The Inquiries view: volume and responsiveness

It all starts with an inquiry. The Inquiries view measures the top of your funnel: how many inquiries you receive, how many you accept, and above all how fast you respond, a decisive factor for conversion.

Where the Accounting view reasons on revenue already delivered, the Inquiries view looks upstream: the incoming flow, your ability to qualify it, and how fast your team reacts. A large part of your signing rate is decided here.

Every metric recomputes automatically from the inquiries entered in Joinways: no manual tally to keep, you simply need each inquiry to enter the tool and be handled.

Prerequisites

For the Inquiries view to faithfully reflect your activity, a few conditions must be met.

• Every inquiry, whatever its channel, must be entered in Joinways to be counted.
• Every inquiry must be handled (validated or rejected) to feed response time and conversion rate.
• The source is known when the inquiry arrives (email, platform) or when an event is created with the « Direct email » or « Phone » source. It feeds the breakdown by source.
• The relevant venue must be linked to the inquiry for the breakdown by venue.

What you'll learn

• Read received, accepted and declined volume
• Understand your inquiry conversion rate
• Measure your response time, overall and per member
• Analyze performance by source and by venue

What the Inquiries view is for

The Inquiries view measures the top of your sales funnel: the flow of incoming inquiries, the share you turn into events, and how fast you handle them. It answers the question "where does my activity come from, and how do we process it?"

It is the day-to-day sales steering tool: it helps spread the load across the team, prioritize the channels that convert best, and watch responsiveness, which weighs directly on the signing rate.

Volume: received, accepted, declined

« Inquiries received » gathers every incoming inquiry in the period, including events created by hand with a « Direct email » or « Phone » source. Among them, « Accepted » ones are converted into an event (an event created by hand automatically counts as accepted) and « Declined » ones are rejected. The « to process » count shows under the total.

The « Inquiries over time » chart stacks received inquiries by status (« Accepted », « To process », « Declined »): daily when the period is under two months, monthly otherwise. It helps you spot peaks and anticipate busy stretches.

The conversion rate

The conversion rate is the share of accepted inquiries out of the total received. A low rate can signal poorly qualified inquiries at the source, or handling that is too slow and lets prospects slip to a competitor.

Responsiveness (response time)

Response time measures the delay between an inquiry arriving and your first action (accepting or declining it). Joinways shows the average, the median and the bracket breakdown (under 1h, 1 to 4h, 4 to 24h, over 24h), overall and per team member.

The median is often more telling than the average: it resists the few inquiries forgotten for several days that artificially inflate the average. The bracket breakdown, in turn, shows concretely how many inquiries go out under 1h and how many drag on beyond 24h.

The breakdowns by source and by venue

The « Inquiries by source » card splits your inquiries by channel of origin. The « Direct » row groups non-platform inquiries: emails received in the inbox, emails and calls added by hand. Other rows carry each platform's name; beyond the top ten, the rest is grouped under « Other ». The « Inquiries by venue » card offers one tab per venue with volume, accepted, declined and to-process counts, and the main sources.

Crossed, these two breakdowns reveal your most profitable channels and venues: a channel that brings a lot of volume but converts little does not have the same value as a quiet but highly qualified one.

Metrics reference

Here is each metric of the Inquiries view, with its exact definition.

• Inquiries received: all incoming inquiries over the period.
• Accepted: inquiries converted into an event, plus events created by hand with a « Direct email » or « Phone » source.
• Declined: rejected inquiries.
• Conversion rate: the share of accepted inquiries out of the total received.
• Response time (average and median): the delay between an inquiry arriving and your first action (validate or reject).
• Response-time breakdown: the split by brackets (under 1h, 1 to 4h, 4 to 24h, over 24h), overall and per member.
• Inquiries by source: « Direct » (non-platform) then each platform, with sources beyond the top ten grouped under « Other ».
• Inquiries by venue: volume and acceptance rate for each venue.
• « Inquiries over time »: bars stacked by status, daily or monthly depending on the period.

How it works

1. Open « Reports »: the « Inquiries » view shows by default.
2. Choose the period to analyze.
3. Read the metrics, the « Inquiries over time » chart, response time and the breakdowns by source and venue.

Each change of period instantly recomputes volumes, conversion rate and response times: no export or manual refresh is needed.

Loaded history covers the current month and the previous 11 months. Even with « All data », older inquiries do not appear.

Edge cases

• A call is counted if it is entered as an inquiry, or if you directly create an event with the « Phone » source. In the second case, it counts as accepted and is left out of response time.
• An inquiry not yet handled has no response time: it is computed at the first decision (validation or rejection).
• An inquiry with no source appears on its own row in « Inquiries by source », instead of being attached to a channel.
• A few inquiries handled very late pull the average up: look at the median for a more representative view.

Tip: track response time per member to see who needs help with the inquiries that are waiting.

Best practices

• Aim for a first reply under 1h on your best sources.
• Compare response time per member to balance the load.
• Focus your efforts on the sources with the best acceptance rate.
• Enter every inquiry, even phone ones, so you don't underestimate your real volume.
• Handle inquiries quickly to keep response time reliable and limit losses.

Troubleshooting

Problem: received volume looks underestimated. Cause: some inquiries (often phone ones) are not entered in Joinways. Solution: record every inquiry, whatever its channel, so it is counted.

Problem: average response time looks abnormally high. Cause: a few inquiries handled very late pull the average. Solution: rely on the median and the bracket breakdown for a fairer reading.

Problem: a known source does not appear in the breakdown. Cause: it is one of the sources grouped under « Other », beyond the top ten. Solution: open the « Other » row to see the detail by source.

Real-world example

A venue receives 120 inquiries/month and accepts 55%. The breakdown shows 40% of replies go out after 24h. By introducing a sub-1h reply on inquiries from its main platform, that channel's acceptance rate clearly improves.

By tracking response time per member, the manager spots that two people concentrate most of the late replies: they rebalance the load and the team gains several hours on its median delay.

Another example

A group compares its two venues in « Inquiries by venue »: one gets fewer inquiries but shows a much higher acceptance rate. Rather than trying to generate more volume everywhere, the team decides to push that venue on the channels that convert it.

By crossing source and acceptance rate, the same group discovers that its « Direct » inquiries convert twice as well as those from a platform: it highlights its contact address on its website.

FAQ

How is response time calculated?

From the moment the inquiry arrives until your first decision (validate or reject).

Are phone inquiries counted?

Yes, if they are entered as an inquiry, or if you directly create an event with the « Phone » source. In the second case, the inquiry counts as accepted and is left out of response time.

What is the difference between average and median response time?

The average is sensitive to inquiries handled very late; the median describes the "typical" delay. Joinways shows both, plus the bracket breakdown.

What is an accepted inquiry?

An inquiry converted into an event, or an event created by hand with the « Direct email » or « Phone » source. Rejected inquiries are counted as declined.

Which sources are tracked?

The « Inquiries by source » card shows a « Direct » row for non-platform inquiries (emails received, emails and calls added by hand) and one row per platform. Hover « Direct » to see the breakdown.

Can I see performance by venue?

Yes: the breakdown by venue gives, for each venue, the received volume and its acceptance rate.

Is response time really important for conversion?

Yes: responding in under an hour clearly increases your chances of signing. It is one of the most direct levers on your conversion rate.

See also

• Reports dashboard
• Understand the inbox
• Process an inquiry