Call and job tracking by city means every Alberta market you serve has its own phone numbers, its own job tags and its own line in a monthly report. The point isn't more data; it's two numbers per city that you can act on: what you spent to win a job there, and what the job was worth.
Who this is for
Every trades business with more than one market needs this, and most don't have it. The usual signs are an owner who says "Calgary's busy but I'm not sure it pays", a Google Ads account with conversions that nobody trusts, or a sense that far-away calls cost more in fuel than they bring in.
It's also the base for every other service on this site. City-by-city ads need per-city costs, and out-of-area referrals need to know where the unreachable calls come from.
What's included
- Tracking numbers per source and market. Separate numbers for your website's city pages, your ads in each market and any printed material such as truck wraps or yard signs.
- Text tracking. Some customers text instead of calling, so texts are counted as well.
- Missed-call alerts. A notice to whoever is on call when a tracked line rings out, because a missed call from a new city is the costliest kind.
- Job tags. A city and source field on every booked job in your software, with a short guide for your office.
- A monthly per-city report. Calls, texts, booked jobs, average job value and marketing cost for each market, on one page.
What the report looks like
Here is an illustrative month for a business based in Edmonton that also works the surrounding cities and takes some calls from further north.
| Market | Marketing cost | Booked jobs | Cost per job | Average job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton | $2,200 | 22 | $100 | $780 |
| St. Albert and Sturgeon County | $600 | 8 | $75 | $820 |
| Leduc and Beaumont | $500 | 5 | $100 | $690 |
| Calls from further north | $300 | 1 | $300 | $1,900 |
Read across, St. Albert is the cheapest market and probably deserves more budget. The northern calls are costly per job but high in value, so the question is travel cost, not marketing cost. Without the table, both decisions would be guesses. The second-city maths guide shows how to add travel to the picture.
Privacy and consent, briefly
Tracking calls and jobs means handling customer details, so keep it tidy. Collect only what you need for each job, keep it in your own systems, and tell callers if calls are recorded. If you're unsure what applies to you, check with the federal privacy commissioner's guidance or your lawyer; we set up tracking with those questions in mind but don't give legal advice.
Timeline
- Week 1: numbers set up, your main number protected on your listing
- Week 2: job tags added to your software, office briefed
- Weeks 3–4: first partial report and fixes to tagging gaps
- Month 2: first full per-city report you can make decisions from
How results are measured
Tracking is measured by how complete it is. We aim for every booked job to carry a city and a source; if more than one job in ten is untagged, the report flags it. After that, the measure is the decisions it supports: budgets moved, cities cut or added, referral partners found.
Mistakes to avoid
- Changing the number on your Google profile. Swap it carelessly and your listings stop matching, which can hurt how you appear.
- Counting calls, not jobs. A city that sends many short calls from price shoppers can look busy and still lose money.
- No owner for the tags. If nobody is responsible for tagging jobs, the data quietly decays within a month.
- Ignoring missed calls. If you miss calls while on the tools, our sister service CallText.chat covers texting those callers back.
Tracking is included in our Trades.Agency plans, listed on the pricing page. Ask about your setup through contact.
Frequently asked questions
Will tracking numbers hurt my Google listing?
Not when set up properly. Your real number stays the main number on your Google Business Profile, and tracking numbers are added in ways Google supports, so your listing stays consistent.
Do my office staff have to do extra work?
A little. Someone needs to mark each booked job with its city and source in your job software or a shared sheet. It takes a few seconds per job, and it's what makes the report trustworthy.
Do you record calls?
Only if you choose to, and only with callers told at the start of the call. Many owners find call recordings the fastest way to fix phone handling.
What job software does this work with?
Most job and CRM systems that trades use can hold a source and city field. If yours can't, a shared sheet works to start, and we'll say so if it's holding you back.