decision and recovery in one lead path. Free, no call.
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