Keep these three things.
- Use the number of prospects you actually inspect.
- Include review and correction time in the assisted workflow.
- Compare your own observed time with assumptions clearly labelled.
Set a consistent unit of work
Choose what you count: one company inspected, one contact researched or one first note prepared. Do not count a company and each of its contacts as equivalent units without explaining the difference.
For a simple weekly estimate, use the number of prospects you intend to inspect. Count the ones you reject too. Deciding not to write can take useful research, and ignoring it makes your manual baseline look artificially small.
Measure the manual baseline
Time several ordinary examples. Separate finding a relevant event, checking the person, writing the note and reviewing it. Include unsuccessful searches. Keep obvious interruptions separate so the estimate describes the work rather than an entire afternoon.
Multiply weekly volume by average minutes per prospect. Thirty prospects at eight minutes of research, four minutes of drafting and two minutes of review total 420 minutes, or seven hours. This is arithmetic for an illustrative workload, not an observation of Scout users.
Keep assisted assumptions visible
For an assisted workflow, estimate the owner’s time spent briefing, checking evidence, editing and reviewing. Do not treat all research or drafting time as eliminated. You may need to correct a brief, inspect a source or research an ambiguous company yourself.
The worksheet below starts with example inputs. It compares two sets of time assumptions; it does not measure Scout’s speed or promise a result. Replace them with your own observations before making a staffing or purchasing decision.
Read the difference carefully
A positive difference means the assisted assumptions require less of your time. A negative difference means they require more. Either can be useful: the exercise may show that your brief needs work, your audience is hard to research or your manual process is already efficient.
Time is one dimension. Also compare factual accuracy, rejected prospects, the quality of corrections and whether you would sign the final note. A faster unsupported email is not a better outcome.
Worked calculation · example assumptions
Manual: 30 × (8 research + 4 drafting + 2 review) = 420 minutes.
Assisted owner time: 30 × (3 evidence checks + 2 editing + 2 review) + 20 briefing = 230 minutes.
Difference: 190 minutes, or 3 hours 10 minutes per week, under those assumptions.
This is a hypothetical comparison. No Scout performance or customer result is represented.
Your weekly workload.
These are example inputs. Assisted time means your time checking, editing and reviewing. This worksheet does not measure Scout’s performance.
Show the calculation
Manual: 30 × (8 + 4 + 2) = 420 minutes.
Assisted: 30 × (3 + 2 + 2) + 20 = 230 minutes.
Difference: 420 − 230 = 190 minutes. A negative difference means the assisted assumptions require more of your time.
Sources and further reading
Industry context, page 8: surveyed sales reps report spending 60% of their average workweek on nonselling activities. This does not establish time savings from Scout.
This is practical editorial guidance, not a report of customer performance. Product previews show example work; available actions depend on the live Scout service and the permissions you configure.