Tracking results... good for you and the client

The lesson most of us learn pretty quickly in this business is that you have to track everything. Calls, leads, sales, traffic, etc... If you're anything like me, you didn't care about tracking early on - you just wanted to get paid and get the work done. But after a while, everyone learns the same lesson. And that lesson has made me about $1,600 in the past two days.

Here's the thing... when I do a new build for a client, I KNOW they're going to get a return on their investment. Why? Because not only do I build sites, I also implement online marketing channels to funnel traffic to the site. And since all that work stays there forever, it's only a matter of time before enough leads are generated to break even and break the threshold.

The important thing here is to track all of this data - number of visitors (Google Analytics), number of new leads (email), and number of sales via those leads (client).

What I've found is that almost any bit of measurable success means the world to my clients. Maybe this is just my personal client base, but I find that most businesses have absolutely zero real, measurable success with their sites. So when they start getting visits, quote requests, and calls from their website, they know it works.

And when you have this data, it's important to show it to clients. When they're already in the black, it's a much easier road getting them to spend more. This is exactly how I was able to upsell two of my existing customers a couple days ago.

Tracking lets your client know it's working - and perhaps most importantly - lets you know what you're doing is working.

I do all of my tracking via emails right now. Since I work with contractors most often, they're generally free quote request forms. Do any of you out there have other ways to track results for your clients? I've heard of phone tracking but I'm not sure how difficult it is to set up. Could be I'm driving much more business through some of my clients doors than I even know.