Stop collecting MQLs. Start collecting commitments.

Hi —

Last quarter we did something most marketers would call insane: we made our lead-gen forms harder to fill out. The form completion rate dropped 38%. Inbound MQL volume dropped along with it.

Then booked revenue went up 67% in the same period.

Here's what we changed. The form used to be: - Name - Email - Company - Phone (optional) - "How can we help?" (textarea, optional)

5 fields, low friction, decent volume. About 35% of the leads actually responded when our team followed up. Most were tire-kickers.

We rebuilt the form to be: - Name - Email - Company - "What specifically are you trying to solve?" (required, must be more than 20 characters) - "What's your timeline?" (dropdown: This month / Next 90 days / Researching / No idea) - "Have you worked with an agency before?" (yes/no)

6 fields, higher friction. Form completion dropped from 8% to 5%.

But the leads that DID come through were dramatically better. 78% responded when we followed up. 41% booked a consultation. 14% closed within 60 days — vs 4% before.

The math: - Before: 100 leads × 4% close = 4 customers - After: 62 leads × 14% close = 8.7 customers

Why this works: the friction is qualification. The form turns into a self-selection mechanism — visitors who can't articulate their problem in 20+ words probably aren't ready to buy. Visitors who can are usually 2-3x more likely to close.

The form rate is the wrong metric. Booked revenue per form impression is the right metric. Optimize for that, not for volume.

— Naomi