Your marketing agency is churning out campaigns, posting on social, and sending emails—but is it driving real results for your remodeling, design/build, or landscape architecture business? Or is it just creating noise? Too many owners trust their agencies without digging into the numbers that matter. The truth is, if you’re not tracking the right metrics, you’re flying blind—and that’s a recipe for wasted budgets and missed opportunities.
The Vanity Metrics Trap
Marketing agencies love to report on what makes them look good: website visits, social media followers, email open rates, and cost per click. These aren't necessarily bad metrics, but they're not the metrics that pay your bills.
Here's what typically happens: Your agency shows you that website traffic increased 40% last month. They highlight that your Facebook page gained 200 new followers. They celebrate that your email open rate hit 25%. All of this sounds great until you realize your close rate dropped from 22% to 18%, and you're working harder than ever just to maintain the same revenue.
The problem isn't that your agency is doing bad work—it's that you're measuring the wrong things. You're tracking marketing activity instead of business results.
1. Pipeline Contribution Ratio (PCR)
What it is
Total signed‑contract revenue attributable to agency‑generated leads divided by total agency fees plus ad spend. It’s a blended, apples‑to‑apples view of how much revenue each dollar invested is pulling through the pipeline.
Why it matters
Revenue is the only scoreboard that counts. Agencies that brag about ROAS but ignore down‑funnel leakage usually inflate returns by counting all sales, not the incremental lift they claim to drive. PCR forces them—and you—to stay honest.
How to track it
- Connect ad platforms → CRM → closed‑won revenue.
- Lock baselines before campaigns launch.
- Review PCR at least monthly; quarterly for strategic pivots.
Owner’s Red‑Flag Question
“Show me last month’s PCR broken down by channel. If Facebook’s under 3:1, what’s the fix by next review?”
2. Cost per Sales‑Qualified Opportunity (CP-SQO)
What it is
The fully loaded cost (media + management) of generating a prospect who meets your budget, timeline, and project type filters and books a sales meeting.
Why it matters
Clicks and raw leads are cheap to inflate. SQOs—people worth your sales team’s time—are not. CP‑SQO highlights ad waste and forces precise targeting.
How to track it
- Enforce one definition of “qualified” across marketing and sales.
- Tag each SQO back to its first‑touch channel.
- Compare CP‑SQO to average gross profit per job; you’re looking for a minimum 5–7× payback.
Owner’s Red‑Flag Question
“Our CP‑SQO on Google is $380 and shrinking profits. What’s the plan to lift quality or cut spend by next sprint?”
3. Lead‑to‑Estimate Conversion Rate (L2E‑CR)
What it is
The percentage of inbound leads that actually receive a formal estimate, proposal, or site visit.
Why it matters
If L2E‑CR is low, you either have a front‑end appointment problem (bad routing, slow follow‑up) or the agency is sending tire‑kickers. Both kill growth.
How to track it
- Timestamp every inquiry and every scheduled estimate in the CRM.
- Segment by lead source; <30% is a warning sign.
- Align agency bonuses to L2E‑CR, not just top‑line leads.
Owner’s Red‑Flag Question
“Our Meta ads brought 120 leads but only 18 became estimates. Where’s the friction—speed‑to‑lead, targeting, or offer?”
4. Close Rate by Source (CR‑S)
What it is
The proportion of estimated projects that actually close, reported channel‑by‑channel.
Why it matters
Without CR‑S, agencies can hide behind volume. A 60% close rate on referrals means nothing if paid search closes at 12%. You don’t need more leads—you need better ones or tighter nurturing.
How to track it
- Use unique deal stages per source in your CRM.
- Break out won/lost reasons (price, competition, timing) to guide creative tweaks.
- Review CR‑S in your weekly revenue huddle; shift budget fast.
Owner’s Red‑Flag Question
“Paid social is closing at half the rate of organic. What message or audience test goes live this week to fix it?”
5. Test Velocity (TV)
What it is
The number of documented creative or targeting experiments your agency runs and reports on each month.
Why it matters
ROI plateaus without iteration. Agencies that can’t point to at least 4–6 meaningful tests per month aren’t optimizing, they’re babysitting campaigns.
How to track it
- Require a shared test log: hypothesis → change → result → next action.
- Grade tests on impact (0 = no change, 3 = needle‑moving).
- Tie renewals or bonus fees to cumulative test impact.
Owner’s Red‑Flag Question
“Show me last quarter’s top three wins. What did we learn and how did spend shift because of it?”
What to Do Next
Think of these five metrics as the owner’s lie‑detector kit. When your agency can present clean, source‑of‑truth data on each, you’ll instantly see whether your marketing dollars are compounding profit—or just adding noise to the balance sheet.
If you can't confidently answer whether your agency is making you money, you need to start tracking what matters. Begin measuring these five metrics consistently. Set up proper attribution systems. Start holding your agency accountable for results, not just activity.
Most importantly, remember that marketing and sales work together. The best marketing in the world won't compensate for a broken sales process. Sometimes the problem isn't your agency—it's the leaks in your pipeline that are wasting their good work.
The goal isn't to get more leads. The goal is to turn more leads into profitable contracts. Everything else is just noise.
Stop wondering if your marketing is working. Find out for certain.
Book your free 30-minute Pipeline Inspection and discover exactly where your leads are falling through the cracks. We'll show you the top three leaks in your sales process and give you a clear action plan to fix them—whether you work with us or not.
