Hey Jason I need to vote for more than one lol!!!

This is a great question, and for us the process has morphed a lot over the years. At this writing, the funnel is form submissions and phone calls. Most of these lead to a phone conversation, and a small minority is no human contact (our Holy Grail). From that point it's pretty much take it or leave it... wow, that sounds like I have a bad attitude, doesn't it? lol But my staff handle these leads like real professionals — clear answers, no pressure, no games. We're in the home service sector, specifically landscape maintenance for homeowners, property managers, owner rentals, etc. We explain the pricing and enjoy a 40% close ratio at this moment in time. If a lead must have someone come out and meet with them before committing, we charge a consultation fee. That usually gets them to forgo the formality and just get our crew out there ASAP for whatever they need done. For the leads that don't close right away, we don't just let them go cold — there's a follow-up process to stay in touch and answer whatever's still holding them back. I know charging for that time won't work for everyone here — if you're selling something higher-ticket or more consultative, an in-person meeting is often just the cost of doing business. But it's still worth pricing it in as a real CAC line item rather than pretending it's free. Either you charge for it directly like we do, or you build it into your margins and let your closed deals cover the cost of the ones that don't convert. Same math, different mechanism. I remember the days of running all over town to meet with leads and hoping to sell jobs. I'm too old for that! And honestly, what we offer isn't rocket science — it just takes a good process and a team that treats people right.

I think this depends entirely on the type of business you're building. Before the internet became the primary way people found local businesses, networking groups played a much larger role. Today, I think they work best when the professional is the product—attorneys, real estate agents, insurance agents, consultants, financial advisors, and similar professions. Meeting people organically while living your life, like Caleb described, is absolutely valuable. Those authentic conversations can lead to incredible opportunities. Joining a formal networking group, however, is a different story. For many business models—especially scalable home service businesses—I believe it's a poor use of time. Too often these groups become social circles rather than consistent lead-generation engines. We were active in networking organizations for decades, so I'm speaking from firsthand experience. Today, the real goldmine is building systems and leveraging the platforms where your customers are already looking for your services. Learn how to generate leads consistently, understand your acquisition costs, know your numbers, and identify the levers that actually move your business. That takes discipline, patience, and continuous refinement—but unlike networking meetings, those systems can generate opportunities every day without requiring you to be in the room. For me, networking isn't the business strategy. Building scalable systems is.