Measure the right thing
Conversation count is activity, not outcome. The number that matters is total enquiries reaching your business, before and after.
Form submissions falling while total enquiries rise is the healthy pattern. Both falling means something is wrong.
Set the baseline first
- Count enquiries per week for four weeks before installing anything
- Note where they came from — form, phone, email
- Note your typical response time
- Then install, and compare after four weeks
Four weeks either side is a real comparison. An impression after a fortnight is not, particularly if you launched in a quiet month.
What tends to happen
| Measure | Typical direction |
|---|---|
| Total enquiries | Up |
| Form submissions | Down |
| Enquiry quality | Up — more context arrives with them |
| Time to first response | Down sharply |
| Repeat “what are your hours” emails | Down |
Where conversion improves
- Visitors who had one blocking question and got it answered
- Out-of-hours visitors who would have left with no trace
- People who dislike forms and will type a question
- Enquiries that arrive qualified, so the first reply can be substantive
If it does not work
Read the conversations. Almost always it is one of three things: it cannot answer the important questions, it is obstructing the route to a person, or it is asking for details too early.
All three are fixable in an afternoon, and all three are visible in the transcripts.