If you can't say what last month's combi installs cost you to win, you're guessing. Lead tracking replaces the guess with a number: marketing spend divided by installed boilers, broken down by where each job came from. It's the least glamorous service we offer and often the one that saves the most money.
What lead tracking is
Short answer: tracked phone numbers, tagged contact links and a simple record of what happened to each lead.
There are three layers:
- Source tracking. Different numbers for Google Ads, your Business Profile and key website pages, plus tagged links for text and email, so each contact arrives labelled.
- Outcome logging. Your office records, for each lead, whether it was a real prospect, whether an estimate was booked and whether the job was sold.
- Monthly roll-up. We join the two and report cost per booked estimate and cost per installed boiler, by channel.
The point is to move from "the phone was busy in October" to "Google Ads produced 11 booked estimates and 4 installs at $310 per install, while the Business Profile produced 7 installs at almost no direct cost".
Who it's for
Short answer: any installer spending real money on marketing, and especially those who have been disappointed by an agency before.
If a previous agency sent you reports full of impressions and clicks but couldn't say how many boilers you sold, this is the fix. It also suits owners thinking about growth or a future sale, because clean lead and job data makes a business easier to understand and value.
What's included
Short answer: the tracking setup, a job log your office will actually use, and a monthly report that ends with cost per install.
- Tracking numbers for ads, the Business Profile and main landing pages
- Call source and duration reporting, with spam and wrong numbers filtered out
- Tagged text and email links on every page of your site
- A one-page job log template, or a link to your existing field-service software
- A short training session for whoever answers your phone
- A monthly report with cost per booked estimate and cost per install by channel
- Missed-call reporting by hour and day, so you can see when calls go unanswered
A worked example
Short answer: the maths is simple once the data is clean.
Here's an illustrative month for a combi installer. Swap in your own figures.
| Channel | Spend | Booked estimates | Installs | Cost per install |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | $2,400 | 12 | 5 | $480 |
| Business Profile | $0 direct | 9 | 4 | $0 direct |
| Website (organic) | $0 direct | 6 | 2 | $0 direct |
| Management fee | $2,998 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Total | $5,398 | 27 | 11 | about $491 |
If your gross margin per combi install is $3,000, that month returned roughly six times its marketing cost. If the same spend had produced only three installs, the total cost per install would be about $1,800, and we'd be having a very different conversation. Our guide on what a combi boiler lead should cost goes deeper.
Timeline
Short answer: setup in one to two weeks; trustworthy numbers after two to three months.
Tracking starts working the day the numbers go live. But boiler jobs take time to close, so the cost-per-install figure firms up as estimates from earlier months turn into sold jobs.
How results are measured
Short answer: by whether the numbers lead to better decisions, such as cutting a channel that doesn't pay or adding budget to one that does.
We judge this service on two things: whether your office logs outcomes consistently, and whether the report changes how you spend. If after three months nobody has acted on the data, something needs to change.
Mistakes to avoid
Short answer: tracking without outcomes, messy numbers and ignoring privacy rules.
- Tracking calls but not jobs. Call counts alone tell you little. The outcome log is what makes it useful.
- Replacing your main number everywhere. It confuses customers and directories. Keep your real number as the anchor.
- Recording calls without notice. Under PIPEDA and the provincial laws in Alberta, BC and Quebec, you need to handle personal information properly.
- Texting past customers without consent. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation requires consent, identification and a working opt-out for commercial messages.
Tracking can be set up under any of our monthly plans; the pricing page shows what each plan includes. It pairs naturally with combi lead generation, where every ad dollar needs to be accounted for.
Frequently asked questions
Will tracked phone numbers hurt our local SEO?
Not when they're set up properly. Your main number stays as the primary number on your Business Profile and in your citations, and tracking numbers are used on ads and specific pages, or listed as additional numbers where appropriate.
Do we need a CRM?
Not necessarily. A shared spreadsheet that records each lead's source, whether an estimate was booked and whether the job was sold is enough to start. If you already use field-service software, we work with its job records.
Do you record calls?
Only if you choose to, and only with the right notice to callers. Recording helps with training and quality checks, but it's optional. Privacy rules apply, and we'll help you word the notice.
How long before the numbers are meaningful?
Give it two to three months. Boiler jobs have longer sales cycles than furnace repairs, so a lead from March may become an install in May.