When a new inquiry comes in, record where it entered the business. Do it at first contact, while the path is still visible. Do not wait until the end of the month and try to rebuild the answer from memory.
Marque & Heir recommends this as a recordkeeping rule, not a claim about which channel works best. A clean source field tells the owner what the business actually captured. It does not promise that every inquiry can be traced, that every source label is perfect, or that a source caused the final outcome.
Decide what “source” means
For this process, source means the first known route the inquiry used to reach the business.
That may be a tracked call, a website form, a direct email, a social message, a booking request, a referral the person names, or another approved route the business actually uses. The source list should match the live contact paths. Do not add labels for channels that are not in use, and do not keep old labels after a route has been retired.
Write the rule beside the field so the team does not make up a new definition each time. If the first recorded contact is a website form, keep the website form as the source even if the next conversation moves to the phone. The later phone call is part of the follow-up path. It does not rewrite where the inquiry entered.
If the source cannot be supported, use Unknown. An honest unknown is better than a confident guess.
Keep source separate from the rest of the record
One field cannot carry the whole story. Keep these items separate:
- Source: the first known entry route.
- Contact time: when the inquiry reached the recorded route.
- Contact details: only the approved information needed to respond.
- Status: what the team has done with the inquiry so far.
- Fit or qualification: the business’s approved decision, if the scope calls for one.
- Outcome: what is known after follow-up, stated without guessing.
- Notes: short facts needed for the next responsible action.
Do not use the source field to mark an inquiry as good, bad, won, lost, urgent, or unqualified. For this Marque & Heir method, keep those decisions separate so an opinion is not recorded as an origin.
The same boundary applies to reporting. A contact record proves that a contact was recorded through a stated path at a stated time. By itself, it does not prove revenue, a sale, a conversion rate, or the reason somebody chose the business. Those statements need their own real records and definitions.
Capture the source when the inquiry arrives
Each public contact route should lead to a place the team knows how to watch. Before using the source field, list the live routes and assign an owner to each one. Then decide how the source is captured.
A tracked call can carry its assigned route into the record. A website form can apply its approved source label when the submission arrives. A direct email or message may need a person to choose the label. A referral may need one plain question: “Who sent you our way?” Record the answer the person gives. Do not improve it or fill in a name they did not provide.
The person handling the inquiry should be able to see whether the source arrived with the record or still needs an answer. If the field is blank, the next action should be clear: confirm it from the available record, ask the approved question when appropriate, or mark it Unknown.
Do not hold up a response just to complete a marketing field. The customer’s request comes first. Source capture should fit inside the normal intake path, not turn a simple call or message into an interview.
Use controlled labels
For this process, use a short approved source list instead of free-form source notes. One person may write “site,” another may write “web,” and another may enter a page name. Keep separate detail only where the business can support it.
For example, the main source may be Website form. A separate detail field may hold the form or page that actually submitted, if that detail is captured. If the detail is not available, leave it blank. Do not turn the page visited before a form into a claim about what persuaded the person to contact the business.
Keep campaign labels on the same leash. Use a campaign name only when the live route or agreed record supplies it. A staff member should not assign a campaign because the timing feels close or the inquiry sounds similar to another one.
When labels change, keep a dated note of the change. Do not silently rename old records in a way that changes what they meant when captured.
Review the gaps without filling them in
At the agreed review point, look for blank sources, repeated Unknown entries, retired labels, duplicate records, and paths that no one owns. The job is to repair the capture process, not to manufacture a cleaner report.
If a form stopped carrying its source, test the form and correct the route. If direct calls often arrive without a source, decide whether the approved intake question fits. If two labels mean the same thing, settle on one definition for future records and document how old labels will be read.
Keep the limits visible in any summary. State which routes were tracked, the dates covered, the definition of a lead used for that report, and what Unknown means. Leave out conclusions the record does not support.
Make the monthly record readable
The owner should be able to follow a lead from its first known source through the recorded next steps without digging through separate inboxes and notes. Marque & Heir’s working record uses a stable source field, a named owner for each route, and facts entered when they are known.
Start small. Confirm the live routes. Approve the labels. Put Unknown on the list. Test each contact path. Then read a sample of new records from start to finish and correct the process where the record breaks.
The useful result is not a perfect-looking source report. It is a record with honest labels, visible gaps, and clear boundaries around what the business knows.
Start with the free check, keep the findings, and put any lead-record work into the agreed scope before it begins.