How contractors should track lead sources.

Most contractors have a CRM. Most contractors can't separate lead sources cleanly. The gap between those two facts isn't a software problem — it's a configuration and discipline problem. Here's the minimum viable stack.

1. Source Field
Your CRM needs one source field with a defined, standardized list of values: Google LSA, Google Ads, GBP Organic, Website Organic, Referral, Repeat Customer, and Other. That's it. Not "Google" and "google" and "online" and "internet" — one standard label per source. ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, and Service Fusion all support this in standard config. The problem isn't the platform; it's that nobody set the rules for what each value means, so every CSR fills it in differently.

2. Sub-Source Field
One level below source. Google Ads should have a campaign or campaign group value attached — "Ads-HVAC-Summer," not just "Google Ads." Referrals should have a referrer type — "Customer Referral" vs. "Partner Referral." This is where your data gets actionable instead of just organized. Most contractors don't use this field, which means they know Google Ads is working but not which campaigns are working.

3. Outcome Field
Every lead needs an outcome logged: Booked, Not Booked, Canceled, Completed with Revenue. If your CRM doesn't have this by default, it's a custom field that takes 10 minutes to create. Without it, you can count leads but you can't calculate booking rates or cost-per-booked-job by source. Lead counts without outcome data are meaningless for decision-making.

4. Attribution Rules
Write them down and train your CSR team on them. Last-touch for paid channels: the most recent ad interaction before the call gets credit. Multi-touch acknowledgment for organic: if a customer found you via organic search after seeing your yard sign, log organic as source and note the yard sign in the notes field. Referrals get attributed to the referrer, with a sub-source value. The rules don't need to be complex — they need to be consistent.

5. Weekly Reconciliation
Every Monday, pull your CRM lead total by source for the prior week and compare it to your channel-level reporting. Your Google Ads dashboard says 40 leads. Your LSA dashboard says 22 leads. Your CRM should show roughly 62 leads between those two sources. If it shows 38, one system is wrong — and until you know which one, every decision you make is built on a bad number. Reconciliation takes 15 minutes once you have the habit.

You don't need a new platform. You need attribution rules and the discipline to apply them every week. Every major home service CRM supports this — the gap is process, not software.