andydataguy
SALES & GROWTH . Scaling Business Services . 2019

Lead-Gen Funnel Overhaul

$50 CPL to Sub-$10 Qualified Leads

Andy Houston author chipBY ANDY HOUSTON
An application desk where a rubber stamp rejects most applications, under a posted price for a qualified lead that reads under $10 beneath a struck-out $50COST PER LEAD, BEFORE$50A LEAD WORTH CALLINGUNDER$10REJECTEDAPPROVEDAPPROVEDTHE FORM STARTED SAYING NO
$50→<$10
CPL · qualified
↑
contact rate
↑
close rate
↓
rep frustration

Context

Lead generation campaign for a higher-consideration offer where sales cycles were long and reps were drowning in low-quality leads.

Problem

Cost per lead hovered around $50, and most of those leads never answered the phone. Reps were frustrated, and leadership saw ad spend as a slot machine rather than a controllable lever.

At around $50 a lead, most leads never answered, and leadership experienced ad spend as a slot machine.

The same desk before the gate existed. Every application went straight through to a phone bank where nobody picked up, and the posted price had nothing pulling it down. Spend went in and results came back, and nothing in between behaved like a lever.

An ungated desk feeding a phone bank where every receiver lies off its hook, under a posted price of about fifty dollars a leadCOST PER LEAD$50NO GATE. EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH.NOBODY ANSWERINGSPEND WENT IN. RESULTS CAME BACK.NOTHING IN BETWEEN WAS A LEVER.

Approach

Rethought the funnel around qualification instead of volume. Tightened targeting, rewrote the offer to attract only serious prospects, and rebuilt the form and follow-up sequence to set clear expectations. Implemented simple lead scoring and feedback loops from sales back into the ad and copy strategy.

One application question, the ninety-day profit goal, sorted real operators from wishful minimalists before any call existed.

This is the same one-question filter that qualified the $199.5K coaching launch, reused here. Anyone hoping for less than $10,000 in profit was rejected before a rep spent an hour, which is what taught the pixel who was worth finding.

A seven-rung profit-goal ladder with a rejection line drawn under the ten-thousand-dollar rung and the two rungs below it struck outHOW MUCH PROFIT DO YOU WANT FROM THIS IN 90 DAYS?LESS THAN $1,000$1,000 TO $10,000$10,000 TO $20,000$20,000 TO $50,000$50,000 TO $250,000$250,000 TO $1,000,000$1,000,000+REJECTEDABOVE THIS LINEONE QUESTION, ANSWERED BEFORE ANYONE PICKED UP A PHONE

Nobody was asked for anything until they had already watched. Step through the four states, from a cold audience to the application desk.

A cold audience narrowing to an engaged pool, a wall of rotating creatives at five to fifteen a week, and the application desk at the endCOLD AUDIENCENO ASK YETENGAGED ONLYROTATING CREATIVES5 TO 15 A WEEKPHASE ROTATESWHEN IT SAGSTHE APPLICATIONWHERE THE ASK FINALLY IS

BEAT 1 OF 4A wide cold audience, and one video that asked for nothing.

RECEIPT FILM . THE ARC BEFORE TO AFTER
SCROLL TO SCRUB

The before-to-after, silent-legible: where it started, what the data showed, the decision that turned it, where it landed. Past performance guarantees nothing. The diagnosis method is the product.

RECEIPT · LEAD-GEN-50-TO-10-CPLBEFORE / AFTERWHERE IT STARTED$50cost per leadMost of those leads never answered the phone.WHAT THE DATA SHOWEDCHEAP VOLUME IN / NOBODY ANSWERINGqualified onlyLeads were arriving cheap, unqualified, and dying at the phone.THE TURNWe rebuilt the funnel around qualification.WHERE IT LANDEDunder $10cost per qualified leadTHE METHOD IS THE PRODUCTPast performance guarantees nothing. The diagnosis method is the product.

Stack

  • Facebook Ads
  • Google Ads
  • Lead forms and LPs
  • CRM lead scoring
  • Email and SMS follow-up

Result

<$10
CPL · qualified

Drove cost per qualified lead from around $50 down to under $10 while improving contact and close rates. Sales reps spent time with fewer, better-fit prospects.

<$10 · CPL · QUALIFIED

The approved application crosses from marketing to a rep's calendar, and the old pile of everything sits inert behind it.

One approved application crossing the divide onto a rep's calendar, with the old pile of everything left inert behind itEVERYTHING THAT USED TO COME THROUGHMARKETINGSALESAPPROVEDA REP'S WEEKDISCOVERY CALLTHEN A STRATEGY SESSIONFEWER LEADSMORE ANSWEREDMORE CLOSED

Impact

Marketing and sales finally agreed on what a "good" lead looked like. Budget conversations shifted from "this is too expensive" to "how hard can we push this channel without breaking ops?"

Lessons

You don't have a lead problem. You have a qualification problem. When you align copy, form design, and follow-up with how your best buyers actually buy, unit economics change fast.

Why this matters to you

For teams where sales complains about "marketing leads" and CAC is creeping beyond comfort.

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