0%
Sustained Close Rate
When Meridian Mechanical engaged Boost in March 2025, the business was at $9.4M in annual revenue with 47 team members across commercial HVAC installation, maintenance, and emergency repair in DFW. Their close rate sat at 11% - typical for the category, but far below potential for their lead volume.
The core issue was not sales talent. It was system design. Meridian had strong people and weak infrastructure: delayed lead response, inconsistent follow-up, and slow proposal cycles that quietly eroded win probability before commercial conversations could begin.
Boost audited Meridian's full journey from inbound inquiry to signed contract using 14 months of CRM and operational data. Three constraints surfaced immediately: average lead response time was 4 hours 22 minutes, average first follow-up after quote delivery was 8.3 days, and proposal turnaround from site visit to delivery averaged 6.2 days.
In commercial HVAC, speed and consistency are conversion multipliers. Meridian was often losing site visits to faster responders, and then losing active opportunities to follow-up drift and estimator bottlenecks.
The implementation rolled out in integrated phases: AI lead response within 30 seconds across web, phone, and email; a seven-stage pipeline rebuild in ServiceTitan with max dwell times and daily exception reporting; and a 14-touch, 45-day follow-up system blending automation with scheduled human outreach.
For proposals above $50K, Meridian also gained commission-only closing support to handle objection navigation and negotiation while estimators stayed focused on technical scope and relationship continuity.
Month one cut lead response from 4:22 to 28 seconds and increased site-visit bookings by 34% without increased ad spend. By month three, follow-up automation reduced average proposal-to-decision time from 23 days to 14 days. By month six, blended close rate reached 38%, and by month eight it stabilized at 41%.
By month ten, marketing spend and headcount were unchanged, but revenue run rate had grown from $9.4M to $14.1M - a 50% lift driven by conversion infrastructure, not additional lead volume.
The gains did not come from one tactic. Faster response created warmer entries into pipeline. Structured follow-up reduced silent deal loss. Prioritized estimating accelerated high-value proposal output. Closing support improved enterprise negotiation outcomes. The system then fed back performance data to continuously improve each stage.
As of January 2026, Meridian sustains a 41% close rate, has processed over 4,200 inbound inquiries through AI response without missed leads, and has reduced average proposal turnaround to 2.1 days while expanding into additional DFW submarkets without adding sales headcount.
We didn't get better at selling. We got a system that doesn't forget, doesn't get tired, and doesn't let anything fall through the cracks. The people are the same. The infrastructure changed everything.
David Thornton, CEO, Meridian Mechanical
This outcome came from cross-pillar execution, not a single campaign: Agency delivery for sales and automation systems, Labs-grade workflow logic, and Consulting cadence through stage-level accountability and weekly decision loops. The same architecture now supports market expansion without proportional headcount growth.