Measuring The Results Of Your Advertising

Post date: Jun 29, 2011 3:3:21 PM

There are three places in the SMCP system used for tracking where your calls and orders are originating.

First, the results of this call tracking can be reviewed using the 'Customer Call List (1026)' - you can choose a window of time (the last three months, the previous year, etc.) and get subtotals and percentages for each 'Order Source'.

One is the 'Customer Call Log (1025)' - every call should be recorded here.  People who typically take calls should leave this screen up in one 'tab' or 'window' in their browser all day.  That way, they can quickly click on the screen and fill out the (minimal) information needed to track the call, and then switch back to the screen they were working in.  They'll choose from the list of ' Order Sources'.  They HAVE TO make a choice - the record won't be saved if they don't.

(NOTE: You MIGHT CHOOSE to forgo tracking every call, as described above, and just use the bid and order tracking, described below.)

The second place to track marketing results is on the 'Edit bids' screen - here also you can track the 'source' of your bids, and the corresponding report, showing the bid sources, allows you to gauge exactly how much bid activity is being generated per your different marketing campaigns.

The third place to track your advertising is on the Order Entry screen.  Here, when an order is set up, the entry person will choose from a drop down list which contains the same ' Order Sources'.  This information, because it is associated with actual orders, can be pretty accurately related to actual billing.  To review this information use the 'Order Source Listing (1055)' report - these results can be viewed in detail or in summary for selected periods and types of orders, and optionally displayed as a chart.

The 'Order Sources' list can be maintained using the 'Edit Order Sources (1018)' function in SMCP.

These tools are intended to give you a good yardstick for making informed decisions about your advertising resources, spotting trends and gauging results.