Close rate under 30%?

12 months ago, I said yes to every client who’d pay me.

Coaches. Consultants. DTC brands. Startups.

Didn’t matter. I needed the cash.

All that changed when I had 18 sales calls in one month…

And only closed one.

The rest?

“Sounds great, I’ll think about it.”

“Can you do half the price?”

Or worst of all, total silence.

At first, I blamed my sales skills.

But sales wasn’t the problem.

Perceived value was.

The Real Bottleneck Most Founders Miss:

If your close rate is under 30%, it’s probably not lead gen.

It’s your offer.

And not because it’s bad.

But because it doesn’t hit for the right person.

• Great offer + wrong buyer = nothing

• Average offer + right buyer = hesitation

• Right offer + right buyer = conversion

Everything changed for us when we rebuilt our offer around perceived value.

Here are the 5 levers that matter most:

1. Clarity of Fit

Your offer should scream: “This was built for me.”

I reverse-engineered our top 10% of clients and built for them.

Now?

• 70+ clients served

• $110M+ in pipeline generated

Specificity sells. Vagueness kills.

2. Risk Reversal

Not gimmicks. Not “double your money back.”

Just safe, simple wins that make the path feel clear.

You don’t need to promise the moon.

Just make the first step feel like solid ground.

3. Effort, Time, Sacrifice

People don’t buy outcomes.

They buy the path to the outcome.

Retainers feel risky.

“Plug-and-play” feels easy.

When we shifted to a plug-and-play model, our close rate doubled overnight.

Why?

Less perceived effort.

More perceived upside.

4. Time to Value

The faster you can create momentum, the more valuable you feel.

Simple as that.

Your buyers don’t need everything.

They just need progress… fast.

5. Ultimate Outcome

This is the emotional driver.

More pipeline isn’t what they want.

Proof they can win in a new market is.

Show them the life upgrade. That’s what sells.

What Happens When You Nail This?

• M&A client went from 0 inbound to $750K from LinkedIn

• Exec coach 3×’d her rates and closed $250K in 90 days

• We launched a new plug-and-play offer and hit a 7-figure run rate in 3 months

All without adding a single lead source.

Just dialing in offer → buyer → perceived value.

So Ask Yourself:

Are you pushing an average offer uphill?

Or taking one week to rebuild something that sells itself?

Because you’re probably just one offer away from explosive growth.

You just need to fix the real bottleneck.

Reply “VALUE” and I’ll send over our exact Offer Engineering doc.

It’s the same one that helped us cross $1M, and it’ll help you simplify, scale, and finally sell to the right people.

Let’s build,

Luke

Founder, Atticus

P.S. 2 weeks ago, I sat at a finca in Medellín with Jessie van Breugel for 2 hours, talking about this exact idea over coffee.

Offer structure. Perceived value. Life upgrades.

Our girlfriends hated us. 😂

But we left with clarity…and booked pipeline.