Score each vendor in six areas: what you're charged for, how leads are shared, service fit, your own response, booked work and data access. Mark each item documented, observed or unresolved instead of giving it a grade, because one number hides the reasons. We wrote this for an owner with little review time, and it doesn't rank providers across a market.
Your service, territory, response capacity and project mix shape the result. We're a lead source too, through Garrison, the microsite software from Trojan Digital Marketing, so hold us to this same sheet. Before you renew any lead contract, talk with us: the first strategy call is free, and during business hours we aim to reply within five minutes.
Identify the product before scoring it
Record the provider, exact product, service category, territory, dates, and spending boundary. A provider may offer several products with different charge triggers or distribution rules. Comparing them under one company name can create confusion.
Bark's terms separate product types and their credit rules, illustrating why current product documentation matters. Save the terms and the date you read them. We never assume a sales call about one offer covers another.
The exclusive and shared lead framework can help define the model. Keep distribution, qualification, and ownership as separate fields.
Use an evidence status instead of an unsupported grade
For each item, mark “documented,” “observed,” or “unresolved.” Documented means the applicable terms explain the rule. Observed means the business has records of what happened. Unresolved means information is still missing or conflicting.
Those labels keep the sheet honest. We'd never give a vendor a perfect quality score because the first few inquiries looked good. An unknown export rule isn't proof that no export exists, either. Each unresolved item becomes your next question for the vendor.
| Review area | Evidence to collect | Decision it supports |
|---|---|---|
| Product and charging | Billable event, fees, credits, renewal terms | Whether the purchase is understood and affordable within the plan |
| Distribution | Applicable sharing or exclusivity language | Whether expectations match the product |
| Service fit | Qualification reasons by request type | Whether the selected category needs refinement |
| Response workload | Assignment, contact attempts, missing context | Whether the office can handle the source |
| Opportunity progression | Quotes, bookings, open stages, cancellations | Whether suitable work is developing |
| Data and continuity | Exports, access, retention, cancellation process | Whether the business understands its ongoing position |
Make fit reasons usable
Ask the people handling inquiries to choose a concise reason when a request does not fit. Unsupported service, outside territory, duplicate, unavailable timing, and missing context are more useful than “bad lead.” Keep early stage prospects distinct from clearly unsuitable requests.
The lead fit guide explains the qualification ladder. A vendor may correctly deliver the product while the selected category is too broad for the business. That finding suggests a different action from invalid contact details.
We'd also read a sample of the notes behind the codes. If people use the categories inconsistently, the scorecard can become misleading even when the totals are accurate. A short shared definition usually helps more than adding many new fields.
Account for the business's own response
- Website
- Receive the inquiry.
- Your team
- Review it and record the outcome.
Record whether inquiries reached the intended person and whether the next action happened. If an owner told us a vendor's leads were bad, this is the first place we'd look. A request that sat unanswered isn't only a vendor problem. Keep the source and the internal handoff visible together.
A home services marketing plan should identify the response owner, fallback route, and quote process. The scorecard should also flag when more leads would exceed what your team can answer.
Handling effort also matters. If a source repeatedly requires substantial clarification before a useful review, record that pattern. The business may decide the effort is justified, but it should be part of the decision.
Use a mature outcome view
Track the inquiry cohort through qualified opportunity, quote, booked work, and completion where available. Keep open opportunities visible and note the review date. A long project decision should not be treated as a loss merely because the reporting month ended.
The booked job comparison worksheet provides a cost method. Add project mix and cancellations so the owner can see what the bookings mean. A low ratio based on a very small sample deserves continued observation.
Review the terms that affect the next period
Check whether pricing, credits, renewal, or category settings will change. Identify the action needed to adjust or end the purchase and the relevant deadline from the actual terms. Do not rely on an old screenshot when the next decision depends on a current arrangement.
Keep asset ownership separate. If comparing the vendor with an owned website channel, record the domains, content, accounts, and operating obligations that the business would retain. Those benefits should not be merged with a provider's lead distribution promise.
A hypothetical review record
- Observe → review
- Check the page and its evidence.
- Update → recheck
- Publish the change and check the result.
A contractor reviews one vendor after a defined trial. The product and charging rules are documented. Most inquiries reached the office, but several requested an unsupported service. Some suitable opportunities remain open, and the export format is still unresolved.
The decision is to keep the current spending boundary temporarily, request a category refinement, confirm the export process, and review the open opportunities on a stated date. The record identifies the owner of each action. It does not declare the vendor universally good or bad.
If the same review showed broken internal routing, the first action would be different. Fixing that handoff could be necessary before another acquisition test would produce useful evidence.
Keep the previous review beside the new one. If the same issue appears again, check whether the agreed action was completed and whether it changed the observed pattern. Repeated promises without completed work should remain visible in the decision record.
End with a decision and a reason
Use one of four actions: continue the current scope, change a defined setting, pause while a dependency is resolved, or end according to the applicable process. Explain the evidence behind the action and what would justify revisiting it.
A good scorecard lets someone read it later and see why you made the call. That takes context, honest gaps and definitions that don't change. It does not require a complicated dashboard.
Request a free marketing audit to review how your current lead sources are evaluated. Bring the exact product information and available inquiry outcomes so the next discussion can focus on the business decision the evidence supports.
