What did you implement to take that company [a Texas home services / HVAC business] from $3M to $9M a month?
The client (a Texas home services business selling AC/heating installations) was previously spending inefficiently on media buying to generate leads that went nowhere when called. We implemented a full speed-to-lead stack — when someone opts into a form or offer, they get a call within a couple minutes, not after a 5+ minute delay to reach a team member. We also significantly improved follow-up and dispositions using our calling startup, Clarvo, which streamlines routing someone to the right place post-call with deliberately-designed follow-up sequences. Combined, we roughly doubled their pickup rate — and doubling pickup rate on offer responses roughly translates to something like 1.7-2x revenue. We also fixed dialing hygiene: a huge, underappreciated issue in this space is outbound numbers getting flagged 'Spam Likely' on caller ID — roughly half of home-service-style follow-up calls get flagged that way, and if you're an older or middle-aged person seeing 'Spam Likely,' you're not picking up, no matter how good your speed-to-lead system is.
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So, a speed-to-lead system is a broad umbrella that includes many tactics. At Clarvo we grew a business from $3M to $9M per month using a hyper‑gasoline‑fueled speed-to-lead system for a call‑based company that got most of its revenue from inbound leads who filled out ads but weren’t being worked properly. Our system combined immediate contact—dialing and SMS—as soon as a lead submitted the form, using branded calls and multiple follow‑up attempts to make sure the prospect knows we’re not a random stranger. We also used strategies like leaving voicemails, sending texts, and adjusting sender ID (e.g., blue vs. green bubbles on iPhone) to improve trust and avoid spam folders. The core idea is to reduce the barrier to entry by letting leads fill out a form instead of forcing a phone call, then instantly engage them to capture intent and maximize downstream value. For businesses that don’t rely on phone calls—those that communicate via SMS, email, or DMs—you apply the same principle: as soon as a form is submitted, send an immediate message (SMS, WhatsApp, etc.) that personalizes the outreach, asks a quick qualifying question, and follows up at set intervals if there’s no reply. Throughout, you track dispositions and follow‑up sequences to continuously improve conversion. In short, jump on the lead quickly, use every appropriate channel to make contact, and keep refining the process to squeeze out the highest possible conversion.
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On average, the sales cycle for Clarvo is about 2‑3 weeks. When discussing deals closed, it’s per seat—closing 10 one‑seat deals a month doesn’t matter much; we focus on multi‑seat deals. Recently we closed a deal for about a dozen seats, and before that we’d onboarded a few very small shops (1‑5 seats). Our calendar is full of sales calls, but many are unqualified—people reaching out just for my opinion, not to buy. We need to pre‑qualify form‑fillers using Clarvo to show the platform’s value and ensure they provide a real phone number, not fake inquiries from teens. Despite hit‑or‑miss results, we have some big deals in the queue, including a potential insurance company with several hundred seats and referrals from a PE portfolio; landing one of those could yield $1 M ARR (e.g., 300 seats at $300‑$500/month). Clarvo stands out because it delivers high initial reply and pickup rates, though other dialers fade quickly due to poor phone‑number management. To get more mid‑market or enterprise deals via cold email, rely on volume and iteration, understanding that these sales involve multiple decision‑makers and require a warm referral or a strong foot‑in‑the‑door approach.
When you get a lead from an ad, you've paid for it, so try to recoup that cost. Top operators follow up every couple of hours via SMS and text nonstop. I'd send a text, email, and call within one minute of sign‑up—make sure they see the text if they're on phone, the email, and hear the caller ID as your business name. If they don't pick up, leave a voicemail and say something like, 'Hey, how's it going? I can solve your problem quickly, book you in, and have someone sent out soon.' Then follow up every couple of hours, pushing hard on SMS and email. Remember, ad clicks aren't intent‑based; treat those people like goldfish with short attention spans, unlike my organic content where a relationship already exists. To increase perceived value, be crystal clear about what the meeting will cover—run through your agenda, note the exact length (15‑60 min), and offer something like a $250 Amazon gift card just for their time. Have them fill out the form, contact them immediately, try to hold the meeting right then; if they can't, follow up later. When you book later, lay out exactly what you'll do, with no strings attached, then deliver a customized audit and over $1,000 in value, making it a no‑brainer to say yes.
The clearest example is Clarevo, which combines proven best practices--especially speed-to-lead--with software to maximize every dollar of ad spend. Without it, spending $20k on ads might yield only $40k (a 2x return). With Clarevo, the same $20k generates $120k because we contact leads instantly--calling within a millisecond of form submission, sending immediate texts, and using opinion-based dispositions and routing that adjust based on how recent the lead is. We continuously optimize via call and number rotation, local area-code targeting, dial-pattern frequency, and automated lead allocation to the top performers on the team. Power dialing ensures no time is wasted waiting for a call to connect; the moment you pick up, you're already on a live conversation. All of this can be built now using cloud-based drag-and-drop builders; we've bundled it into a dedicated platform for call teams that works equally well for inbound and outbound. It's one of the most effective tools I've ever used.