Sunday Sync 

The Segment Nobody Watches

When your best leads disappear between interest and contact.

Dan Prudhomme | February 15, 2026

 Read on dcprudhomme.me
 Read time: 3 minutes
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An HVAC company in Orlando was ranking first on Google.

Saturday in July. 94 degrees. Someone's AC dies. They search, they click, they call. Six rings. Voicemail.

They call the next result. Answer on the second ring. Truck at the house by 2pm. $6,200 check written.

The first company never knew the lead existed. They were ranking first and losing the sale anyway.

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This Week: The Segment Nobody Watches

Most businesses with conversion problems think they have a traffic problem. But when you pull the data, the traffic is often fine. The leads are qualified. The intent is real.

The path just stops working before it reaches a human.

Conversion breaks when you build the path for your operation, not your buyer:

You optimize your ranking but not your response. You invest in the click but not what happens after it. You assume "high bounce" means bad leads instead of a broken handoff. You staff for your schedule instead of theirs.

The leads you're losing aren't unqualified. They're impatient. And in a world where the second result answers on the second ring, impatient is all it takes.

Smart operators don't just ask how to get more leads. They ask where the leads they already have are going.

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This Week's Micro-Syncs:

• The path doesn't end at the click. It ends at the conversation. Check what happens in between.

• When a qualified lead ghosts, don't audit the ad. Audit the moment after the ad.

• Voicemail isn't a fallback. For a buyer in crisis mode, it's a closed door.

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Operator Tip

Pull your last 90 days of inbound leads and map them against your response log. For every lead that didn't convert, ask one question: How long did it take us to reach a human? Then ask: What did the buyer do in that window?

Most operators discover the problem isn't their marketing. It's the 6-ring gap between interest and contact.

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 Cheat Sheet PDFs:

• Fix Your Funnel: 5-Step Guide To Converting Traffic Into Sales
• Ready Buyer Targeting Framework

Access these and previous issues at the bottom of this email.

Stay tuned for more Segment Sage insights next week.

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Real World Sync:

HVAC Company

Orlando Ranking #1 on Google. Saturday afternoon, peak demand, perfect lead. Called first. Went to voicemail. Lost a $6,200 job to the company ranked second — because that company answered on ring two. Same market. Same budget. Different path.

Franchise Operator

Conversion rate dropped from 31% to 19% over eight weeks. No ad changes. No market shift. One screenshot told the story: lead timestamps showed the drop started the week they moved their call center. New building, longer hold times, slower pickups. The path broke and nobody connected it to the numbers until someone looked.

Law Firm

Website traffic peaked 8–10 PM. People researching after work, ready to take action. "Book a consultation" button worked fine. Every available slot: 9 to 5. The people who worked those hours closed the tab and kept looking. Great traffic. Broken path. High bounce on the contact page.

Smart operators don't blame lead quality when conversions drop. They find where the path ends before the sale does.

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SageStamped: Recap & Plan

 1 Insight:
Your conversion rate measures path performance, not ad performance.

-> When qualified leads don't close, find the moment the path stops working — not the moment they clicked.

 1 Action:
Map your last 90 days of unconverted leads against your response time and availability.

-> The pattern will tell you exactly where the path is breaking. It's almost never the ad.

 1 Resource:
Fix Your Funnel: 5-Step Guide to Converting Traffic Into Sales

-> Step 3 covers path alignment: making sure the handoff from interest to contact actually works when buyers are ready.

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I break down path problems like this every week in Fix the Path. Subscribe here: substack.com/@dcprudhomme

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LinkedIn Sales Navigator:

Filter

Prospects in your ICP running paid search or lead gen who post about conversion frustration or close rate struggles.

Signal

They're spending on traffic. They're measuring results. The gap isn't the top of the funnel. It's what happens after the lead arrives.

Action

"Most [industry] operators assume a dropping close rate means bad leads. Then we look at what happens after the click — and find the path breaks before anyone picks up the phone. Here's the 3-point check that shows where leads are actually going: [response time / availability window / first contact rate]."

Example:

"Most [industry] operators blame their ads when close rates tank. Then we pull lead timestamps and find their best leads arrive when they're least available. Here's the 3-data-point check that shows if timing is killing your conversions: [when leads arrive / when you respond / when you're fully staffed]."

Connection Note

"Saw you're working on improving conversions. Most qualified leads don't ghost because of bad ads. They leave because the path stops working before it reaches a human. I help [industry] operators find exactly where that break is. Happy to share the framework."

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 Segment Sage Resources: 

Audience Positioning Worksheet! Download Now

Fix Your Funnel: 5-Step Guide To Converting Traffic Into Sales! Download Now

Become The Creator You'd Target Action Plan! Download Now

AI Targeting Cheat Sheet: The Best AI Tools for Smarter Segmentation!  Download Now

Smart Segmentation Matrix! Download Now

Leadership Niche Segmentation Playbook! Download Now

Ready Buyer Targeting Framework! Download Now

Segment Alignment Worksheet! Download Now

Read past issues of Segment Sage.