People search for a Scorpion marketing dashboard when an outside marketing provider reports results through its own portal and they want to understand or check those figures. The job underneath is the same whichever provider you use: keep an independent record of what the provider sends you, and judge it on booked calls and won work in your own CRM. This article answers how to build that independent view in the levelpartner.ai platform, and what to check in any provider's reporting before you renew.
Why you need your own view of outsourced marketing
A provider's dashboard is built by the provider. That does not make it wrong, but it does mean the provider chose what to count and how to define it. A lead in their report might be a phone call of any length, a form fill that later proved to be spam, or a contact who was already a client.
Your CRM sees what happens after the lead arrives. It knows whether the lead booked a call, whether the call was held and whether it became paid work. Putting those outcomes next to the provider's figures is the only way to judge the spend on the measure that pays your bills.
This article makes no statement about any particular provider's portal, features or reporting. It describes how to build your own record alongside whatever reporting you receive.
What to check in any provider's reporting
- How the provider defines a lead, and whether repeat contacts are counted again.
- Whether calls are counted by any connection or only above a minimum length.
- Whether you can export the individual leads behind each total, with dates and contact details.
- Whether the report separates paid, organic and directory sources.
- Whether the provider can see any outcome data, such as booked or won, or only top-of-funnel activity.
If you cannot get the individual leads behind a total, you cannot reconcile it. Ask for that before anything else.
Before you start
- A list of every channel the provider runs for you, such as paid search, local listings or the website.
- Tracking numbers or source parameters that identify provider-driven enquiries.
- Forms, calls and chat connected so every enquiry creates a contact in the platform.
- A pipeline in Opportunities that records values and the original source.
- The provider's monthly lead export, or access to download it.
How to set it up
- Agree with the provider which tracking numbers and link parameters identify their work.
- Check each provider tracking number rings through to a platform number.
- Check that every website form passes its source into the contact record.
- Create a tag that marks contacts driven by the provider.
- Go to Automation, then Workflows, and click + Create Workflow.
- Add the Contact Created trigger, then an If/Else on the source.
- Add Add Contact Tag on the provider branch, then switch to Publish.
- Go to Dashboard, click + Add Dashboard and name it provider results.
- Add Contacts Count Over Time filtered by the provider tag.
- Add Opportunity Count and Won Opportunity Value filtered by the tag.
- Each month, compare the provider's lead total with your tagged contact count.
- Record the difference and the reasons in a shared note.
What it is for in a 10 to 250 person firm
A 60-person firm with flat revenue often pays a marketing provider a significant monthly fee and receives a report that looks positive. Leadership has no way to check it, so renewal becomes a matter of trust. An independent view turns renewal into a decision based on booked calls and won value from your own records.
It also improves the relationship. A provider who can see which of their leads became paid work can shift effort towards what produces it. Share your outcome figures with them monthly.
Say the provider reports 140 leads for the month and the platform shows 118 tagged contacts. Of the 22 missing, suppose 15 are repeat calls from existing contacts and 7 are calls under 20 seconds. Of the 118, 31 book a call, 24 hold it and 5 become projects worth an illustrative £62,000 in total. A renewal conversation built on those numbers would be about cost per held call and won value, not lead count.
Time it takes
Setting up tracking and the dashboard takes half a day, most of it agreeing tracking numbers and parameters with the provider. The monthly reconciliation takes 30 minutes. A quarterly review with the provider using your outcome figures takes an hour.
The mistake most people make
Judging the provider on their lead count alone. Lead volume is easy to raise by widening targeting or counting more call types, and it says nothing about whether those leads buy. Agree with the provider at the start that renewal will be judged on held calls and won value from your CRM.
When not to use it
If the provider runs a single small campaign and you can trace every resulting client by hand, a dashboard is unnecessary. A monthly list of new clients and how they found you is enough. It is also the wrong approach if you are about to bring marketing in-house. Build the full marketing dashboard instead, so it covers every channel from the start.
Troubleshooting
Provider-driven calls are not appearing as contacts. The tracking number forwards straight to a mobile and bypasses the platform. Route it through the platform's call handling so each call creates or updates a contact.
Your count is much higher than the provider's. The tag is being applied to contacts from your own channels. Check the workflow conditions and use a source value only the provider's links and numbers carry.
Won value shows the wrong source. Opportunities are created by hand without the original source. Create them from the contact record. The campaign attribution guide explains how source carries through.
The provider disputes your figures. Share the individual tagged contacts for one week and reconcile line by line. Disagreements are usually about definitions, which the line-by-line view settles.
Frequently asked questions
Can I replace the provider's dashboard with my own?
You can rely on your own for decisions, while still reading theirs for the activity detail they control, such as ad spend and keyword data. The advertising dashboard shows how to put spend and outcomes side by side.
Does the platform integrate with my provider's reporting?
Do not assume it does. Build the independent view from your own forms, numbers and pipeline, and import the provider's monthly export for comparison.
What should I ask a provider before signing?
Ask how they define a lead, whether you get the individual leads behind every total, and whether they will review results against your booked and won figures.
How often should I reconcile?
Monthly. Weekly is too noisy for most firms, and quarterly lets a problem run for too long. For channel-level comparison over time, see multi-channel attribution.