Field notes
When last-click still wins the room
Why finance teams cling to last-click reports — and how to introduce a second model without derailing the budget meeting.
Last-click reports survive because they are easy to reconcile with invoice dates. When a multi-channel attribution dashboard arrives, the first instinct from finance is often suspicion: if credit moves upstream, who “owns” the sale?
Start with a dual view
Keep last-click as a reference chapter on the board for ninety days. Place your hybrid model beside it, not on top of it. The conversation shifts from “which model is right” to “where do they disagree, and why.”
Name the exclusions
Staff purchases, returns within seven days, and agency test campaigns should appear in the glossary before the meeting. Unstated exclusions look like manipulation; written ones look like craft.
Pick one decision
Use the dual view to answer a single question — for example, whether paid social deserves a larger share of next quarter’s mix. Save the philosophical debate about brand search for a workshop.