Metric and source dictionary
Create one row per recurring metric. Do not publish a number until its definition is understandable and reproducible.
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Metric name | |
| Business question | |
| Formula | |
| Included and excluded records | |
| Grain | Lead / opportunity / project / account / period / other |
| Date field | |
| Primary source of truth | |
| Supporting or reconciliation source | |
| Source owner | |
| Reporting cadence | |
| Segments required | Service / market / project fit / source / stage / other |
| Confidence | High / Medium / Low / Unknown |
| Known caveat or lag | |
| Decision or threshold it informs | |
| Last verified |
Keep the layers separate
| Layer | What belongs here |
|---|---|
| Platform response | Clicks, calls, forms, and platform-attributed conversions |
| Raw demand | Identifiable inquiries before qualification |
| Qualified demand | Opportunities meeting the company's written fit standard |
| Sales progress | Stage movement using agreed meanings and dates |
| Commercial outcome | Signed work, expected contribution, revenue, or accounting actuals |
| Model | A forecast, attribution estimate, or scenario, not an observed result |
When two sources disagree, preserve both long enough to explain the mismatch. Record whether a value is observed, derived, modeled, missing, or disputed. Unknown does not mean zero.
Review definitions whenever a form, CRM stage, source system, attribution rule, service line, or reporting purpose changes. Use with Measurement Trust and Decision Brief.
Match the view to the decision
- Leadership view: qualified pipeline, signed work or contribution, capacity context, total investment, material risk, confidence, and the decision requested.
- Resource-allocation view: planned budget, accounting actuals, channel spend, qualified outcomes, cohort maturity, service and market fit, and the interventions made. Keep unlike sources separate until reconciled.
- Diagnostic view: event-defined sales stages, calls and forms, landing paths, source quality, response time, creative or query evidence, and data failures. Preserve stage-entry dates and use the company's actual process.
Every recurring view should name its audience and decision, source dates, evidence state, material change, likely explanation, owner, next action, and next review. A platform report is supporting evidence, not automatically the management view.
Formula-safe remodeler examples
These formulas define a measure; they do not supply a universal target.
| Metric | Formula | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Raw cost per inquiry | Channel spend ÷ identifiable inquiries attributed under the stated rule | Does not describe fit or quality |
| Cost per qualified opportunity | Channel spend ÷ human-qualified opportunities from the same cohort | Requires a written fit rule and source persistence |
| Stage conversion | Records entering later event ÷ eligible records entering earlier event | Use event-defined stages and comparable cohorts |
| Close rate | Sold opportunities ÷ eligible opportunities | State whether the denominator is inquiries, qualified opportunities, proposals, or another event |
| Acquisition cost | Included acquisition investment ÷ new customers in the same cohort | State included labor/vendor/media costs and conversion lag |
| Pipeline value | Sum of eligible opportunities under the company's defined value rule | A model or open pipeline is not revenue |
| Marketing return | Defined attributable contribution or revenue ÷ included marketing investment | Label attribution, margin, timing, and reconciliation limits |
Worked comparison
Suppose a period shows 20 form/call responses and $4,000 in channel spend. Raw cost per response is $200. After Sales review, six meet the company's written fit standard, so cost per qualified opportunity is $667 for that cohort. If two later become signed projects, any acquisition or return calculation must use the same cohort, state the included cost, and respect the sales-cycle lag.
The raw and qualified numbers answer different questions. Neither should be silently relabeled “cost per lead.” Keep real company values in the private reporting system; this example demonstrates the definition only.