1. Agree on the question.
Define the campaigns, date range, time zone and outcome before joining records. A September inquiry that books in October needs a stated treatment. Comparing inquiry cohorts is different from counting every job booked during a calendar month.
2. Keep the source records recognizable.
Preserve source record identifiers and timestamps. Document each transformation, such as phone formatting or normalized email case. Keep an audit trail so a reviewed match can be traced back to the original records without overwriting them.
3. Match identities with explicit rules.
A reliable shared record ID is stronger evidence than a similar name. Contact details can support a connection, but shared household numbers, recycled numbers and generic business addresses can create ambiguity. A matching identifier is a candidate connection until the agreed validation checks pass.
AI may suggest a candidate from unstructured notes. It should not silently turn a plausible association into a confirmed customer match.
4. Verify the outcome separately.
Finding a customer does not establish a booking. Check the booking record, status and timestamp. Keep cancellations and later status changes visible. Count unique booking identifiers so multiple inquiries do not multiply a single job.
5. Leave uncertainty visible.
- Confirmed: Meets the agreed matching and validation rules, with source evidence.
- Needs review: There is a possible connection, a conflict or missing context.
- Unmatched: Available records do not establish a reliable connection. This is not automatically a lost lead.
Identify an existing customer using customer history before the inquiry date. Where history is incomplete, label the status unknown rather than declaring a new acquisition.
6. Define the denominator before reporting cost.
Observed cost per confirmed booked job divides the specified campaign spend by unique confirmed bookings assigned under the agreed attribution rule. It is a descriptive reporting measure, not an incremental customer acquisition cost.
Show the spend period, inquiry window, booking cutoff, attribution rule and unmatched share beside it. If there are no confirmed bookings, report the count and spend without manufacturing a cost-per-booking number. If the evidence is incomplete, avoid drawing budget conclusions from the ratio alone.
7. Keep a human decision point.
The workflow reports evidence and flags questions. Your team accepts disputed matches and decides whether to change a campaign. Campaign changes, customer messages and other external actions need their own agreed authority.
Start with your records.
And a conversation.
Tell Aaron what you currently use and what you wish you could see.
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