Prepare a one-page scorecard
Choose a small set of numbers with clear definitions: unique genuine enquiries received, qualified enquiries, appointments or estimates, won work, open follow-up tasks, and marketing spend where applicable. Add a note about missing records. A carefully defined count of twelve requests is more actionable than an unexplained dashboard full of activity.
Show both counts and rates where the denominator is meaningful. For example, six qualified enquiries out of ten genuine requests is 60 percent. Keep the ten visible; a percentage from a small sample can move sharply when one request changes category. Do not compare that rate with another business using a different definition.
Check the comparison before discussing performance
Google Analytics supports comparing date ranges in reports. Use completed periods and record the dates you chose. For a monthly business meeting, note different month lengths, closures, unusual capacity limits, and seasonal demand before interpreting a change.
Compare new enquiries by received date, but review won work with awareness of the sales cycle. A project won in October may have begun as an August enquiry. Dividing October wins by October enquiries can mislead if you present it as the conversion rate of one group. Use an enquiry cohort when that is the question, or label the two operational counts separately.
Spend the first five minutes on data quality
Ask whether any forms, tags, telephone routing, campaign names, or qualification rules changed. Check for tests, spam, duplicate contacts, and unassigned outcomes. Google’s data-freshness documentation explains that Analytics processing intervals vary; very recent data can be less settled than older reporting.
If a tracking change explains an increase, annotate it rather than claiming a marketing win. If enquiry records are incomplete, assign a process repair. You can still make practical decisions while acknowledging uncertainty, but avoid fine-grained budget conclusions from figures whose meaning changed mid-period.
Use a decision sequence
First ask whether useful demand changed. Then ask whether the business responded and progressed it. Finally inspect search, profile, website, and campaign evidence for possible explanations. More visits with more unsuitable enquiries suggests a different investigation from steady visits with more missed callbacks.
For an illustrative month, suppose genuine enquiries rise from 14 to 20, qualified enquiries stay at ten, and missed callbacks rise from one to five. Before buying more traffic, inspect the six additional requests and the callback gaps. The next action could be clearer service-area wording and assigned absence cover. These fictional numbers demonstrate reasoning, not expected performance.
Finish with a small action record
For each action, record observation, hypothesis, change, owner, due date, and review date. Example: “Several callers request a service we no longer offer; revise the old page and related profile wording; owner to verify on Friday; inspect request reasons next month.”
Limit changes so you can understand what happened afterward. Keep unresolved hypotheses visible. The review succeeds when somebody knows what to improve and why, even if the month produced no dramatic upward chart.
Your practical checklist
- Use defined counts of real enquiries and outcomes.
- Check dates and sales-cycle timing.
- Review tracking changes and incomplete records.
- Inspect request quality and response gaps.
- Assign a small number of measurable next actions.
Written with AI-assisted research and drafting, with source checks and editorial review for this guidebook. Platform facts link to official documentation. Examples and recommendations are our own; no client results are implied. Sources reviewed October 8, 2026. About Getting Found Local