miryloStart with the decision
“Are qualified installation inquiries becoming booked estimates?” tells you what to inspect. “Is marketing working?” does not.
Ad, CRM and operations reports can each answer a different question. Write down yours before comparing their totals.
Check the counting unit
One homeowner can submit a form, call twice and ask about two projects. Those are different counts: interactions, people and opportunities.
- Interactions: calls, forms and messages.
- Contacts: distinct people under your matching rule.
- Opportunities: separate pieces of potential work.
- Appointments: the agreed kind of visit.
Document whether spam, applicants and existing-job questions are included.
Use comparable dates
An inquiry created in one month may be won in the next. A cohort follows the original inquiries; an activity report follows events during a period.
This month’s sales divided by this month’s new inquiries may mix different opportunities.
Keep source and contact method separate
A form tells you how someone contacted you. It does not tell you whether they came from an ad, search or a referral.
Preserve observed attribution and the homeowner’s own answer separately. Both may add context.
Open the records
- Match the unit, filters, dates and outcome.
- Trace included and excluded opportunities.
- Check duplicates, missing updates and appointment types.
- Fix the mapping or explain the valid difference.
- Save the definition beside the report.
Only then decide whether to change marketing, follow-up or the report.