Every day, a number asks for our trust. A health score on a yoghurt. An ROI on a software proposal. A dashboard announcing “qualified engagement”. This series checks those numbers. Here is the method.

Is it really good for health?

Food scores, wellness apps and “clinically tested” labels all compress complex evidence into one figure. Sometimes that helps. Sometimes the score measures what is easy to measure, like sugar or calories, and ignores what matters for your situation. A good score tells you what it includes, what it leaves out, and where its data comes from.

Is it really the expected ROI?

Software proposals love return on investment. Look at the comparison: ROI against what? Against doing nothing, or against the cheaper tool already in place? Look at the costs: do they include migration, training and the months when teams work slower while they learn? Most ROI promises are honest about the gains and silent about the adoption.

Is it really qualified customer engagement?

“Engagement” can mean a click, a scroll, a download or a signed contract. When a campaign report says leads are qualified, ask who qualified them, with which criteria, and how many became customers. A metric that cannot be linked to a decision is decoration.

Three questions for any number

1. What exactly was measured? The definition, the sample, the period.
2. Compared to what? A baseline, a control group, the previous year, the competitor.
3. Who benefits if I believe it? Not to dismiss the number, but to know how carefully to check it.