Success Story: Turning a -€32 Loss Into +€99 Net Profit Per Customer

Executive Summary

Our client was paying €29 for leads but losing €32 on every new customer due to high churn and wasted sales time.

We fixed the unit economics by ignoring "cheap leads" and optimizing strictly for revenue.

Who is this about?

• Industry: B2B SaaS ScaleUp (AI & Data Structure).
• Price Point: ~€79/month (High volume, low ACV).
• The Setup: Well-funded, but operationally blind.
• The Constraint: They had a large ad budget but only one Junior Marketing Manager. To handle the scale, they relied entirely on an external agency to run their growth.

The Problem: The "Agency Incentive" Gap

The company had a healthy marketing budget and a reputable agency managing it. On paper, the agency was delivering stellar results:

• Lead Volume: High (2,380 / month)
• Cost Per Lead (CPL): Low (€29)
• Unit Profit: -€32 / new customer (they were burning cash)

The Reality: They were burning cash on "digital noise."

The agency was incentivized on volume. If they generated more leads for less money, they looked successful. This created a "Volume Trap." They optimized for cheap form fills—students, researchers, and small businesses with no budget.

"They saw thousands of leads coming in, but although we we're growing on pager, we still lost money for every new customer we onboarded. Nima Labs gave us the clarity we lacked; we stopped growth at all costs and finally started building for net profit."

This flooded the Sales team with bad data. Account Executives spent 80% of their week disqualifying "junk" leads, acting as expensive manual filters. The few deals they closed had low retention (7 months) because the product fit was weak.

The net result: The company lost money on every single contract signed.

The Pivot: Installing "RevOps Light"

We fired the agency and moved the intelligence in-house using EnablementOS.

We didn't buy complex enterprise software like Salesforce or HubSpot Enterprise. Instead, we installed a "RevOps Light" architecture—a direct data bridge between the Ad Manager and the existing CRM. This single change aligned the entire organization around revenue.

1. The Mechanism: Closing the Feedback Loop

Previously, the marketing data stopped at the "Lead" stage. The Marketing Manager had no idea what happened after the form fill.

We connected the CRM data back to the advertising platforms.

• The Old Way: Marketing sees 100 leads → thinks "Great Job."
• The New Way: Marketing sees 100 leads → Sales Qualified Opportunities → thinks "Waste of Money."

This allowed the client's Junior Marketing Manager to stop guessing. If Sales marked a lead as "Bad Fit," she saw it immediately and cut the budget for that specific audience. She didn't need senior experience; she just needed clear data.

2. The Strategy Shift (The "Scary" Part)

With the data visible, we deliberately broke the standard marketing rules. We stopped optimizing for CPL entirely.

• We cut the "cheap" audiences (students, small biz) that never converted.
• We doubled down on expensive, high-intent channels (Senior Decision Makers).
• Result: CPL skyrocketed from €29 to €210.

Most CEOs would panic at a 7x cost increase.

Here is why we did it: We paid more to acquire the right customer. The €29 lead cost the company thousands in wasted sales salaries. The €210 lead converted into revenue.

3. The Efficiency Gain

Once the "junk" was filtered out upstream, the Sales team’s reality changed overnight.

• Trust Restored: Sales stopped ignoring marketing leads. Acceptance rate jumped from 20% to 45%.
• Higher Conversions: Because the prospects had genuine pain and budget, the Win Rate jumped from 6% to 25%.
• Focus: Salespeople stopped "filtering" and started "selling."

"They felt stuck delivering the high lead volume the agency promised, only to hear from Sales that the quality wasn't there. They were both frustrated because they didn't have the data to see why. Connecting their ads directly to revenue changed everything. It stopped the guesswork which campaigns to cut and started focusing on what actually pays the bills."

How we did it

We didn't just give advice; we installed a system. Here is the exact process we followed to fix the engine in 90 days:

Phase 1: The "Kill Switch" Analysis (Weeks 1-2)We audited 12 months of ad spend and matched it to closed deals.

• The Finding: 65% of the budget was spent on "generic" keywords (e.g., "data structure") that drove volume but zero revenue.
• The Action: We paused these campaigns immediately. This stopped the cash bleed on Day 7.

Phase 2: The Data Bridge (Weeks 3-4)We replaced the agency's complex reporting with a simple connection.

• The Action: We set up "Offline Conversion Tracking."
• The Logic: When a Sales Rep changed a lead status to "Qualified" in the CRM, that signal was sent back to Google and Meta Ads as a conversion.
• The Result: The ad algorithms stopped hunting for "Clicks" and started hunting for "Sales Opportunities."

Phase 3: The Handover (Weeks 5-12)We ran weekly "live workshops" with the Junior Marketing Manager.

• The Action: Instead of doing the work for her, we did it with her. We taught her to bid based on pipeline value, not CPL.
• The Result: By Month 3, she was running the entire system solo. The company now owns the skill, not the agency.
  

The Outcome: Profitable Scalability

By paying more for the right customer, we fixed the fundamental business model.

• Before: Acquired cheap leads (↓), closed few (↓), high churn (↑). Result: Negative ROI.
• After: Acquired expensive leads (↑), closed many (↑), low churn (↓). Result: Positive ROI (+11.68%).

The Asset

Agencies rent you their brain; they don't give it to you. When you stop paying, the knowledge leaves the building.

By using EnablementOS, our client moved the intelligence in-house. Their Junior Marketing Manager now runs this system independently. She doesn't rely on external reports or gut feeling; she follows the revenue data.

The company didn't just get better numbers; they built an internal machine that generates predictable, profitable growth.

Frequently asked questions

What is EnablementOS?

Enablement OS is a strategic program designed for B2B SMBs and Scaleups to transition from "renting" growth (agencies/freelancers) to owning it. It is a 3-phase system that builds a self-sustaining, internal marketing and sales architecture within your existing team.

What exactly is "RevOps Light"?

‍It is the lean version of Revenue Operations. We don't hire big teams or buy expensive tools. We simply connect your ad platforms to your CRM. This forces Marketing to optimize for money in the bank, not just leads in the funnel.

Why did you let Cost Per Lead jump to €210?

Because we implemented strict filters to block leads that had zero chance of converting. By removing the cheap, low-quality volume from the calculation, the average cost naturally increased. We stopped paying for "noise" and started investing in qualified prospects.

Can my junior marketing team really run this?

‍Yes. That is the goal. This client had only one junior manager. Once we installed the dashboard and the playbooks, she didn't have to guess anymore. She just followed the data. She went from "admin" to "growth driver" in 90 days.

Why couldn't the agency just do this for them?

‍Agencies rent you their results; they don't transfer the skill. This client had zero leverage because the data and strategy lived outside their building. EnablementOS builds the machine inside your walls so you never depend on an agency again.