Joel runs a real estate investing coaching business. His revenue had dropped, his campaigns were underperforming, and the pressure was building.
On paper, a lot of his numbers looked fine. His click through rate was healthy and his ads converted people into leads at a rate most coaches would kill for.
But almost nobody was showing up to calls. That is the kind of problem that hides in plain sight, so I walked through his whole funnel with him. Watch the full audit below, then read the breakdown.
The real problem was intent, not volume
Joel’s performance was fine until about April. Then in May, June and July the middle and bottom of his funnel started to weaken.
His offer was broad. The message was basically “anyone can make money in real estate.” That kind of message pulls in a lot of people who are curious and not serious.
Here is what his numbers looked like:
- Click through rate was fine. For this kind of offer, I want to see about 0.5% or higher.
- Conversion rate to a lead or application was around 38%. My target range is roughly 10% to 20%, so he was way above it.
- Reply rate in the DMs was abysmal.
- Show rates were weak. One month had 9 shows out of 31 applications. Another had 13 out of 42. I consider about 50% acceptable.
In one of his better stretches, roughly 2,600 people were in his DMs and only 31 calls were booked.
When you see high application volume with low show rates, the ads are attracting people who are not a fit. The intent is low.
If your lead cost doubles but calls and shows go up, that is a good trade. Cheap leads that never show are worth nothing.
Fix the bio and the positioning first
His bio said he helps people build wildly profitable real estate businesses, followed by a stack of labels like investor, entrepreneur and coach.
That is too vague. Nobody buys a label. People buy a result and a way to get it.
A stronger version leads with a mechanism, something like “I help real estate investors make 72% more with [your strategy].” Then put client results on the second line, such as how many clients you have served or what they make on average.
I also pushed him to narrow down. Pick a segment like lead generation, a specific deal type such as multifamily or commercial, or one specific strategy. A broad pitch makes it very hard to stand out.
Be aggressive in the ads and filter for money early
This was my core recommendation. Stop being polite about the investment.
Tell people up front that the program costs money and that if they cannot afford it, this is not for them. When you dance around the money, you are just wasting your own time on calls with people who were never going to buy.
We also caught a pricing issue live on the call. The ads were floating a $10,000 number, but tuition was actually $6,500. So the headline became:
How to make a $100,000 return off a $6,500 investment using this unique real estate strategy.
Ads do not need to be elaborate. They need to be direct about the mechanism, the result and the cost. Here is the structure I gave him:
- Headline with the result and the investment.
- Who it is for, and who should leave.
- The three things you need to make it work: lead flow, a proper strategy, and coaching or paperwork support.
- What I do versus what you do.
- You get to work directly with me.
- Call to action to book a call, with the next page explaining the details.
His current messaging was attracting people who thought the free curriculum was the whole offer. That mismatch shows up later as no shows and dead DMs.
Shorten the VSL and put the qualifier at the top
His video sales letters and pages were too long and too fluffy, without enough depth to justify the time.
I want the money qualifier at the very start of the video, not halfway through. Anyone who cannot afford it should know in the first minute.
The headline matters most. If the goal is booked calls rather than watch time, keep the page short and direct and put the booking button near the top. Remove anything that competes for attention, like extra videos and extra sections. I also suggested testing ads that go straight to the booking page, then turning retargeting back on.
Clean up the pixel and the targeting
Joel had switched his campaign optimization from applications to a view content event because he thought his pixel was the problem.
The view content event only fired on the thank you page, which only people who booked a call can reach. So optimizing for it is fine. Either event works, as long as it fires after a booking.
The bigger issue was the lead pixel firing on the VSL page. Lots of low intent people hit that page, so his lead numbers looked great while quality was terrible. An opt in that costs $2 usually means cheap clicks, not qualified leads. The fix is a separate funnel without the lead event for people who only click through.
Targeting needed work too:
- He was targeting the United States in all languages. Switch to English only.
- He had no custom audiences. Build them from page viewers, Instagram followers and people who engaged with the content.
- He was running every placement. Test feeds only, Facebook feed and Instagram feed, since feeds often perform best, and isolate placements so you can see what actually works.
Cut the application down to three questions
His application asked about real estate experience, goals and occupation. None of that matters for whether someone can buy.
Here is what I would keep:
- Are you willing to invest in yourself?
- Do you have the required amount to invest?
- Are you the decision maker, or do you decide with a spouse?
He had removed the money question because it lowered application volume. That was a mistake. Fewer applications from people who can pay beats a pile of applications from people who cannot.
If you already have heavy lead flow and few bookings, I check things in this order: DM scripts, then email and text follow up, then retargeting.
Go high intent first, then pull back
When a low intent campaign is failing, I move to the highest intent version first. Then I step back only if I need to.
If the aggressive version does not work, here is how to pull back:
- Lower the price of the offer.
- Shift the angle away from money toward a specific result, like “25 leads a day” or “a 4x return on ads.”
Yes, the high intent approach may lower volume. But Joel was getting close to nothing from his current traffic anyway. Fewer leads who can actually buy, plus retargeting, should bring better calls.
The takeaway
Most coaches with a lead problem actually have an intent problem. The ads are working too well at attracting the wrong people.
Narrow the positioning, say the price out loud, put the qualifier first, fire your pixel on the right page, and ask only the questions that tell you whether someone can buy. Then test the most aggressive version before you water anything down.
Not sure if your funnel has a volume problem or an intent problem? Take my free 90 Day Ceiling Plan. Answer 18 questions and get a written plan, built on your own numbers, that names the one thing holding you back and what to fix first.
