Project Highlight
Project: CRM Optimization & Lead Funnel Automation
Timeline: 8 Months
Company: PowerPlaySF
Team: 8 Staff
My Role: Project Lead & Automation Architect
Timeline: 8 Months
Company: PowerPlaySF
Team: 8 Staff
My Role: Project Lead & Automation Architect
Business Problem
Manual lead management created operational inefficiencies and revenue risk:
- ~30 leads/month with 12% conversion
- Lead response delays up to 3 days
- Leads lost in email inboxes and Google Voice texts
- No lifecycle tracking or remarketing
- High manual admin workload
- Competitive local market required faster response
Solution
- Designed automated lead funnel inside existing CRM (Mindbody)
- Built 7 automated workflows with 14–20 automated communications
- Implemented centralized lead dashboard
- Reduced reliance on founder-led manual follow-up
- Avoided risky CRM migration after structured platform testing
Impact
- Monthly leads: 30 → 90
- Conversion rate: 12% → 46%
- Response time: 3 days → 1 day
- Missed leads reduced by ~80%
- Admin time reduced by 2 hrs/week
- Highest lead sales month since 2022
- Full adoption across 8 staff members
Project Details
Project Trigger & Business Context
Lead management relied entirely on manual communication through calls and Google Voice texts. Website inquiries routed to a general inbox and were often delayed until founder review.
Operational consequences:
- Leads waited up to 3 days for response
- Lead volume plateaued at ~30/month
- Conversion rate remained low at 12%
- No structured follow-up or re-engagement
- Client history fragmented across conversations
- Lost opportunities in a highly competitive fitness market
This created both an operational bottleneck and a revenue risk.
Operational consequences:
- Leads waited up to 3 days for response
- Lead volume plateaued at ~30/month
- Conversion rate remained low at 12%
- No structured follow-up or re-engagement
- Client history fragmented across conversations
- Lost opportunities in a highly competitive fitness market
This created both an operational bottleneck and a revenue risk.
Project Objectives (SMART Goals / OKRs)
At kickoff, I structured the project around measurable improvements:
- Reduce response time from 3 days → under 1 day
- Increase lead volume through faster engagement
- Improve conversion from 12% baseline
- Reduce missed leads through system alerts
- Reduce manual admin workload
- Maintain personalized client communication despite automation
Timeline & Phased Execution
Phase 1 — Process Audit & Requirements (April – June | 3 Months)
- Mapped full customer journey
- Documented manual workflows
- Identified response delays and lost leads
- Defined automation requirements
- Established SMART project goals
👉 Output:
- CRM requirements list
- Workflow documentation
- Initial automation concept
- Mapped full customer journey
- Documented manual workflows
- Identified response delays and lost leads
- Defined automation requirements
- Established SMART project goals
👉 Output:
- CRM requirements list
- Workflow documentation
- Initial automation concept
Planned Summer Pause (July – August)
- Focus shifted to brand refresh & website rebuild
- CRM discovery paused intentionally due to limited staff bandwidth
- Maintained documentation backlog for restart
- Focus shifted to brand refresh & website rebuild
- CRM discovery paused intentionally due to limited staff bandwidth
- Maintained documentation backlog for restart
Phase 2 — Vendor Evaluation & Platform Decision (September – November | 3 Months)
- Tested 3rd-party automation integrations
- Evaluated 5 CRM platforms
- Prepared migration plan to Arketa
- Led structured comparison against requirements
- Initiated Mindbody feature discovery sprint
👉 Decision:
- Optimize existing CRM instead of migrating.
Impact:
- Avoided onboarding disruption (1–3 months)
- Preserved historical data
- Reduced implementation risk
- Tested 3rd-party automation integrations
- Evaluated 5 CRM platforms
- Prepared migration plan to Arketa
- Led structured comparison against requirements
- Initiated Mindbody feature discovery sprint
👉 Decision:
- Optimize existing CRM instead of migrating.
Impact:
- Avoided onboarding disruption (1–3 months)
- Preserved historical data
- Reduced implementation risk
Phase 3 — Platform Testing, Build & Rollout (December – February | 3 Months)
- Built funnel architecture
- Designed 7 automated workflows
- Implemented automated communications
- Trained 8 staff members
- Conducted iterative testing cycles
- Optimized automation cadence
👉 Results appeared:
- Response time improved immediately
- Lead volume increased within 1–2 months
- January recorded highest lead sales since 2022
- Built funnel architecture
- Designed 7 automated workflows
- Implemented automated communications
- Trained 8 staff members
- Conducted iterative testing cycles
- Optimized automation cadence
👉 Results appeared:
- Response time improved immediately
- Lead volume increased within 1–2 months
- January recorded highest lead sales since 2022
Budget & Cost Management
While no new CRM was purchased, this project required resource management:
Cost Avoidance
- Avoided full CRM migration onboarding (1–3 months)
- Reduced implementation risk
- Preserved historical data integrity
Efficiency Gains
- Reduced weekly admin time by 2 hours
- Eliminated need for external automation integrations
- Minimized additional consulting costs through internal optimization
Strategically choosing optimization over migration preserved both financial and operational resources.
My Role & Leadership
I led the project end-to-end:
- Initiated automation strategy
- Defined CRM requirements
- Designed customer journey & funnel architecture
- Evaluated vendors and influenced platform decision
- Designed automation workflows
- Managed testing cycles
- Partnered with CRM team for staff training
- Led rollout and adoption across an 8-person team
Leadership approved final platform selection based on my research and recommendations.
Solution Design — Automation & Funnel Architecture
After mapping the client journey, I implemented a structured lifecycle:
Lead Intake
- Website form routed directly into CRM lead dashboard
- Automatic funnel placement based on actions
Automated Workflows
- 7 automated workflows
- 14–20 automated communications
- Immediate lead acknowledgment messages
- Staff notifications via text/email
Funnel Tracking
Inquiry → Discovery Call → Intro Session → Membership
Re-Engagement
- Automated follow-up for non-converted leads
- Previously lost leads retained in system
Risk Management & Challenges
Risk
Response
Outcome
Founder reversed CRM migration late
Led platform capability testing
Avoided costly switch
Staff resistance to new systems
Training + iterative onboarding
Full adoption
Over-automation risk
Hybrid automation/manual approach
Maintained brand voice
Automation setup errors
Iterative testing cycles
Stable launch
Messaging opt-out limitations
Manual backup workflows
Funnel continuity
Limited staff bandwidth
Automated repetitive tasks first
Reduced admin workload
Business & Operational Outcomes
Growth & Revenue Impact:
- Monthly leads increased: 30 → 90
- Conversion improved: 12% → 46%
- Sales increased: 42.65%
- Added approx 10 new memberships/month
- Generated approx $4,880 new monthly recurring revenue
- ≈ $58,560 annualized recurring revenue growth
Operational Impact:
- Response time reduced: 3 days → 1 day
- Missed leads reduced by ~80%
- Admin time reduced by 2 hrs/week
- Centralized lead tracking
- Coaches gained visibility into client information
- Intro sessions shorter due to pre-collected data
Documentation & Artifacts Created
- CRM requirement list
- Workflow maps
- Funnel architecture documentation
- Automation communication sequences
- Verified SOPs for staff use
Closeout Report & Lessons Learned
What Worked Well
- Customer journey mapping clarified operational bottlenecks
- Testing CRM capabilities before migrating reduced financial risk
- Hybrid automation preserved personalized client experience
- Iterative rollout allowed safe adjustments before scaling
What I Would Do Differently
- Introduce structured change management earlier to reduce staff resistance
- Establish tagging/segmentation system earlier in design phase
- Formalize sprint cycles to reduce testing errors
- Build automation testing checklist sooner
Surprises & Insights
- Existing tools often have underutilized capabilities
- Automation increased personalization rather than reducing it
- Faster response times had a greater impact on conversion than expected
Future Roadmap
- Implement advanced tagging & segmentation
- Expand lifecycle marketing campaigns
- Introduce automated reporting dashboards
- Explore integration improvements for client classification