You're not the only one losing leads this way
Harvard Business Review reported these findings from a 2011 study of how U.S. companies responded to new web leads. This is historical industry research, not evidence of today's rates or Northstart's results:
Source: Oldroyd, McElheran & Elkington, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads,” Harvard Business Review, March 2011. The 7× figure comes from the same study’s analysis of 1.25 million leads.
What business owners are saying
Real public posts. Names and photos hidden. These are not Northstart clients.
See how the system is supposed to work.
You should be able to investigate a marketing partner before you hand over your advertising budget. These are detailed, ungated explanations—not case studies or made-up client results.
What we actually manage
See every part of the system, from search and ads to phone handling, follow-up and reporting.
Follow one inquiry
Walk through a clearly labeled example of a lead that arrives after hours, and the handoffs that have to work.
Evaluate us like any agency
See the proof standards, ownership questions and comparison checklist we think every buyer should use.
Or browse free checklists and tools, including an business visibility and lead readiness audit and inquiry-risk calculator—no email required.
Here's what that actually costs you
Most marketing setups get built one vendor at a time. A website a few years ago. An ad agency after that. Someone sold you on SEO. You signed up for a CRM because everyone said you needed one. Maybe an answering service, or an AI tool or two.
So you're paying all of them, and you're still the one holding it together.
Now picture this. It's 8:17 on a Tuesday night. Somebody needs exactly what you sell. They find you on Google and fill out the form on your website. It sits in an inbox until 9 the next morning. By then they've already called two of your competitors, and one of them picked up.
You paid for that lead. The ad, the website, the SEO. And it went somewhere else.
How many of these sound like your business?
Tap the ones that apply.
If two or more of these are true, keep reading.
This isn't anyone's fault. Every company you hired was hired to do one job. Nobody was ever hired to run the whole thing and make sure the pieces work together. That's the gap we fill.
The Northstart Growth System
Your entire marketing operation, built, connected and run by one team.
How it works
- We get you found. A website that turns visitors into calls, Google ads, Facebook and Instagram ads, and SEO, all built and managed by us.
- We configure response coverage. The service includes AI answering and human transfer paths, with the rules, availability, and limitations agreed during onboarding. Text follow-up is configured for eligible inquiries.
- We build the follow-up process. The CRM records incoming inquiries and next steps, with configured reminders and appropriate automated follow-up. It cannot guarantee every customer will reply or book.
- We run it and improve it every month. We watch what's working, change what isn't, and you have one team to call.
Everything that's included
- A website built to turn visitors into calls (or we fix yours), plus landing pages for your campaignsIncluded
- AI phone answering setup, including agreed coverage hours, escalation rules and transfer pathsIncluded
- A fully built CRM and automations so leads don't fall through the cracksIncluded
- Google, Facebook and Instagram ads, set up and managed for youIncluded
- Ad creative made for you, so you're not running the same picture for monthsIncluded
- SEO and AI search work to make your business information accurate and accessible to search engines and AI assistantsIncluded
- Automatic follow-up texts for new leads and old quotesIncluded
- Coordinated ongoing management of the included scope, with a named point of contact, documented responsibilities and agreed response expectationsIncluded
One scope of work and one accountable point of contact instead of separate proposals for each part.
The list describes the proposed services. Actual operating rules, deployment and exclusions are set out in the written agreement—not implied by a comparison price.
Compared to your other options
Swipe to compare →
| Hire a marketing employee | Hire 4–5 agencies | Do it yourself | Northstart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website built & maintained | Maybe | Separate company | Your weekends | ✔ |
| Google & Facebook ads run | Maybe one of them | Usually 2 companies | Trial and error | ✔ |
| After-hours call setup offered | ✘ | Another vendor | ✘ | ✔ |
| Configured inquiry follow-up | If they remember | Not their job | If you remember | ✔ |
| CRM actually set up | Maybe | Not their job | ✘ | ✔ |
| One company responsible | One person doing 6 jobs | ✘ | You | ✔ |
| You manage it | Yes | Yes, all of them | Yes | No |
These checkmarks describe proposed service components, not independent verification of a live customer result. Coverage and implementation details are confirmed in the written scope.
What it costs
The monthly fee covers coordination and the managed service scope shown above. Compare it against your own real vendor quotes and the time spent coordinating those vendors, rather than unverified industry-wide savings estimates.
We are offering a published founding-client rate for qualifying established businesses.
Founding client rate
$2,999/month
- ✔ Full setup included
- ✔ Everything on the list above
- ✔ One team running all of it
Your ad budget is paid directly to Google and Facebook, so you control it. AI phone and text usage has a small metered charge based on your volume.
Apply for the founding rateTakes 2 minutes. If we're a fit, we'll arrange a strategy call.
This is the current founding rate. Future pricing may change; we will disclose any new rate before you commit.
Check your assumptions before buying more marketing.
No agency should turn a hypothetical calculator into a promise of recovered revenue. You can test your own inquiry volume, response delays and sales assumptions in our free scenario tool. It never sends your inputs to us.
Or use the 12-point readiness audit to see what your team has actually verified.
What to check before you decide
- Check the fit. A managed operation only makes sense if your business has room for more good customers and a meaningful value per new customer.
- Confirm the real bottleneck. Check whether your main problem is lead quality, response time, qualification, follow-up, or capacity before increasing spend.
- It doesn't take long to get going. Setup usually takes about a week once we have access to your accounts.
- Finding out is free. The assessment takes 2 minutes and there's no obligation.
Why the founding rate is different
We're starting with a small group so we can manage onboarding and delivery carefully. The current rate is public; it isn't a countdown or a guarantee of a later increase.
Who this isn't for
- Brand-new businesses still looking for their first customers
- Businesses that can't take on more work right now
- Anyone shopping for the cheapest option, or only one piece (like SEO by itself)
- Anyone looking for a guaranteed number of leads. No honest company can promise that, and we won't.
Common questions
Is this just another agency?
No. An agency usually handles one piece, like ads or SEO. We take over the whole thing (website, ads, phones, CRM, follow-up and search) and run it as one system.
Do I need a new website?
Not necessarily. If yours works, we keep it and build landing pages around it. If it doesn't, building a new one is part of the setup.
How fast can this be running?
Usually about a week of setup once we have access to your accounts. Google and Facebook sometimes take longer to approve new ads or verify accounts. We'll give you a real timeline on the call.
Who pays for the ads?
You do, directly to Google and Facebook. It's separate from our fee on purpose, so you always control the budget.
Are there any other costs?
AI phone answering and texting have small usage charges based on how many calls and messages you get. We'll estimate them for your volume on the call.
Who owns my contacts?
You do. Your customer list and business information stay yours.
Do you guarantee results?
No. Anyone who promises a specific number of leads is guessing. What we commit to is building the whole thing properly, running it, and improving it based on what the numbers show.
What happens after I fill out the assessment?
We read every one. If it looks like a fit, you can book a call right away. On the call we'll look at what you have now and tell you straight whether this makes sense.
See if it's a fit
Answer a few quick questions about your business. It takes about 2 minutes. If it looks like a fit, we'll arrange a strategy call with you. If it isn't, we'll tell you.
Prefer to talk first? Call (330) 465-6318.