Hey...where'd that lead come from?

10 replies
The other day, I took my car to my favorite repair shop to get an oil change, along with some other routine maintenance. While I was sitting in the waiting area, I noticed the phone was ringing off the hook...one call after another after another. This went on non-stop for about 20 minutes. Finally, when there was a break in the action, I asked Bob, the service manager which advertising source all those calls were coming from.

He asked me what I meant. I said, Bob, you guys advertise all over the place. I see your ads on tv, and in the newspaper. I hear you on the radio all the time, and I've even received your direct mail coupons. So what's the source of all those phone calls you just received? Bob didn't have a clue.

I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but it wasn't. The fact of the matter is, businesses not knowing the origin of their advertising leads is all too common - both offline and online. And it's really inexcusable, because tracking your leads is one of the easiest and most critical aspects of your financial bottom line.

Why is tracking your advertising so important? Because if you don't track your advertising, how are you going to know with any degree of certainty which advertising methods are profitable and which one's are money pits? Don't you think it's important to know that?

For example, for each incoming call, Bob simply had to ask the caller, "How did you hear about us?" And then put "tv" or "dm" for direct mail, or whatever the advertising source was in the customer's file. And then reconcile the numbers weekly or monthly, or however often they chose to do it. It really is that simple.

Their success notwithstanding, can you imagine how much money they're literally flushing down the toilet, not knowing this information? But, you know what? Even if you aren't spending a dime on advertising, it's still possible to flush a bunch of money down the toilet, if you don't precisely track where your traffic is coming from.

For example, exactly what percentage of your traffic is coming from Google or Twitter? Exactly how many visitors did Bing or Yahoo send you? How about Facebook? And did any of that traffic actually convert? At what percentage? How many were repeat customers? And so on and so forth.

But if you aren't spending any money on traffic, how would you be flushing money down the toilet by not tracking that traffic? Because even with free traffic, some traffic sources are much more profitable than others. By tracking even your free traffic, you can isolate and analyze your traffic sources across the board for optimum results.

So what's the best way to track both your advertising and your traffic? Google Analytics is a fantastic tool - and it's free. And even though I haven't personally used it, I've heard nothing but good things about Hyper Tracker. But don't take that as an endorsement, because like I said, I haven't actually used it.

David Jackson
#heywhered #lead #leads
  • Profile picture of the author WebTrafficFrenzy
    I definitely recommend the use of Google Analytics - it's a POWERFUL tool that people have no excuse for NOT using since it's 100% free.

    Great tool - post puts it in perspective nicely.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gemini9
      Sounds like they're wasting a lot of money on redundant advertising channels - sort of like sow everywhere and maybe you'll harvest somewhere.

      Sometimes when a business is doing ok, they don't bother looking out for new opportunities or figuring out where they might be wasting their resources.
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  • Profile picture of the author fcf360
    In this case, lead tracking is not as important as majority of the calls would be from repeat customers. The people who have used the service many many times and are completely satisfied.

    Also, the channels of advertisements he is doing have been "tested" albeit in a less scientific fashion over the years from "doing it" aka experience.

    Lead tracking would be more important in a new business, or a new online venture.

    Also, Google Analytics is a powerful program, but IMHO you are just giving a little too much info for the google to go out and rule the internet.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin AKA Hubcap
      Originally Posted by fcf360 View Post

      In this case, lead tracking is not as important as majority of the calls would be from repeat customers. The people who have used the service many many times and are completely satisfied.

      Also, the channels of advertisements he is doing have been "tested" albeit in a less scientific fashion over the years from "doing it" aka experience.

      Lead tracking would be more important in a new business, or a new online venture.

      Also, Google Analytics is a powerful program, but IMHO you are just giving a little too much info for the google to go out and rule the internet.
      Oh no you didn't.

      Lead tracking is always important. I'm sure there are a number of calls from existing customers *but* you still need to know which forms of advertising are earning their keep and which aren't.

      When the phones are ringing and business is brisk there may be less of an incentive to do so but when things go quiet and you want the phone to ring you need to know where your customers were coming from and more importantly why they're no longer coming.

      Kevin
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      • Profile picture of the author David Jackson
        Originally Posted by Kevin AKA Hubcap View Post

        When the phones are ringing and business is brisk there may be less of an incentive to do so but when things go quiet and you want the phone to ring you need to know where your customers were coming from and more importantly why they're no longer coming.
        Exactly. And if you haven't been keeping precise records, you won't have a clue.

        David Jackson
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    • Profile picture of the author David Jackson
      [QUOTE=fcf360;2382588]In this case, lead tracking is not as important as majority of the calls would be from repeat customers. The people who have used the service many many times and are completely satisfied.

      Response: What percentage of those callers were repeat customers? And which advertising method were the new customers responding to? It's important to know both of those things.

      Also, the channels of advertisements he is doing have been "tested" albeit in a less scientific fashion over the years from "doing it" aka experience.

      Response: The point isn't whether or not an advertising method is tested or proven. The point is how effective is that particular advertising method NOW?

      Lead tracking would be more important in a new business, or a new online venture.

      Response: Lead tracking can save money - in some cases, significant amounts of money. Not knowing where your leads are coming from is like ignoring internal bleeding. Over time, the hemorrhaging of money could kill your business. Therefore, lead tracking is important to every business.

      Also, Google Analytics is a powerful program, but IMHO you are just giving a little too much info for the google to go out and rule the internet.

      Response: Too late. Google already rules the Internet!

      David Jackson
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  • Profile picture of the author fcf360
    Tracking is important. But there is a time to be tracking, and there is a time to be fulfilling orders and keeping customers satisfied.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Jackson
      Originally Posted by fcf360 View Post

      Tracking is important. But there is a time to be tracking, and there is a time to be fulfilling orders and keeping customers satisfied.
      Without proper lead tracking, eventually, there won't be any orders to fill. And the sad part is you won't even know why, because you wouldn't have been keeping any records.

      David Jackson
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  • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
    It's a simple question to the caller.

    Where did you hear of us?
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