Does starting the lead funnel on the debt amount step lift leads?

Our lead funnel opened with a step before the debt amount question. We tested removing it so the funnel started on the debt amount, with a shorter disclaimer and fewer choices. Over 15 days, leads rose 39.6%.

Won Responsive 15 days Called at 90%

SURFACE

Lead form

DEVICE

Responsive

VERTICAL

Lead Gen (CPL)

PRIMARY METRIC

Conversion rate

VARIATIONS

1

The hypothesis

By removing an unneeded first step and starting on the debt amount, we will get more visitors through the form, resulting in more leads.

Every step in a lead funnel loses some visitors, and the opening step did not add much. This was a retest of an idea we first tried in 2022.

What we changed

Funnel starts on the debt amount step, with fewer choices

Var A dropped the opening step so the funnel began on the debt amount question. The progress bar was updated to match, the disclaimer was shortened, and the list of debt choices was cut down.

VAR A: START ON DEBT AMOUNT

Funnel opens on the debt amount step
Progress bar updated
Shorter disclaimer
Fewer debt choices

The result

Leads rose 39.6% when the funnel started on the debt amount

CONVERSION RATE

+39.6%

LEAD VALUE PER VISITOR

+8.1%

$10K+ LEADS

-3.4%

Over 15 days, Var A converted 39.6% better than the original, which cleared our confidence bar. The whole gain came from leads with under $10K in debt. Leads with $10K or more were flat at -3.4%, so lead value per visitor rose a smaller 8.1%.

What we took from it

A shorter start brought in more leads, mostly smaller ones

Opening on the debt amount made it easy to get into the funnel, and some visitors may have picked the first choice just to move on. That would explain the jump in smaller-debt leads with no change in larger ones. On this funnel, a lift in volume has to be read alongside lead value.