A lead can disappear even when every individual tool reports success. The form accepted it, the email provider delivered a notification, and the CRM created a row. The failure can still sit between those events. Audit the handoffs by following a single inquiry from arrival to a verified customer reply.

Before you start

Choose five recent inquiries you are permitted to inspect, including one that needed extra handling. Use IDs instead of copying unnecessary personal details. Ask the person who normally handles inquiries to walk through what actually happened. Keep the audit focused on the process rather than individual blame.

The workflow

  1. At capture, compare the original inquiry with the stored record. Check whether attachments, contact details and the requested service survived. Note any manual copying that could lose context.
  2. At routing, identify the actual assignment rule. If the answer is “whoever sees it,” record ownership as missing. Check what happens during holidays, absence and unfamiliar service requests.
  3. At notification, inspect the information the owner receives. A message should identify the request, owner, required action and record link. Confirm that the recipient can open the linked system.
  4. At reply, distinguish internal activity from external response. Opening an email, changing a CRM stage or drafting a message may be useful progress, but none alone proves the customer received a reply.
  5. At follow-up, check the stop rules. A booked call, opt-out, reply or closed inquiry should change the next action. Verify the system checks current state before sending anything scheduled.

Worked example

Illustrative example: a landscaping inquiry reaches a shared mailbox. The form has “commercial” selected, but the routing rule only recognizes “business.” The fallback creates an unassigned row without alerting anyone. Your audit records a routing mismatch, not an email-delivery problem. The smallest repair is an agreed category map and an alerted fallback owner, followed by replaying that exact test case.

Your worksheet

  • Inquiry ID and channel: ___
  • Capture: record complete? Evidence link: ___
  • Routing: named owner and backup? ___
  • Notification: received and actionable? ___
  • Reply: timestamp and evidence: ___
  • Follow-up: current status and stop rule: ___
  • Broken handoff, proposed repair and owner: ___

Test it

  1. Trace one successful inquiry to understand the intended path.
  2. Replay one failed category using a clearly labeled test record.
  3. Simulate an absent owner and check the backup process without messaging a real customer.

What to measure

Count missing owners, incomplete records and replies outside your chosen window. Report the sample size alongside those counts. Five records can reveal a repairable failure, but they do not establish the failure rate for every inquiry.