On this page9 sections+
- 01Read this first
- 02The short answer
- 03Define the events before calculating a rate
- 04Publish the formula next to every percentage
- 05Keep one cohort together
- 06Use combined metrics to choose the next review
- 07Assign ownership to the event each party controls
- 08Use a review sheet that ends in one controlled change
- 09What TheCall controls
Read this first
- Keep every comparison inside one named accepted-lead cohort.
- Separate call outcomes from dispatch, delivery and payment events.
- Treat immature downstream results as provisional rather than final.
- Diagnose the transition that changed before judging a supplier or traffic source.
The short answer
Approval rate and delivery rate are not substitutes.
- An approval rate usually describes a call center or tracker decision, but the
word
approvedhas no safe universal meaning. In this guide, the broad operational event is a confirmed order. - A delivery rate describes a downstream physical event. Its denominator may be confirmed, fulfillment-accepted or dispatched orders.
- A delivered-and-paid rate adds the payment outcome reported by the responsible
downstream data source. COD practitioners may call this
buyout rate.
A rate is usable only when its event, denominator, cohort date, maturity window, exclusions and source system are visible.
1. Define the events before calculating a rate
A submitted form is not a confirmed order. A confirmed order is not a dispatched parcel. A dispatched parcel is not automatically delivered or paid.
Use a shared event dictionary:
| Event | Minimum working definition | Usual source of record |
|---|---|---|
| Submitted lead | The campaign, landing page or store created a lead record | Client, tracker or store |
| Accepted lead | The record entered the calling queue after contract-defined technical and eligibility exclusions | Calling CRM |
| Attempted lead | At least one permitted call attempt was recorded | Dialer or calling CRM |
| Reached lead | One unique lead met the project-defined human-connection threshold | Calling CRM |
| Confirmed order | The customer agreed the required product, quantity, price, address and other project-defined details | Calling CRM and returned order event |
| Fulfillment accepted | The downstream operation accepted the order under its stock, service-area and operational rules | Fulfillment or order system |
| Dispatched order | The responsible downstream system recorded a shipment handoff | Fulfillment or courier |
| Delivered order | The responsible downstream system recorded delivery under its evidence rule | Courier or fulfillment |
| Delivered-and-paid order | The responsible downstream source recorded both delivery and payment | Fulfillment, courier or finance reconciliation |
Approved may map to confirmed order in a tracker or affiliate network, but only
when the project contract says so. Do not let one label silently cover contact,
confirmation, fulfillment acceptance and payment.
2. Publish the formula next to every percentage
These formulas are a starting structure. A project may use a different denominator, but it must name it.
Contact rate
= unique reached leads ÷ accepted leads
Contact-to-confirm rate
= confirmed orders ÷ unique reached leads
Accepted-lead confirmation rate
= confirmed orders ÷ accepted leads
Dispatch rate after confirmation
= dispatched orders ÷ confirmed orders
Delivery rate after dispatch
= delivered orders ÷ dispatched orders
Delivered-and-paid rate after confirmation
= delivered-and-paid orders ÷ confirmed orders
Accepted-lead-to-delivered-and-paid rate
= delivered-and-paid orders ÷ accepted leads
Show the numerator and denominator counts next to the percentage. A rate based on only two records should not look as conclusive as the same rate based on a mature, material cohort.
Average order value needs the same discipline. State which order state supplies the denominator and what the numerator includes:
Confirmed-order AOV
= total final value of confirmed baskets
÷ confirmed orders
Delivered-and-paid AOV
= revenue reported as delivered and paid
÷ delivered-and-paid orders
Say whether discounts, delivery charges, taxes, canceled orders, returns and partial payments are included. Two AOV figures with different order states are not directly comparable.
3. Keep one cohort together
Operational dashboards often show events that happened today. That is useful for queue management, but it is unsafe for funnel comparison: today's delivered orders may have started as leads several days earlier.
For performance review:
- group records by one agreed starting event, normally the accepted-lead timestamp;
- keep the market, offer, source/publisher/subID and definition version attached;
- follow those same records through confirmation and downstream outcomes;
- mark the cohort provisional until the agreed maturity window has passed;
- retain late updates and corrections instead of silently rewriting an export;
- use one reporting timezone for the cohort and retain source timestamps.
Do not compare one source's mature delivery cohort with another source's fresh confirmation cohort.
4. Use combined metrics to choose the next review
| Pattern | What it can indicate | What to inspect next |
|---|---|---|
| Contact rate falls; contact-to-confirm is stable | The constraint may be before the sales conversation | Lead age, number format, source mix, calling window, attempt logic, telephony outcome |
| Contact is stable; confirmation falls | The reached customer is less willing or less able to proceed | Creative and landing-page promise, product, price, script, language, stock or service-area rule |
| Confirmation rises; dispatch falls | More confirmed orders are failing the downstream acceptance gate | Stock, duplicate handling, address fields, service area, order sync and fulfillment rules |
| Confirmation rises; delivery after dispatch falls | The call metric improved while a later part of the journey weakened | Final price recap, address quality, dispatch delay, courier lane, customer availability and attempt evidence |
| Delivery is stable; contribution margin falls | A conversion rate is hiding a cost or order-value change | Acquisition cost, order value, product cost, calling, fulfillment, delivery, returns and collection |
Each pattern produces a review queue, not a blame assignment. Inspect joined records: the source event, attempt history, final order, fulfillment decision and courier outcome for the same lead/order ID.
5. Assign ownership to the event each party controls
| Area | Client / offer owner | TheCall | Fulfillment operation | Courier / payment source | Network / media team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product, price and permitted claims | Owns and approves | Works within approved rules | Uses order supplied | Not responsible | Must represent the authorized offer accurately |
| Authority to collect, share and use the lead | Owns and confirms | Uses only for the agreed call | Uses only for its agreed task | Uses only for its agreed task | Preserves lawful source and attribution context |
| Lead intake and call attempts | Supplies agreed fields | Receives, calls and records outcomes | Not responsible | Not responsible | Reviews source-level volume and outcomes |
| Confirmed order | Defines required fields | Records the customer decision and permitted order changes | Receives the handoff | Not responsible | Receives the mapped status where agreed |
| Stock and dispatch | Supplies stock and service rules | Does not own physical stock or dispatch | Owns acceptance, picking and dispatch | Receives parcel where applicable | Observes downstream outcome if supplied |
| Delivery and payment | Defines customer promise and commercial treatment | Does not deliver or collect payment | Coordinates its part of the handoff | Records the physical and payment events it owns | Uses the contract-defined downstream event |
| Corrections and reconciliation | Agrees rules and commercial treatment | Corrects call events with an audit trail | Corrects downstream events it owns | Corrects courier/payment events it owns | Applies the agreed network mapping |
The matrix is a routing tool. A courier code such as customer refused is not, by
itself, proof that the traffic, call or courier caused the final outcome.
6. Use a review sheet that ends in one controlled change
Copy this structure into a weekly cohort review:
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Cohort start event and date range | |
| Market, offer and definition version | |
| Source / publisher / subID slice | |
| Accepted lead count | |
| Reached count and definition | |
| Confirmed count and definition | |
| Dispatched count and source | |
| Delivered-and-paid count and source | |
| Cohort maturity rule | |
| Largest observed movement | |
| Records selected for joined review | |
| Working hypothesis | |
| One change to test | |
| Owner and effective date | |
| Metric expected to move | |
| Guardrail metric that must not worsen |
Review counts first, rates second and reasons third. Change one material part of the process at a time when possible, and record changes to creative, price, script, attempt logic, staffing, fulfillment or delivery routing.
What TheCall controls
TheCall can control the agreed calling process, client-approved sales conversation, order changes, call outcome and returned status. It can use downstream feedback supplied by the client or fulfillment operation to review later outcomes.
TheCall does not control the product, traffic source, stock, physical delivery, customer availability or payment collection, and it does not guarantee approval, delivery or revenue.
See the COD order-confirmation service, review phone sales for nutra offers or read how project pricing is defined.
If the rates cannot be reconciled because the source systems use different outcomes, start with the status and reason-code template.
Next step
Apply the definitions to a real project.
Send the market, offer, lead flow and the operating decision behind your question. We will review fit and reply by email.