The Marketing Automation Stack That Doubled a Service Business's Leads
Client: B2B service business (business consulting), 8 employees Challenge: Inconsistent lead generation; sales was founder-dependent; no scalable marketing system Solution: Marketing automation stack (HubSpot, SEO, email workflows) + sales process alignment Result: Leads doubled in 12 months; sales team could handle growth; founder could step back from constant prospecting
The Problem: Inconsistent Growth From Inconsistent Marketing
A business consulting firm had the classic problem: They were good at servicing clients but struggled to consistently generate new business.
Here's how it worked:
The Founder's Approach to Business Development:
- Go to 1-2 networking events monthly
- Meet interesting people, have conversations
- Follow up via email sporadically
- Some of those conversations turned into clients; some didn't
- Results: 3-5 new leads per month, unpredictable conversion
The Challenge:
- Lead generation depended on the founder's networking effort
- No leverage — as the business grew, founder couldn't network more
- No marketing system — no website optimization, no email campaigns, no structured follow-up
- Sales pipeline was invisible — founder couldn't explain why some prospects converted and others didn't
- As the business tried to hire salespeople, they had no process to teach
The Business Impact:
- Revenue: $1.2M annually (founder + 7 employees)
- Sales: 90% from founder's personal relationships
- Growth rate: 18% YoY (decent but limited by founder's capacity)
- Scalability: Couldn't hire salespeople because there was no process to teach them
The founder realized: "I can't grow revenue if I can't scale lead generation. I need a marketing system, not just my networking."
Our Approach: Build a Marketing Automation System
We worked with this company to build a marketing automation stack that would:
- Generate consistent inbound leads
- Nurture prospects systematically
- Align with the sales process
- Free the founder from constant prospecting
- Enable hiring and scaling of salespeople
Phase 1: Marketing and Sales Audit
Before implementing anything, we needed to understand the current state.
Sales Process Mapping:
- Traced recent clients from first meeting to engagement
- Identified decision-making process
- Found that initial conversations often led nowhere because follow-up was inconsistent
- Discovered ideal customer profile (company size, industry, pain points)
- Noted that 60% of leads came from founder, 30% from referrals, 10% from other sources
Lead Source Analysis:
- Where were leads coming from? Networking, referrals, cold calls, website (minimal)
- What was the conversion rate? Referrals: 40%, founder network: 25%, others: 5-10%
- What was the sales cycle? 2-4 months from first conversation to engagement
Marketing Audit:
- Website: Basic, had no blog, no organic traffic, no email signup
- Social media: Minimal presence, no consistent posting
- Email: Sporadic follow-up, no workflows, no segmentation
- Content: No thought leadership, no assets that attracted prospects
Phase 2: Marketing Automation Stack Selection
We selected tools that would work together:
HubSpot CRM: Central hub for:
- Managing contacts and deals
- Email workflows and follow-up sequences
- Lead scoring (ranking prospects by engagement)
- Reporting and analytics
Website Improvements: For lead generation:
- Blog platform (built into HubSpot)
- Optimized landing pages
- Email signup forms
- SEO improvements
Email Automation: For nurturing:
- Workflows that triggered based on behavior (e.g., if someone downloads a guide, send them a follow-up email)
- Educational email sequences
- Personalized follow-up
Lead Generation:
- Content marketing (blog posts, guides, case studies)
- LinkedIn outreach
- Referral program
Phase 3: Implementation
Month 1-2: Foundation
We set up HubSpot:
- Created contact database (imported all past clients and contacts)
- Built initial email templates
- Set up basic workflows (when someone requests info, automatically send welcome email + schedule follow-up)
- Configured lead scoring (did they click email? Download content? Score increased)
Month 2-3: Content and Inbound Marketing
We launched a content strategy:
- Identified 5 key topics the founder was known for (client challenges they solve)
- Commissioned 8 long-form blog posts (optimized for search)
- Created 3 downloadable guides (act as lead magnets)
- Optimized website for lead capture (forms for guides, email signup, contact request)
Month 3-4: Email Workflows
We built automated sequences:
Welcome sequence (when someone first subscribes):
- Email 1 (immediate): Welcome + introduce company
- Email 2 (day 3): Educational content on a key topic
- Email 3 (day 7): Case study showing results
Content download sequence (when someone downloads a guide):
- Email 1 (immediate): Deliver guide + thank you
- Email 2 (day 2): Related educational content
- Email 3 (day 5): Offer an initial consultation call
Abandoned prospect sequence (when someone visited website but didn't convert):
- Email 1 (day 2): Soft re-engagement "We'd love to help"
- Email 2 (day 5): Educational content
- Email 3 (day 10): Limited-time offer for consultation
These workflows ran automatically. Hundreds of prospects received them without manual effort.
Month 4-5: Sales Alignment
This was critical: Marketing automation only works if sales acts on it.
- Trained sales on how to use HubSpot (where to find prospects, what information was available)
- Built a lead follow-up process (how quickly should they contact leads? By what channel?)
- Created email templates and talking points
- Set up alerts so salespeople knew immediately when a high-value prospect engaged
Month 5-12: Optimization
Continuously improved the system:
- Analyzed email open rates; tweaked subject lines for better opens
- Tracked which content generated the most qualified leads; created more of it
- Monitored lead-to-opportunity conversion; refined the qualification criteria
- Tested different call-to-action messages; used the best performers
- Tracked ROI of each content piece (cost to create vs. revenue from leads generated)
Results: The Numbers
Lead Generation:
- Month 0 (before): 3-5 leads/month (average 4)
- Month 12 (after): 8-12 leads/month (average 10)
- Improvement: 150% increase
Lead Quality:
- Before: Mixed (many weren't serious prospects)
- After: Higher quality (people who found through content, downloaded guides, and showed engagement were more likely to convert)
- Conversion rate: Improved from 25% (founder network) to 35% (marketing automation leads)
Revenue:
- Year 0 revenue: $1.2M
- Year 1 revenue: $1.68M
- Revenue growth: 40%
Sales Team Impact:
- Added 1 full-time salesperson
- Could finally train this person because there was a process
- New salesperson closed 3-4 deals in first year (founder still closed most, but less dependent)
- Founder went from 80% time on business development to 40%
Marketing Spend:
- HubSpot: $5,000/year (enterprise version)
- Content creation: $15,000/year
- LinkedIn ads: $3,000/year
- Website hosting and optimization: $2,000/year
- Total: $25,000/year
Lead Cost:
- Cost per lead: $25,000 / 120 leads = $208
- Cost per closed client: $25,000 / 42 new clients = $595
- Average client value: $28,000
- ROI: 47:1
Why This Worked
1. Aligned Founder Expertise With Technology
The founder was an excellent consultant and networker, but struggling with marketing at scale. Marketing automation let him focus on what he was good at (conversations) while the system handled nurturing and follow-up.
2. Built Systems, Not Campaigns
This wasn't a one-time marketing campaign. It was a system that generated leads continuously:
- Blog posts continued to attract organic search traffic months after publishing
- Email workflows ran automatically for every new prospect
- Referral program incentivized ongoing referrals
3. Made the Sales Process Visible and Scalable
Before: One founder, mysterious process, hard to replicate After: CRM with clear process, easy to hire salespeople and train them
4. Low-Cost Lead Generation
Content marketing and email automation are relatively inexpensive at scale. The initial investment was modest; the ongoing cost was minimal. Compare to paid advertising (which would cost $10K-20K/month for equivalent leads).
5. Compound Effect
Each month:
- New blog posts attracted more organic search traffic
- Larger email list meant more subscribers received workflows
- More testimonials and case studies improved credibility
- The whole system got stronger
This is why Year 2 is usually even better than Year 1.
What They Didn't Do (Common Mistakes Avoided)
Didn't Build Marketing Automation Without Sales Alignment
Many companies build great marketing systems, but salespeople don't use them. They continued old habits. This company trained sales on the system and held them accountable to using it.
Didn't Expect Immediate Results
The system took 3-4 months to gain traction as content indexed, email lists grew, and workflows matured. They didn't panic during the ramp-up phase.
Didn't Hire the Wrong Tool
They chose HubSpot because it integrates everything (CRM, email, landing pages, analytics). Other companies pick email tool, CRM, landing page tool, and analytics separately. HubSpot's integration meant less manual work and better data flow.
Didn't Forget About Relationship Building
Marketing automation doesn't replace relationships. It automates the boring parts (follow-up) so the founder could focus on relationship building (conversations). The founder still did the key relationship work; the system handled nurturing.
Key Insights for Service Businesses
If you run a service business (consulting, accounting, legal, marketing, design, etc.):
- You can scale without salespeople — Marketing automation lets one founder generate leads that 2-3 salespeople can handle
- Content is your credibility — Service businesses sell trust; good content proves expertise
- Email is your most valuable channel — You own your email list; you don't own your social media following
- Integration matters — CRM + email + landing pages + analytics should work together
- Lead quality > lead quantity — 10 high-quality leads beat 30 low-quality ones
- ROI is measurable — Unlike brand advertising, marketing automation ROI is clear (leads cost $X, convert to clients worth $Y)
The Path Forward
This company is now planning Year 2. With the foundation in place, they're:
- Expanding content (adding new topics, formats)
- Testing paid ads (now that they have landing pages optimized)
- Scaling sales (hiring second salesperson, using marketing automation to keep them busy)
- Improving nurture workflows (split testing email subject lines, timing, messaging)
- Building referral program (incentivizing clients to refer others)
The system is mature enough that they're optimizing, not building. And every optimization multiplies the return on the original investment.
Ready to Build Marketing Automation for Your Business?
We work with service businesses to build marketing automation systems that generate consistent leads, free up founder time, and scale without adding salespeople. Our approach integrates strategy, technology, and sales alignment.
Schedule Your Free Consultation
Or contact us directly:
- Phone: (804) 510-9224
- Email: info@sandbarsys.com
Let's automate your path to consistent growth.