1. Qualifying — load the gun
Collect in order: longevity → jobs/month → total customers (say math out loud) → review count → pause.
Jobs/month × 12 × Years in business ≈ Total customers
Round down jobs/month and discount early ramp-up years. Balint: "Let's just say 15" even when they said more — makes the gap larger.
Role play: 10 roofs/month, 5 years → 120/year → "~300–400 people easily" (year one discounted) vs. 44 reviews.
Question Index: "You've serviced 540 people and only have 45 reviews."
"10 a month, 120 a year, five years — you've probably helped 300, 400 people easily."
Total customers − Review count = The gap
Ask review count. Then silence. Do not explain. Do not rescue.
~400 customers, 44 reviews — prospect sits in the dissonance before Balint pivots.
Reviews ÷ Jobs last month × 100 = Review rate %
Benchmark: closer to 30% with a real system.
"You did [X] jobs last month and got [Y] reviews — that's [Y÷X]%. You should be closer to 30%."
Total customers ÷ Review count = 1 review per X customers
"One in [X] customers is leaving you a review. Have people not been happy, or has no one asked the right way?"
Ask once · Don't react · Save for ROI close
Collect average job value and profit margin (e.g. "60% profit on every roof"). Powers every break-even calculation later.
"What's an average job worth?" / "What kind of margin do you make on a roof?"
Gift cost per job × Jobs/month = Manual review spend
Costco gift baskets ~$40–50/client. If scaled to every job at 10/month → ~$400/month in gifts alone.
"Costco gift baskets — you're out $50 a client?"
2. Ranking & visibility
Look up their listing live. Turn "bad SEO" into a number they can feel.
(Page − 1) × 20 + Position on page = Listing rank
~20 listings per page. Page 3, slot 3 = #43 → "42 other people before you."
"You're the third one on the third page — so you're 43rd. I gotta go through 42 other people to get to you."
5% of clicks → paid · 95% → organic
"5% of clicks happen on paid ads, 95% on organic — you already kind of know that."
Reviews ≈ 10% of ranking · Replying to reviews ≈ another 10%
Affirm what ChatGPT told them, then teach the rest: SEO descriptions, keywords, Google posts, citations.
"Reviews are about 10% of the equation. What good are 500 reviews on page three? Like a Lamborghini in the garage."
Listing scan = $199 value · Waive it because they're already paying someone
"Full scan of your listing — normally $199, but since you're already paying someone who's supposed to be doing this, I'll do it for free."
3. ROI & break-even closes
After value is built — usually on price objections. Ask questions, then go silent.
(Monthly fee × 12) ÷ Profit per job = Jobs/year to break even
$699/mo × 12 = $8,388/year. At ~60% margin on roofs → 3 roofs/year covers it while doing 10/month.
"You need three roofs a year to cover it. You're doing 10 a month. What are we thinking about?"
Extra calls × Close rate × Profit/job = Return · Compare to monthly fee
- "If we improved ranking, how many more calls realistically?"
- "You close about what %?"
- "Profit about $[Z] per job?"
- Silence. Then: "You're turning $499 into $[Y × Z]."
Balint waits for price pushback — never leads with this unprompted.
Extra calls/month × Avg job value = Monthly upside vs fee
2 extra calls × $800/job = $1,600/month upside vs $499 fee — let them do the math.
"Two more calls a month off page one at $800 a job — that's $1,600. You're paying me $499."
1 extra job/month from Google > Monthly fee → rational to keep paying
"If it's $600 a month and I'm getting one customer a month from it, hell yeah I'm gonna keep paying you."
Partner hears fee only · You hear page-one upside (~5× fee in new calls)
"All she's going to hear is $499 a month. She's not going to hear that $499 puts you on page one and brings in five times that in new calls."
(List − Scholarship) × 12 + Waived setup = Total savings
$899 → $499 = $400/mo × 12 = $4,800 + $500 setup waived = ~$5,300 saved. Role play: $1,299 list + $1,000 setup → $699 scholarship for roofers.
"We're talking about saving you $5,000 a year with the scholarship. This is a no-brainer."
Location 1: $499/mo · Locations 2–3: $399/mo each
Ask total location count first. Never price per location until you know the full count.
"Location one at $499, locations two and three at $399 each — and you can't send a 25%-off text to all your customers without this system."
5. Objection math
Their own gap + break-even + stated goal → "think" is irrational
"Think about what? You said you want Google calls. You need 3 roofs a year. This is almost a no-brainer."
She hears $699/mo · She celebrates one extra roof from Google
"You come home and say you got an extra call from Google, you got an extra roof — she's not going to care how much you're spending."
Cash problem = need more revenue, not fewer lead sources
"You're $10K in debt — that's exactly why you need more business. You have people to feed."
Swap listing phone → count Google-only calls → prove ROI
"I'll give you a tracking number for free — every call, you know it came from us. Visa or MasterCard?"
6. Lead magnet & trial math
Numbers for the free review offer, downsell path, and delivery pacing.
Offer 25 reviews free — not "more reviews"
Specific numbers sound legitimate. Vague sounds fake.
"I wanted to get you 25 reviews completely for free, just for feedback. You got 30 seconds?"
2 weeks · Target 30–40 reviews · Free until 25 minimum · Then $97/mo reviews-only
"Two-week trial — if you get 30, 40 reviews, great. If not, I work free till we hit 25. After that, $97 a month."
~80 SMS/day × ~12 days · Reviews appear in 2–3 days
Know this for setting expectations — not usually said on the cold call.
Custom name-in-image review requests ≈ +20% click/response vs standard SMS
Use when explaining why automated beats "just ask in person."
9. Pipeline math (not on the call)
Balint's business-model numbers — useful for targets and channel decisions, not for live objection handling.
100 convos → 20 booked (20%) → 4 show (20%) → 2–3 clients | 1-call: 100 convos → 10–15 clients same day
20 responses → ~6 give info → ~5 close (often at $500/mo entry, then upsell)
Clients × Monthly fee = MRR · e.g. 100 × $100 = $10K/mo
At $97/mo you need volume. Balint's model: low-friction entry ($97 reviews, $49 hosting) → upsell to $500+ Merchant.
Ad spend per client should recover in month 1 (or price the offer up)
$200 ad spend to close at $147/mo = too slow. Close at $500/mo or cut CAC.