Free planning tool / no account required
How many inquiries
can your team work?
Estimate how many project inquiries your sales process implies, whether you buy them or generate them elsewhere. Then compare that volume with the follow-up, estimate, and project-start capacity you actually have.
Required inquiries = sold-job target ÷ (fit rate × estimate rate × estimate-to-sale rate). Convert each percentage to a decimal, then compare that volume with the lowest of your follow-up, estimate, and project-start limits.
Enter your own operating numbers.
Use the same period and a mature cohort for your stage rates. The starting values illustrate the arithmetic only; they are not industry benchmarks.
02 / Required volume and capacity
Plan to your team’s real limit.
Submit your figures to compare the volume implied by your target with the capacity you entered.
Inquiries implied by your sold-job target
- Estimates implied by target
- Maximum inquiries at entered team capacity
- Current limiting capacity
How to use the result
Volume and capacity
belong in one decision.
A lead target is useful only when it reflects what happens after delivery. Compare required inquiry volume with your ability to respond, estimate, and start the work.
The calculator applies your stage rates in sequence.
- Fit rate × estimate rate × close rateShare of inquiries that become sold jobs
- Target jobs ÷ share that become sold jobsInquiries implied by your target
- Lowest of follow-up, estimate, and start limitsOperational inquiry ceiling for the period
It assumes your rates are representative of the cohort and that your capacity entries refer to the same planning window. Real sales cycles may cross period boundaries.
Illustration only
See the arithmetic with hypothetical inputs.
Suppose a contractor enters a target of 10 sold jobs, a 40% fit rate, a 50% estimate rate, and a 25% estimate-to-sale rate. The combined rate is 5% (0.40 × 0.50 × 0.25), so the target implies 200 inquiries and 40 estimates. These round numbers only demonstrate the formula; they are not a suggested target or a typical contractor result.
Questions owners ask
Make the inputs
worth trusting.
How do I calculate the inquiry volume for a sales target?
Divide the sold-job target by the product of your fit rate, estimate rate, and estimate-to-sale close rate. Convert each percentage to a decimal. Use your own rates from a comparable cohort.
What does fit rate mean here?
It is the share of received inquiries that meet the criteria you defined for your business, such as project type, geography, contactability, and timing. Write those criteria down and apply them consistently.
Why might I need more inquiries than my team can handle?
The target-derived volume may exceed your entered capacity for follow-up, estimating, or project starts. Treat that as a planning mismatch to investigate. Review your assumptions and capacity before increasing volume.
Does this calculator tell me how many leads to buy?
No. It does not account for source availability, pricing, lead distribution, response timing, project margin, or every operational constraint. Use it to frame a capacity conversation, then evaluate any provider’s criteria and terms separately.
How should I choose conversion rates?
Use completed, comparable cohorts with the same stage definitions. Keep lead age and sales-cycle lag in mind; a new inquiry may not have enough time to become an estimate or sale yet. If your history is limited, enter a conservative range and compare how the output changes.