Lead attribution · lead hygiene
Lead hygiene: every lead counted once, nothing hidden
Lead hygiene in Skald means spam, test and duplicate leads leave every figure, a lead sent twice is kept once, and nothing is deleted to make the numbers look clean.
Lead hygiene is keeping the lead count true: each lead counted once, on the day it was completed, with spam, tests and duplicates left out. In Skald they are left out of every figure, marked, and still listed under Show left out, so nothing disappears.
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- 1lead hook · L-1001 · contact · completedthe lead
- 2lead hook · L-1001 · contact · completed, sent againalready had it
- 3lead hook · L-1002 · signup · completed · test: truetest, listed
- 4lead database · #88 · contact · status spamspam, listed
- 5lead hook · L-1003 · signup · completedthe lead
- 6lead hook · L-1003 · signup · paida step of L-1003
- 7Cal.com · 9f2c · demo · bookedthe lead
- 8Cal.com · 9f2c · demo · cancelleda step of 9f2c
- 9lead hook · L-1001 · contact · wonan outcome
3 leads3 steps1 test1 spam1 repeat
Sample. Nine arrivals, three leads, and every one of the nine still listed or logged.
[01] repeats and later steps
Duplicate leads from retries count as one lead, however often they arrive
Skald keeps each delivery once per tool, reference and stage. The first one wins; a repeat changes nothing. A paid or a won for the same reference is a step of that lead, never a second one. The same rules run everywhere in lead attribution.
Deliveries of L-2001, in order step through
arriving · lead hook
L-2001 signup · completedlabel website · Oct 20 14:02
L-2001 signup · completedthe same, sent again by a retry
L-2001 signup · paidOct 21 09:40
L-2001 signup · wonOct 23 16:15
L-2001 signup · completedsent again with label sales
A new reference and stage: kept. It finishes a sign-up, so it is the lead.
200 · recorded 1
kept for L-2001
- completedlabel websitelead
- paida step of the leadstep
- wonits outcomeoutcome
rows 1leads 1
Sample deliveries. Retrying is always safe. A won or a lost for something never completed is not a lead.
[02] test leads
Keep test leads out of your counts by marking them, or by sending test on every stage
A test lead is kept and listed, and never counted. How it was made a test decides whether its later stages follow. Pick how L-1002 was flagged and watch the chain.
- completed
"test": truetest - paid
no testcounted: the lead - won
no testcounted: won
test: true marks that delivery only. The paid that follows is not a test, so it becomes the lead. Send test: true on every stage, or mark the reference.
leads from L-1002 1
In the dashboard Mark as test on the lead, for owners and admins. Skald asks first.
From your server "test": true in the lead, or the signed leads/test call for up to 100 references at once.
In the audit log Every mark, from the dashboard or the leads/test call, is written down with who made it.
[03] nothing hidden
Switch on Show left out to list every lead the figures leave out
A clean count should never mean a hidden list. Switch Show left out on and the rows the figures leave out are listed beside the counted ones, each marked. The figure does not move.
Leads · this week · sample3
| Reference | Lead | Stage now |
|---|---|---|
| L-1001 | Contact form | Won |
| L-1003 | Sign-up | Paid |
| 9f2c | Demo booked | Cancelled |
| L-1002 | Sign-up | Test (left out) |
| #88 | Contact form | Spam (left out) |
| #91 | Contact form | Duplicate (left out) |
Demos booked · this week · sample1
| Booking | Step | Why listed |
|---|---|---|
| 9f2c | Booked | counted |
| 9f2c | Cancelled | Cancelled or no-show |
| c0d4 | Booked | Removed by a sync removed by the admin: sent twice |
3 counted. Switch Show left out on to list the rest.
Sample rows. A removed row is copied whole, with when and why, before it leaves the counts. Only a person's own deletion request removes for good, and the server admin runs it.
[04] campaign tags
Find badly tagged campaign links before they split your sources
Traffic > Sources, under Campaigns and referrers, lists Tag problems: the visits whose landing address was tagged badly, by landing page. UTM tags are the utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign parts you add to a link to name where a click came from. Paste a landing address, say where the click came from, and see what Skald reads.
paste a link or pick one
- utm_source
- utm_medium
- paid social
- click id
- none
- Source tag without a mediumutm_source with no utm_medium: analytics tools cannot tell the channel.
- Medium no tool knowsA utm_medium outside the usual channel names (cpc, email, social, referral...): it lands in an "other" channel.
- Ad click id without tagsA click id (gclid, fbclid, msclkid...) and no utm_ tag: the network is known, the campaign is not.
- Tags on links between our own pagesA utm_ tag on a link from one of the site's own pages: it starts a new source in the middle of a visit. Never tag internal links.
Tags are read in lower case, spaces and all: "paid social" is not paid_social. Use a name from the list, such as paid_social.
Sample links. Skald keeps only the utm_ tags of a landing address. A click id is named by its network, never kept.
[05] what it cannot judge
Your team decides what is spam
Your team marks spam and duplicates in the lead database, and tests from the dashboard or the server. Skald then leaves them out everywhere, the same way.
What it does not do
- A lead counts until someone marks it as spam. Skald makes no guess.
- A lead's status is read as it is now. When your team changes one, past days change with it.
- The same lead from two tools is flagged, not merged: it counts once on each. Send each lead one way.
- Deleting a person is a command the server admin runs, not a dashboard button.
- Nobody is named. An address tied to a lead by the form it sent is likely, never certain; owners and admins only, audit-logged.
keep reading
More on lead hygiene
questions
Lead hygiene FAQ
Straight answers, including what Skald does not do.
What happens when the same lead arrives twice?
It is kept once. Skald keeps each conversion once per tool, reference and stage, so a tool that sends again, or a Zap that runs twice, changes nothing. The delivery log says a repeat.
How do I mark a test lead?
Press Mark as test on the lead in the dashboard (owners and admins), or mark leads already sent with the signed leads/test call: every stage of that lead from that tool is marked, and later stages follow. A lead sent with test set to true is a test on that delivery only, so send it on every stage. A test lead stays listed and is never counted. Not a test counts it again.
Where do spam and test leads go?
Out of every count, and into the list. On Leads, More > Show left out adds the test, spam and duplicate leads beside the counted ones, each marked. Nothing is hidden or deleted.
If a lead is won later, does it count twice?
No. A lead counts once, on the day it was completed: a form sent or a demo booked. Won and lost are its later outcome, shown apart. A completed and a paid step for the same reference is still one lead.
What if one lead came from two tools?
Each tool keeps its own record, so it counts once on each. Settings > Integrations > Status flags it as One lead, two tools, so you can stop sending it one of the ways.
How long are leads kept?
400 days by default, or kept for good, set in Settings > Data retention. A person's own request to be deleted still works either way: the server admin removes everything about that person.
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