Which demand sources does the company actually rely on?
List paid ads, organic search, repeat customers, memberships, referrals, builders, property managers, directories, and other material sources. Use recorded evidence rather than assume agency credit describes how every caller found the firm.
Separate new demand from existing relationships. A longtime customer's paid click can receive platform credit without gaining a new customer. Repeated builder projects also create different concentration from independent residential calls.
The buying hub gives context. The diligence guide links demand to concentration, earnings, and transfer. Check relationships and systems supporting profitable work. Lead count alone shows neither delivery capacity nor actual cash.
How should the inquiry-to-cash bridge be built?
Track unique inquiries through qualification, booking, dispatch, completion, invoicing, and payment where records allow. Preserve duplicates, spam, out-of-area, canceled, and unknown categories. Document IDs linking calls or forms to jobs. This makes exclusions and gaps visible rather than silently convert unmatched inquiries into completed work.
IRS Publication 583 describes supporting records for receipts and expenses. Match invoices, payments, and spend to the marketing story. Dashboard totals without a path to actual work establish no collected earnings. Keep source records and definitions with the bridge so another reviewer can follow its scope.
| Stage | Evidence to verify | Limit of the number |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry | Call, form, or referral record | May be duplicate or unserviceable |
| Qualified opportunity | Defined fit and requested service | Does not prove booking |
| Booking | Scheduled appointment or estimate | Can cancel or fail to convert |
| Completed job | Work and invoice record | May remain unpaid |
| Collection | Payment and settlement evidence | Needs refund and chargeback review |
| Contribution | Revenue and consistent direct costs | Still leaves defined overhead |
Why are platform conversions and attribution different questions?
Google's call-conversion guide describes tracking methods and chosen measurement. Conversion follows that event, not an automatically completed and paid job. Check settings and call records before matching this count to jobs and cash.
Google Analytics attribution guidance explains credit across touchpoints. Models can assign different credit to the same purchase. Check settings and definitions. Changed credit alone proves no more jobs or causal gain in demand.
Do not add overlapping platform claims as unique customers. One journey may appear in several systems with different windows. Link records where privacy and provider terms allow. Show unknowns; credited events do not prove they caused new customers, completed work, or profit.
Which costs belong in channel economics?
List ads, agency and referral fees, tracking, creative, website work, and included costs. Separate recurring expense from one-time projects. Explain shared spend and allocation. A fair channel comparison should use consistent cost scope rather than omit expenses from the channel with the most attractive reported lead price.
Match cost and outcomes to the same period or cohort. Campaign jobs may be paid later, while current collections include older demand. A simple calendar comparison can misstate acquisition cost. Save timing basis so reviewer can distinguish actual event lag from a supposed improvement in channel performance.
The P&L guide links costs to earnings. Review contribution after direct labor, materials, discounts, callbacks, and other defined costs. Cheap leads do not help if work cannot be served or contributes little. Use actual delivery costs rather than assume every invoice leaves the same profitable amount.
What does a hypothetical funnel calculation reveal?
Assume hypothetical cohort costs $6,000 and yields 100 unique qualified inquiries, 70 bookings, 55 completed jobs, and 50 paid jobs. These are teaching inputs, not benchmarks or a recommended funnel. All measures below use the same spending scope and cohort rather than unrelated reporting windows.
Cost is $60 per qualified inquiry, about $85.71 per booking, about $109.09 per completed job, and $120 per paid job. Different denominators answer different questions. Show each clearly rather than present the cheapest figure as the acquisition cost of delivered and collected work.
Then test contribution, refunds, and remaining overhead. Paid work is not automatically profitable because ad cost falls below invoice amount. Save assumptions, time horizon, and attribution method. The example reveals the denominator; it does not supply a profit target or settle the cash needed to serve that cohort.
How do booking capacity and service mix affect demand value?
Can the firm answer and serve demand? Check phone hours, dispatch, qualified staff, tools, area, and job time. More booked work needs people and funds to deliver it. Include costs and limits in forecasts rather than assume today's team can absorb all extra work.
The technician-productivity guide develops capacity and job definitions. Separate repairs, installations, drains, and projects where supported. Larger invoices may require more labor, materials, travel, or working capital. Price alone does not show which channel creates the best contribution within the actual team's available capacity.
Identify sales and estimates that rely on seller. Replacing the person who wins difficult projects needs skill and cost. More ad clicks do not perform that work. Same ad budget also guarantees no continued relationship; check people and resources behind buyer's proposed sales process.
Which account and asset rights need confirmation?
Inventory domains, websites, phones, profiles, ads, analytics, CRM, call tracking, creative, agency terms, and recovery methods. Record named owner, administrator, contractual rights, and transfer process. These fields answer different questions about the asset, permitted control, and work needed before buyer can rely on it.
Google's profile ownership guide supplies primary-owner process and role restrictions. It settles neither other asset rights nor future ranking or leads. Apply it to the actual profile and parties while tracking separate evidence for domains, phone numbers, records, and contracts needed for buyer's marketing plan.
Review provider and agency terms separately. Admin access may differ from legal ownership; ownership does not prove accounts or data ready for handover. Confirm both with supported steps before closing. Use authorized roles and recovery rather than exchange seller's personal passwords as a substitute for documented rights and control.
What agency and referral dependence should be tested?
Identify outside control of campaigns, data, creative, tracking numbers, and reports. Review termination, assignment, renewal, access, exports, and support. Which services can continue, and at what supported cost? Keep pending consent or setup visible before calling the agency relationship and all its assets ready for buyer.
Review referral history, agreements, concentration, incentives, and seller's personal role. Repeated introductions without contract may matter, but guarantee no future purchase. Separate past behavior from committed work. Buyer needs to know what relationship actually exists and what effort, terms, or person supports its proposed continuation.
Check sudden changes, seasons, promotions, prices, and new channels. A short campaign result establishes no durable trend by itself. Keep forecast improvement separate from history, with evidence and resources. This lets reviewer test what buyer expects instead of treat a recent favorable window as an achieved long-term result.
How should customer data and systems access be handled?
The FTC personal-information guide supports data inventory, limited retention, and protection. Apply it to exports, calls, and diligence. Share fields needed for approved task; a sale creates no reason to circulate every customer detail.
NIST's small-business guide supports duties, access, and response. It is voluntary, not certification or legal clearance. Record real controls, named accounts, and approved recovery, with remaining work. Citation alone proves no secure system or completed handoff.
Review actual privacy, consent, recording, and provider rules with advisers. Export authorizes no unrestricted future use. Limit private fields and plan lawful handling. Review access and buyer's intended use need their own basis; opening a file settles neither.
What should the buyer conclude before relying on future demand?
- Map material sources and distinguish new, repeat, referral, and paid relationships.
- Reconcile unique inquiries through completed and collected jobs.
- Verify cost scope, attribution limits, service contribution, and capacity.
- Confirm account rights, provider processes, contracts, and secure administration.
- Keep historical evidence separate from supported post-close scenarios.
List relationships, concentration, missing proof, and transfer work. Tie findings to earnings, operation, or closing conditions. Traceable data and stated assumptions support decisions; they promise no rankings, conversions, profit, or unchanged lead volume.