When business arrives, ask where it really came from using three cause-and-effect checks before crediting a campaign.
The idea
Most of us track our marketing actions (mailers sent, posts published) and then assume they caused whatever business showed up. Flip it. Track the lead. When an opportunity arrives, check it against three cause-and-effect tests before you give the credit to a campaign. As we taught in my coaching, trust is built by connection, so track the connection before the marketing actions.
How to do it
Ask three questions about any lead:
Did the cause come first? The person had never spoken to you and wasn't in your A or B groups, so the campaign could have created the lead.
Does the cause reliably produce the effect? Every time you send mailers, responses come in.
Is there another explanation? Ask them. Maybe they got the mailer, but they called because a neighbor you helped recommended you.
Then build the habit:
The moment a new lead comes in, right after you reply, record where it came from.
Do the same when an old lead resurfaces or business closes.
Review quarterly to see where business is really coming from.
When a person was the source, reach out with gratitude.
Example
An agent sends mailers to a neighborhood and gets a call. Easy win for the mailers? When she asks, the caller says they spoke to the neighbor whose home she sold, and the neighbor recommended her. Test three fails. The credit belongs to a relationship, and that neighbor deserves a thank-you.
Watch out for
Keeping a campaign out of habit. Ask what you can stop doing because it hasn't shown good cause and effect.
Sources
From Zvi's coaching program
Related frameworks
Track Outcomes Loosely: Record where each opportunity came from, promote the people who've referred you, and judge results directionally.
Superstition Marketing: Repeating tactics because others say they work, without checking, wastes effort; market where you've actually seen conversations happen.
Sent, Seen, Felt: Before every send, review your last one: what you sent, who clicked and replied, and whether they felt what you meant.
Say Thank You: A thank-you closes the loop, shows you valued it, gives you another touchpoint and lifts you both; name exactly what their help led to.