The Mystery of the Missing Phone Calls
I was sitting down with a landscaping business owner in Chermside a few months ago. Let’s call him Dave. Dave was frustrated. He was spending about $3,000 a month on Google Ads, another $500 on Facebook, and he’d just paid a young bloke to ‘do some SEO’ for his website.
Dave’s phone was ringing, and he was getting jobs. But when I asked him, "Dave, which of those dollars is actually putting the steak on your table?" he couldn't tell me.
He thought it was the Google Ads. But then he noticed that many of his biggest jobs—the $20,000 backyard renovations—seemed to come from people who said they "saw him online" but didn't click an ad that morning.
This is the problem most Brisbane business owners face. You see money going out for marketing, and you see customers coming in, but the bit in the middle is a total black box. You’re essentially throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping some of it sticks.
Today, I want to show you how to look at the "path" your customers take. In the industry, people call this 'conversion path analysis', but for you and me, it’s just figuring out the journey someone takes from being a stranger to putting money in your bank account.
Why You Should Care About the Journey (Not Just the Last Click)
Most business owners look at their marketing like a 100-metre sprint. They think: "Someone searches for a plumber, they click my ad, they call me."
Sometimes it works like that. If a pipe has burst in a house in Indooroopilly at 2:00 AM, that person is clicking the first thing they see and calling immediately.
But for most businesses—professional services, high-end retail, renovations, or even a local gym—it’s more like a marathon.
Think about how you buy things. You might see an ad on Facebook while you're scrolling on the couch. You don't buy then, but you remember the name. Three days later, you see a local ute with the same logo in your street. A week later, you search for them on Google to check their reviews. Finally, you click a link and fill out a contact form.
If you only look at the "last click," you’d think Google brought you that customer. You’d think Facebook was a waste of money. You might even stop the Facebook ads, only to find that your Google leads dry up two weeks later because nobody is starting the journey anymore.
When you see exactly where sales come from, you stop making bad decisions that accidentally kill your lead flow.
The Three Stages of the Customer Path
To make this simple, let’s break down the journey into three parts. Every customer you have goes through these, whether it takes ten minutes or ten months.
1. The "Who Are You?" Phase (Awareness)
This is where someone first realizes you exist. They weren't looking for you, but you popped up. Maybe it was a sponsored post on Instagram showing a beautiful kitchen renovation you finished in Ascot. Maybe they saw your signwriting while stuck in traffic on the Story Bridge.At this stage, they aren't ready to buy. They are just filing your name away for later. If you try to force a sale here, you’ll just annoy them.
2. The "Are You Any Good?" Phase (Consideration)
Now they have a need. Their kitchen is looking dated, or their tax return is due. They remember your name, or they search for a service and see you again.They visit your website. They look at your 'About Us' page. They check if you’re actually based in Brisbane or if you’re some national franchise with a call centre in Sydney. They are looking for proof that you won't rip them off.
3. The "Let's Do This" Phase (Action)
This is the finish line. They’ve decided they need the service and they like you. They click the 'Call Now' button on their phone or fill out your enquiry form.How to Actually Track This Without Going Mad
You don't need a degree in data science to understand this. You just need to set up a few simple tools that tell you the story of your customers.
Step 1: Fix Your Website Tracking
Most websites are like buckets with holes in them. You pour money (traffic) in the top, and you have no idea where it’s leaking out.You need to have a system that records every time someone clicks your phone number or submits a form. This isn't just about knowing how many calls you got, but where those people came from before they called.
I’ve seen dozens of businesses in Morningside and Hamilton spend thousands on fancy websites that look pretty but don't tell the owner anything about the results. It’s like having a salesman who looks great in a suit but never tells you who he talked to.
Step 2: Use "Source" Tracking
Google and Facebook are actually quite good at telling you what they did, but they often try to take all the credit.You want to look for a report in your tracking software (like Google Analytics) called "Top Conversion Paths." This report is a goldmine. It will literally show you: Person A: Facebook Ad -> Google Search -> Direct Visit -> Phone Call Person B: Google Search -> Direct Visit -> Phone Call Person C: Facebook Ad -> Direct Visit -> Phone Call
When you see these patterns, you start to realise that your Facebook ads might not be getting "direct sales," but they are starting the conversation for 50% of your customers. If you cut that budget, you're cutting your future business in half.
Step 3: Stop Guessing and Look at Reality
I often hear owners say, "I feel like most of my work comes from word of mouth."Word of mouth is great, but in 2024, even a word-of-mouth referral will check your website first. If your website doesn't work on phones or looks like it was made in 1998, that referral is going to go to your competitor.
By tracking the path, you can see if that "referral" actually came to your site via a Google search for your brand name. This helps you see which ads actually make money versus which ones are just vanity projects.
Real-World Example: The Brisbane Electrician
We worked with a local sparky who was convinced his Google Ads were failing. He was spending $2,000 a month and only seeing about 5 "leads" in his Google dashboard. He wanted to cancel.
We dug into his customer paths. What we found was fascinating. People were clicking his ads on their mobiles while at work. They didn't call then because they were busy. But when they got home, they would type his business name directly into their computer and call from the website.
Because they didn't call immediately after clicking the ad, Google wasn't counting them.
When we looked at the full path, those $2,000 in ads were actually responsible for 25 phone calls a month, not 5. Each job was worth about $800. He was turning $2,000 into $20,000, but he was ready to bin the whole thing because he didn't understand the path his customers were taking.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Money
If you're going to start looking at your customer journeys, avoid these three traps that I see Brisbane small businesses fall into constantly.
1. The "One-Hit Wonder" Fallacy
This is the belief that a customer only needs to see you once to buy. Unless you’re selling cheap coffee or emergency towing, this is rarely true. If you stop your marketing because it didn't result in a sale today, you are killing your pipeline for next month. You need to use data to get customers by understanding that today's clicks are next month's bank deposits.2. Ignoring the "Leaky" Parts of the Path
You might find that 100 people are clicking your ads, 50 are visiting your 'Pricing' page, but only 1 is calling.The problem isn't your ads. The problem is your 'Pricing' page. Maybe it’s too confusing, or maybe it doesn't work on a mobile phone. If you just keep buying more ads, you're just pouring more water into a leaky bucket. Fix the path first, then buy the traffic.
3. Measuring the Wrong Things
Likes, follows, and shares are what I call "ego metrics." They make you feel good but they don't pay the lease on your warehouse in Eagle Farm.I don't care if 1,000 people "liked" your photo of a new deck. I care if 5 people clicked the link, looked at your gallery, and asked for a quote. Always track the path toward the
money, not the path toward the applause.How Long Until You See Results?
Setting up this kind of tracking isn't an overnight fix. It usually takes about 30 to 60 days to gather enough data to see a clear pattern.
Month 1: You set up the tracking and start collecting data. You'll probably be surprised at how many people are visiting your site and leaving without doing anything. Month 2: You start to see the patterns. "Oh, look, people who visit our 'Case Studies' page are three times more likely to call us." Month 3: You make changes. You put your best case studies on the home page. You move your phone number to the top of the screen. You stop spending money on the ads that don't lead to calls and move that money to the ones that do.By the end of 90 days, you aren't guessing anymore. You have a machine. You know that if you put $1,000 into the top, you'll get $X out of the bottom.
What Should You Do First?
If you're a busy business owner, you don't have time to sit in front of a computer all day looking at charts. Here is the practical, no-nonsense checklist of what you should do right now:
1. Check your mobile site: Open your website on your phone. Try to find your phone number. If you have to pinch the screen or scroll for five seconds to find it, you are losing money right now. Fix it. 2. Ask every caller: "How did you hear about us?" If they say "the internet," ask "Do you remember what you searched for?" or "Did you see an ad or just find us?" It’s not perfect, but it starts giving you a feel for the path. 3. Get professional tracking set up: This is the one thing you shouldn't DIY. A professional can set up your tracking in a few hours, and it will save you thousands of dollars in wasted ad spend over the next year. It’s the best investment you can make in your marketing.
The Bottom Line
Marketing isn't a gamble, or at least it shouldn't be. If you feel like you're just writing cheques to Google or Facebook and hoping for the best, you need to stop.
Understanding the path your customers take is the difference between a business that struggles to grow and one that can scale up whenever they want. When you know exactly what leads to a phone call, you have total control over your growth.
You don't need to know the technical jargon. You just need to know which path leads to the money.
Want to stop guessing and start seeing exactly how your customers are finding you?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses stop wasting money on marketing that doesn't work. We'll show you exactly which ads are ringing your phone and which ones are just burning cash.
Contact us today and let’s get your tracking sorted so you can grow with confidence.