How to Audit Your Follow Up Process

A follow up audit should be performed on leads that did not answer quickly, because successful first contacts tell you very little about the persistence of the system.

Choose twenty difficult leads — Include voicemail, no answer, text reply, wrong number, requested callback, canceled appointment, and long-term nurture examples.

Build the attempt timeline — Record every call, text, email, customer reply, and next task with timestamps.

Compare with the written cadence — Did the intended sequence actually happen. Were attempts missed on weekends, staff days off, or after assignment changes.

Inspect message variety — Five attempts that all say “just following up” may technically meet the cadence while creating little reason for the prospect to respond.

Inspect stop logic — Did the system stop after opt out, wrong number, disqualification, or clear decline. Persistence without control can damage trust.

Inspect recovery — When a prospect replied after several days, did the lead return to an active priority queue or remain buried in nurture.

(New closer) By the end of this audit, you should be able to name the exact attempt number where most of your persistence quietly stops. It’s almost always earlier than anyone on the team would guess.