What answer options should 'How did you hear about us?' have?
Give customers a short list of plain-language options and sort each one into a lead channel: search, AI answer, social, referral, paid, email, campaign or direct. Split 'Google' into search results, the map listing, an AI answer and an ad, since people often use one word for all four. Add an 'Other' box, make the form version optional, and always ask out loud on calls.
The list, and the channel each option records
Customers pick the wording they know; you record the channel. A list like this is a good start for a small service business and can be trimmed or reworded for yours.
| Option the customer sees | Channel you record |
|---|---|
| Google or another search engine | Search |
| Google Maps or the business listing | Search |
| An AI assistant, such as ChatGPT, or an AI answer in Google | AI answer |
| An ad on Google, Facebook or Instagram | Paid |
| Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or another social site | Social |
| A friend, neighbor, another business or another website | Referral |
| An email from you | |
| A flyer, sign, vehicle, or a link or QR code you shared | Campaign |
| I have used you before, or I typed your address | Direct |
| Other (please tell us) | Sorted from what they write |
Why Google gets split four ways
Customers often say "Google" for the search results, for the map listing with the reviews, for the AI answer that can appear on the results page and for ads. These are different parts of your marketing with different fixes, and one "Google" choice merges them.
Splitting them adds only a few lines. A map listing and a search result both record as search, an ad records as paid, and the AI answer gets its own channel, so you can see whether it brings anyone at all.
Required or optional
On a web form, optional is usually the better start. A required question can push people to pick the first option just to move on, which makes the data worse, and it puts one more thing between a customer and the send button. The related answer on what a contact form should ask covers keeping the whole form short.
On a call or in person, always ask; there is no field to skip. Ask for one answer. The related answer on which source gets the credit covers keeping both the first way and the last way a customer found you.
Where to put the question
- The contact or quote form: buttons or a drop-down, plus the write-in box.
- Phone calls: out loud, early in the call, with the staff member picking the option and typing the caller's own words. The related answer on tracking phone call leads covers the rest of the call record.
- The first reply to an email or message, when the form did not ask.
- The booking or estimate confirmation.
- After the work is done, when you ask how it went.
What to do with the answers
Save the option chosen and the customer's own words on the lead record, and add the outcome later: won, lost or still open. A returning customer counts as direct.
Read the write-ins every few months. If the same answer keeps appearing, such as a local group or a partner, give it its own line. Drop any option that nobody picks. If a person cannot remember, leave the channel blank and note that rather than guessing.
Related answers
- What should a contact form ask?
- Which source gets the credit when a customer found you several ways?
- How do you track leads that come in by phone?
Lead generation and lead tracking
A lead that waits a day goes cold, and a lead with no source teaches you nothing. Ascent Vision fixes both.