Guide
Do you know where your
jobs come from?
If you can't say where last month's jobs came from, you're guessing with your marketing budget. Here's a plain way to track every lead back to its source, and the three numbers worth ten minutes of your week.
Clicks aren't customers
Our rule
Track every source all the way to booked jobs and revenue, not just to clicks or inquiries.
Most reporting stops too early. A post gets likes, an ad gets clicks, a listing gets views, and none of that tells you which one paid for the truck. The question that matters is simpler: of the jobs we won last month, where did each one come from?
You only get that answer if the source is captured at the moment someone first gets in touch, and kept with them all the way to the invoice.
Four ways to capture a source
No single method catches everything. Used together, they cover almost all of it.
Tagged links (UTMs)
Add tags to the end of every link you share in social posts, emails and ads, so your analytics and CRM know exactly which post or campaign sent the visitor. Free URL builders make these in seconds.
Tracked phone numbers
A different forwarding number for each place people might find you: ads, your Google listing, a mailer, the side of your truck. Calls still ring your normal phone, but each is labelled with its source.
One question, asked every time
"How did you hear about us?" on every form and every call. It catches what software can't see: referrals, word of mouth, a sign on a job site.
Your Google Business Profile
Its performance view shows calls, website clicks and direction requests from your listing. For many local businesses it's one of the biggest sources, and one of the most overlooked.
When Outfunnel compared the "how did you hear about us?" answers from its own sign-ups with its automatically tracked sources, the self-reported answers showed some channels were roughly 1.6 to 2 times bigger than tracking alone suggested. Their conclusion: both methods are most useful when they're combined.
Outfunnel · Tracking B2B lead sourcesWhere it all lives
The source should be saved on the lead's record in your CRM, automatically, the moment they get in touch, whether that's a form, a call, a text or a message. Then it follows them through quote, job and invoice without anyone typing it in.
This works in any modern CRM, GoHighLevel included. What matters is that it happens automatically. Sources that depend on someone remembering to fill in a field are the first thing to go on a busy week.
The three numbers to check every week
Ten minutes, once a week. That's all this needs.
New leads by source. Where did this week's inquiries come from? Watch the trend, not a single week.
Time to first human reply. How fast did a real person respond? This is the number that turns leads into jobs.
Won jobs and revenue by source. The one that changes decisions: a channel with fewer leads but more revenue deserves more of your time.
Word of mouth is a source too
Our rule
Track referrals as carefully as ads, and thank the people who send them.
For many established businesses, referrals and reviews quietly bring in the best jobs. They often get left out of reports, because there's no click to count. The "how did you hear about us?" question fixes that.
Recommendations from people we know remain the most trusted form of marketing: 88% of the 40,000+ consumers surveyed trust them, more than any other channel.
Nielsen · Trust in Advertising, 2021An example
A custom builder was sure Instagram was their best channel. Their posts got great engagement, and most of their marketing time went there. After three months of capturing sources on every lead, Instagram brought plenty of inquiries, but few turned into signed jobs. Most won jobs came from referrals and their Google listing.
They didn't quit Instagram; it still built their name. But they started asking every happy client for a referral and a review, and posting project photos to their Google profile every week. Their marketing time moved to where the jobs actually came from.
A composite based on businesses like the ones we work with; details are illustrative.Want this set up for you?
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. We'll look at how your leads come in today and show you what it would take to see all three numbers on one screen.
Related resources
Nate designs custom websites and the CRM, automation and reporting behind them as one system, for builders, makers and established teams that have outgrown their setup.
Sources
Outfunnel. Tracking B2B Lead Sources: comparing "How did you hear about us" responses to captured lead sources.
Nielsen. Trust in Advertising, 2021.
Where leads go missing
Score your site, phone and follow-up in 20 minutes.
Run the check