Sunday Sync 

Your Segment Is Lying to You

It's not your ads. It's your audience. 

Dan Prudhomme | February 22, 2026

 Read on dcprudhomme.me
 Read time: 3 minutes
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I've reviewed conversion paths for dozens of service businesses.

Different industries. Different markets. Different offer structures.

The break point is almost always the same place.

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This Week: Where the Path Always Breaks

You're not losing deals because your offer is weak. You're losing them in the gap between interest and intent.

That gap has a name: the unqualified handoff. It happens when someone signals curiosity (a click, a call, a form fill) and your system treats it like a buying signal. It isn't. Not yet.

Here's what shows up in almost every broken path I review:

The follow-up assumes hot when the lead is still warm. The prospect is comparing. Your team is closing. The mismatch kills the deal before it starts.

The path was built for the best-case buyer. Fast decision. Clear budget. Ready now. But most leads are the "probably, eventually, help me understand" buyer  and there's no path built for them.

The break point gets blamed on the wrong thing. Low conversion? Blame the ads. Blame the price. But pull back the funnel - the leads were fine. The path just dropped them.

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This Week's Micro-Syncs:

• Find the drop, not just the entry -> Most businesses track where leads come from. Almost none track where they stop moving. Your last point of contact before silence? That's your break.

• Build a lane for the "not yet" buyer -> Not every warm lead is a now lead. Create a path that nurtures without pushing.

• Diagnose before you optimize -> Don't run more traffic into a broken path. Fix it first. Then scale.

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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:

Same Leads. Fixed Path. 4x Conversion. 

Case Study: Marcus the HVAC Owner

Marcus was generating 60–80 leads a month from paid search. Conversion rate: under 6%. He assumed pricing. His competitor was cheaper. The path review found something different.

Leads came from "emergency repair" keywords but follow-up was written for replacement buyers. Long nurture. System education. Financing options. Emergency buyers don't need a drip campaign. They need a call in 8 minutes.

What changed: Emergency leads -> same-day response protocol. Replacement leads -> longer trust-building sequence.

Result: Emergency lead conversion jumped from 6% to 22% in 60 days. Same ad spend. Same leads. Fixed path.

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SageStamped: Recap & Plan

 1 Insight:
The break is almost never where you think it is. Stop blaming traffic. Start mapping the drop.

 1 Action:
Pull your last 20 lost leads. Find the last point of contact. That's your break point.

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

Conversion Path Diagnostic - map your funnel from first touch to closed and find exactly where prospects stop moving.

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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:

Sales Navigator Micro-Sync: Find the Right Audience Faster

Stop filtering by job title alone. Try this combo to spot buyers whose segment actually matches your offer:

Filter: "Changed jobs in the last 90 days" 

New role = new problems, new budget authority, new urgency.

Add: "Posted in the last 30 days"

They're telling you exactly what they care about right now.

Message idea: "Noticed you're navigating a new role — I help service businesses fix the part of their funnel where the right leads go quiet. Worth a quick look?"

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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.