Let me tell you about this ugly guy in the picture.

He’s an anglerfish. Besides having a face not even Mother Teresa could love, he’s best known for being a conman.

He uses that bright, shiny, glowing stalk on his head as lure for prey.

From afar, the prey thinks the gleaming beacon is food. So the prey swims toward the lure, thinking it’s found itself a nice snack.

Then the prey gets up close. That shiny thing isn’t food at all. It’s a trap.

A deadly one.

The prey’s been tricked. But it’s too late to turn back.

The anglerfish’s barbed fangs sink into the prey.

Anglerfish: 1. Prey: 0.

—

Here’s the point of the story…

PPC providers are the anglerfish. And you’re the prey.

Many PPC companies show you beautiful, glossy reports to entice you to do business with them.

The colorful graphs and pretty pie charts draw you in. On the surface, the reports look substantial, important, and insightful.

Take a look at part of an anonymous report from another PPC company…

PPC lead report from unidentified company.

It’s bright. Spiffy. Vibrant. And it appears to convey significant information.

But a closer look reveals it’s nothing but a chocolate Easter Bunny: Sweet on the outside, hollow on the inside.

Here’s why.

Notice how the report classifies phone calls into four groups: Answered, Voicemail, Hang-up, and Other.

Sounds logical, right? Sure.

Just one problem—those 24 “answered” calls were counted as leads.

And this is where the anglerfish’s giant barbed fangs sink into your flesh.

Just because someone calls your company doesn’t mean it’s a lead.

• A homeowner contacting you from 500 miles away is not a lead.
• A telemarketer pitching copier toner is not a lead.
• A current customer calling to check the status of his job is not a lead.
• Little Timmy hitting a wrong digit while dialing nanna is not a lead.

But a lot of PPC companies don’t differentiate between ready-to-buy prospects and the Little Timmys of the world. They consider ALL calls “leads.”

So when the company provides you with your report at the end of the month, they can say, “Look at all the leads we provided you! Money, please!”

Unfortunately, most contractors don’t know any better. So they take the bait and fork over thousands of dollars a month to get calls from copy-toner salesmen, someone’s grandkids, and the occasional lead.

It’s a total sham. Which is why MYM has done something about it.

Our PPC team has developed a classification system that clearly separates leads from non-leads.

In your weekly PPC report, we provide you with transcripts and recordings of online chats and phone calls.

We classify each as a “lead” or “non-lead,” and place them in a subset of one of those two categories.

Take a look:

Chart of leads vs. non-leads.

Here’s a breakdown of the categories…

• Lead Calls, Repeat Lead Calls & Chat Calls: Calls in which you book an appointment or capture contact info.
• Lost Opportunity: When the lead is interested, but the person answering your phone doesn’t set the appointment or capture contact info.
• Unanswered Calls: Calls that are not answered or go to voicemail. (PPC-lead calls must be answered immediately or called back within five minutes.)
• Zero Value: Wrong numbers, calls outside your service area, not for the services you provide, or from salespeople.
• Remaining Categories: Self-explanatory. These are not leads.

Under the “Result” column on our Call Transcription Report, you’ll see which category each call fits into:

MYM PPC Call Transcription Report. Names and contact info removed for privacy.

That’s how proper lead reporting is done.

No fancy graphics. No superfluous graphs or pie charts.

Just the info you NEED to know—spelled out clearly and transparently—so you can maximize profits.

Want to know if you’re being baited by the bright, shiny lure of highfalutin PPC reporting? Click here for a free Lead Generation Audit.

We’ll tell you if your PPC, SEO, and website are truly driving leads to your business… or if getting “anglerfished.”

Until tomorrow.

-Rich

P.S. Here’s a video of the anglerfish in action. Fast-forward to the 45-second mark to see how it uses its lure to attract prey. Crazy stuff.

© 2016, Rich Harshaw. All rights reserved.