Step 1
100
Raw enquiries
The top of the funnel is raw demand. It is not yet useful diary time.
Results
What Good Looks Like From Enquiry to Approval
This page exists to show the benchmark behind the sales pitch: how raw enquiries are filtered into screening calls, booked IHVs, assessment packs, and the longer-run approval picture.
The commercial point is simple: protect expensive social-work time and make the top of the funnel do more of the heavy lifting before the agency takes over.
Benchmark funnel
The working pipeline benchmark
A useful managed funnel is not judged by lead volume alone. It is judged by how much of the raw demand becomes qualified conversations, booked visits, assessment momentum, and longer-run approvals.
Step 2
36
Screening calls
This is the point where live qualification starts and weak intent begins to drop away.
Step 3
12
Booked IHVs
Only the applicants who clear the first qualification layer are booked into diaries.
Step 4
6
Assessment packs left
This is the subset serious enough to justify deeper assessment work.
Step 5
2
Long-run approved carers
Over the longer run, about two approvals from every twelve booked IHVs is a useful working benchmark.
Not every agency will match the same conversion rates. Region, criteria, capacity, and local brand strength matter. The useful thing here is the shape of the funnel and the stage where the handover becomes commercially valuable.
Operational meaning
What the benchmark means in practice
The numbers matter because they change how the work feels inside an agency, not because they make a dashboard look good.
Front-end workload gets removed upstream
The phone work, inbox chasing, and low-intent first touches are absorbed before they become a diary problem for the team.
Booked visits arrive prepared
Booked IHVs arrive with case notes and context, so the next conversation starts in the right place instead of circling back through basics.
Assessment time gets cleaner
Assessment capacity gets planned around qualified visits and packs, not around vanity lead counts or callback volume.
The benchmark stories behind the funnel
These examples are framed around the parts of the job agencies actually feel: phone cover, filtering, booked-visit quality, and whether the longer-run approval picture gets cleaner.
UK delivery benchmarkRecent managed funnel benchmark
Client type
Independent fostering agency
Problem
Too much expensive staff time was being spent answering raw enquiry traffic before anyone knew who was serious, suitable, or even contactable.
Intervention
Paid social campaigns, instant first response, pre-screen triage, live screening calls, and booked IHV handover with case notes.
36
Screening Calls from 100 Enquiries
The majority of responses were filtered or cooled off before they needed a live call.
12
Booked IHVs from 100 Enquiries
Only the applicants who cleared the first qualification layer were handed into diaries.
6
Assessment Packs from 100 Enquiries
This is the subset the agency actually wants its assessment resource focused on.
Outcome
The raw enquiry volume stopped dictating the team’s workload. The calendar saw prepared IHVs instead of unfiltered phone traffic.
Calendar protection benchmarkSame managed funnel, operational view
Client type
Independent fostering agency
Problem
The immediate pain point was operational: the team needed protection from nuisance enquiries, abuse, and low-intent conversations before those touches consumed recruitment capacity.
Intervention
The same managed funnel was used to absorb first contact, qualify intent, and keep unsuitable or early-stage interest away from the social-work team.
64%
Filtered Before Screening
These enquiries were filtered before a live screening call was needed.
88%
Kept Off Social Worker Calendars
These enquiries never reached a social worker calendar as a booked IHV.
3:1
Screening-Call-to-IHV Ratio
That ratio matters because it shows the phone work and qualification load being removed upstream.
Outcome
The agency’s social workers were pulled out of inbox triage and low-intent call handling so they could spend time where the profession actually adds value.
Long-run conversion benchmarkLonger-run working benchmark
Client type
Independent fostering agency
Problem
A lead list says very little about eventual approvals. The useful question is how many good assessment opportunities the system produces once the noise is removed.
Intervention
Performance was judged beyond cost per lead. The benchmark tracked progression from raw enquiry to screening call, booked IHV, assessment pack, and the longer-run approval horizon.
50%
Assessment-Pack Rate from Booked IHVs
Booked IHVs were treated as the real commercial handover point rather than the lead form submit.
16.7%
Approved Foster Carer Rate from Booked IHVs
Long-run approvals take months, so the earlier pipeline stages need to be strong enough to support that later conversion.
2
Approved Foster Carers per 100 Enquiries
That is why qualified booked IHVs matter more than raw enquiry counts or vanity CPL.
Outcome
The pipeline starts to behave like recruitment rather than marketing theatre: raw demand is sorted, IHVs are qualified, and the agency inherits the process at the assessment stage it actually owns.
Questions about the benchmark
No. Region, criteria, brand strength, internal capacity, and local demand all change the outcome. The numbers here are working benchmarks, not universal guarantees.
See the service pages behind each stage
Foster carer recruitment marketing
How to treat foster carer recruitment as a managed pipeline instead of passing raw leads into a social-work team.
Read this page
Facebook and Instagram ads for fostering agencies
The paid-social page: channel strategy, creative fit, fast follow-up, and what Meta is actually doing in the workflow.
Read this page
Enquiry handling and IHV booking
How we handle first response, qualification calls, case notes, and booked IHV handover before your team takes over.
Read this page
Want the pipeline, not just the lead volume?
If you want your pipeline to behave more like this, the fit call is where we map your regions, criteria, internal capacity, and the handover point your team actually needs.