A lead count measures the start of a journey. To compare sources usefully, follow the same group through relevance, contact, evaluation and the outcome the business actually values. The comparison should explain where value is created or lost.
Choose A Common Unit Of Comparison
Decide whether the report counts people, inquiries, incidents, appointments or accepted work. A person who calls twice and submits a form may create three contact events but only one opportunity. Keep those events for attribution while using a consistent unit for conversion.
Write down what makes an inquiry suitable for the business and who decides. Keep administrative fit separate from professional assessment. A law firm’s preliminary screening result does not substitute for its attorney acceptance process.
Follow The Same Group Through Each Stage
For each source, show total received inquiries, unique inquiries, suitable inquiries, meaningful contacts and the defined business outcome. Include unresolved counts and the observation date. This makes it possible to see whether a source problem, an intake problem or simply elapsed time explains the result.
Keep denominators explicit. “Contact rate” could mean contacts divided by all received inquiries or contacts divided by suitable unique inquiries. Both can be useful, but they answer different questions. A percentage without its denominator makes comparison unreliable.
Use A Worked Comparison
Illustrative example: Source A produces 100 unique inquiries at a media cost of $5,000. Forty meet the business’s scope, and eight become accepted work. Source B produces 50 unique inquiries at the same cost; 35 meet scope, and ten become accepted work. A has the lower cost per inquiry, while B has the lower media cost per accepted outcome: $500 rather than $625.
This example does not establish which source is more profitable. The accepted work may differ in service cost, retention, collection timing or value. Staff may also spend different amounts of time converting it. The example shows why the initial volume and price are insufficient by themselves.
Add The Cost Of Working The Inquiries
Record the effort needed for contact, missing information, evaluation and corrections. Use an agreed allocation method rather than pretending every staff minute can be attributed perfectly. Show a media-only measure and a broader acquisition measure separately.
Inspect a sample of records when a source appears unusually good or bad. A routing rule, inconsistent status or missing integration can distort the comparison. Fix the data issue before turning the dashboard into a purchasing decision.
Keep The Person’s Experience In The Review
A source should be assessed partly by whether people understand why they are being contacted and what service is offered. Confused inquiries create extra work and can signal a mismatch between the advertisement and the actual business.
Use the findings to give a source specific feedback, improve a handoff or change the budget. A useful source review ends with an action and a reason, not a league table based only on the largest number of leads.