The Two Changes That Grew This Business 44% in One Year | Ep 966
In this episode of The Game w/ Alex Hormozi, Alex Hormozi helps Luis Loira diagnose and solve critical problems in his railing business. Hormozi identifies two major issues holding the company back: inaccurate data attribution that masked which marketing channels were actually profitable, and a misalignment between the customer base and business strategy. Despite 70% of customers being DIY homeowners, the company had been focusing on contractors and designers.
Hormozi outlines specific strategies to capitalize on these insights, including customer segmentation, sales funnel optimization for custom orders, and email nurture campaigns. By implementing a structured approach to custom orders—featuring video sales letters, SMS qualification, and strategic pricing—and maintaining consistent customer communication, the business achieved a 44% revenue increase and 41% profit growth within one year. The episode demonstrates how correcting fundamental business metrics and aligning strategy with actual customer behavior can drive substantial growth.
This is a preview of the Shortform summary of the Apr 30, 2026 episode of the The Game w/ Alex Hormozi
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1-Page Summary
Data Attribution and Measurement
Accurate data attribution and measurement are essential for sound business decisions. Luis Loira explains how tracking problems created contradictions in his business metrics—despite a strong 15% net margin, his LTV to CAC ratio was one to one. Alex Hormozi identifies this as a data problem, noting that a post-purchase survey revealed over 90% of customers discovered the business on Google, while Google Ads tracking showed campaigns were losing money. This discrepancy made growth optimization nearly impossible.
Fixing attribution can dramatically change marketing performance understanding. One audience member shares that correcting attribution revealed certain campaigns were breaking even or losing money, allowing them to reallocate up to $300,000 in annual marketing spend toward genuinely profitable channels.
Customer Segmentation and Strategic Positioning
Loira points out that 70% of the business consists of DIY customers, yet the focus had shifted toward contractors and designers. Hormozi argues strongly for optimizing around the DIY segment, explaining that these customers are less price-sensitive and more emotionally attached to products than contractors who comparison shop. Since DIY and contractor order values are similar, there's no economic advantage to chasing the lower-margin contractor segment.
By focusing on DIY customers, Hormozi suggests increasing average pricing from $873 to $1,000 or more without reducing volume. Custom options especially appeal to DIY buyers seeking unique railings, creating opportunities to introduce higher-margin products. Positioning as "the home for DIY railings" and showcasing custom possibilities can prompt customers to book consultations quickly, boosting profitability and market differentiation.
Sales Funnel Optimization For Custom Orders
Hormozi details a structured approach to optimizing the sales funnel for custom orders. Every product listing should feature a custom order button with a sitewide banner highlighting custom design capabilities. When customers click through, they submit a custom order form and immediately receive a video sales letter (VSL) that answers common questions about pricing ranges and delivery timing.
Following the VSL, SMS messages nurture and qualify leads by collecting BANT information—Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing. Sales calls are then framed as decisive buying experiences with a $200 on-call discount to encourage quick decisions and limit follow-ups.
The VSL opens with a compelling hook positioning railings as a high-ROI investment rather than an expense. The middle section outlines four key steps to selecting a railing, removing purchase barriers. The video sets price expectations, establishes authority, and creates urgency—all within five to seven minutes.
To maximize engagement, custom order buttons appear on every product page, instantly signaling customization options. This increases submissions and creates more high-margin sales opportunities. Hormozi emphasizes responding to custom quotes within 24 hours to maintain momentum with engaged prospects.
Email and Long-Term Customer Nurture
Hormozi emphasizes sending two emails per week to the entire list, establishing frequent touchpoints that keep the brand top-of-mind for future projects. This nurtures the existing customer list into a compounding lead-generating asset without additional acquisition spending.
He recommends one weekly email focusing on before-and-after showcases, allowing homeowners to visualize possibilities. The second weekly email centers on striking or unique railing installations. FAQ-focused emails should rotate regularly, addressing the top 20 questions from non-buyers to systematically overcome conversion barriers.
Each email should start with a compelling subject line and striking image—ideally a dramatic railing transformation—followed by a clear call-to-action and a discount or friendly joke in the postscript. Hormozi notes that for homeowners invested in home improvement, these visually engaging emails are highly effective at driving opens and engagement.
Results and Implementation
The company achieved significant results following these strategic changes. Revenue climbed from $2.5 million to $3.6 million over 12 months, a 44% increase, while profit grew 41% from $384,000 to $540,000. Custom orders grew from 30% to 50% of the business, with the volume of submitted custom orders tripling and a 20% close rate.
Successful implementation required executing changes in a specific order—setting up the custom order sales process first, then enhancing the custom order page for better lead qualification. An independent email nurture campaign was deployed simultaneously, building brand awareness in parallel with the sales process. This focused execution on high-impact changes proved crucial to delivering significant and sustainable business growth.
1-Page Summary
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Over-reliance on self-reported survey data for attribution can introduce its own biases, as customers may not accurately recall or report how they discovered the business.
- Focusing primarily on the DIY segment may limit diversification and expose the business to greater risk if DIY demand declines or market trends shift.
- Contractors and designers, while more price-sensitive, may offer opportunities for larger or repeat orders, which could be valuable for long-term growth.
- Increasing prices for DIY customers could eventually reduce competitiveness if alternative suppliers or substitutes become more attractive.
- Frequent email campaigns, even if visually engaging, risk causing email fatigue or unsubscribes among recipients if not carefully managed.
- The emphasis on rapid response (e.g., 24-hour turnaround for custom quotes) may strain operational resources or lead to rushed, lower-quality customer interactions if not properly staffed.
- The reported revenue and profit increases may not be solely attributable to the described strategies; external factors such as market growth or seasonality could also play a role.
- Custom order processes and high-touch sales funnels may not scale efficiently as the business grows, potentially increasing operational complexity and costs.
- The focus on high-margin custom products may alienate price-sensitive customers or those seeking standard solutions, reducing overall market reach.
Actionables
- you can set up a simple weekly review using a spreadsheet to compare your own purchase decisions or project outcomes with the data you have (like receipts, time spent, or satisfaction ratings) to spot any mismatches or contradictions, helping you make more informed choices in the future; for example, track how much you spend on groceries versus how satisfied you are with your meals, and adjust your shopping habits based on what actually brings you value.
- a practical way to test the impact of customization on your own buying or selling experiences is to offer or request a small, unique customization (like a personalized note, color choice, or packaging tweak) in your next online transaction, then note how it affects your satisfaction or the response you get from others; for instance, if you sell handmade crafts, add a custom thank-you card and see if buyers mention it in reviews.
- you can create a simple two-column list for any project or purchase, labeling one side as emotional reasons and the other as practical reasons, then jot down what matters most to you or your customers; this helps clarify whether decisions are driven more by emotion or logic, and lets you adjust your approach to better match what actually motivates action.
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Data Attribution and Measurement
Accurate data attribution and measurement are critical for making informed business decisions. Problems with tracking and inconsistent reporting can obscure which marketing channels drive revenue, leading to inefficient spending and missed growth opportunities.
Tracking Problems Prevent Accurate Decision Making
Tracking problems can create contradictions in core business metrics, undermining decision making. For example, Luis Loira explains that despite a strong net margin of 15%, his business had a lifetime value (LTV) to customer acquisition cost (CAC) ratio of one to one. Alex Hormozi highlights that these numbers appear inconsistent, indicating something is off with the data.
Accurate attribution is essential to determine which marketing channels actually deliver positive returns. Loira shares that a post-purchase survey found over 90% of their customers discovered the business on Google, which directly contradicted Google Ads attribution data that indicated those campaigns were losing money. This exposes a major metric discrepancy: if the main channel driving new customers appears unprofitable according to tracking data, optimizing for growth becomes nearly impossible.
Fixing Attribution Reveals Hidden Campaign Performance
Correcting attribution can radically change the understanding of marketing performance. An audience member shares that after addressing incorrect at ...
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Data Attribution and Measurement
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- Data attribution in marketing means identifying which specific marketing efforts or channels (like ads, emails, or social media) lead to customer actions such as purchases. It helps businesses understand the effectiveness of each channel in driving sales or engagement. Different models exist, such as first-click, last-click, or multi-touch attribution, each assigning credit differently. Accurate attribution ensures marketing budgets are spent on the most impactful activities.
- Lifetime Value (LTV) is the total revenue a business expects to earn from a customer over the entire relationship. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the amount spent to acquire that customer through marketing and sales efforts. Comparing LTV to CAC helps determine if the cost to gain a customer is justified by the revenue they generate. A higher LTV than CAC indicates profitable customer acquisition.
- A strong net margin means the business is profitable overall after all expenses. An LTV to CAC ratio of one to one means the revenue from a customer just covers the cost to acquire them, leaving no profit from new customers. This inconsistency suggests the profitability might come from other sources, like existing customers or inaccurate data. It indicates potential errors in tracking or attribution, making growth decisions unreliable.
- Tracking systems in digital marketing use cookies, pixels, and unique URLs to monitor user interactions across websites and ads. Attribution models assign credit to different marketing touchpoints based on when and how they influenced a customer’s journey. Common models include last-click, first-click, and multi-touch attribution, each distributing credit differently. These systems rely on accurate data collection and integration to provide insights into which channels drive conversions.
- Post-purchase surveys ask customers directly how they found the business, providing first-hand attribution data. This method helps cross-check and validate digital tracking systems, which can have errors or gaps. Surveys capture customer-reported sources that might be missed by automated tracking tools. They offer a human perspective to complement and verify technical attribution data.
- Google Ads attribution data tracks which ads lead to customer actions using cookies and tracking pixels. It often relies on last-click or multi-touch models that assign credit based on specific user interactions. Survey results depend on customer self-reporting, which can capture offline or untracked influences. Discrepancies arise because tracking tools may miss some touchpoints or misattribute conversions.
- Correcting attribution errors involves identifying and fixing mistakes in how marketing data assigns credit for customer actions to specific channels. This process often requires integrating multiple data sources and using advanced analytics to get a clearer picture of which campaigns truly drive results. Once errors are corrected, businesses can reallocate budgets away from channels that seemed effective but actually underperform, and ...
Actionables
- you can create a simple weekly habit of jotting down where you first heard about a product or service you buy, then compare your memory to any marketing emails or ads you received to spot mismatches and sharpen your awareness of how attribution works in practice
- By tracking your own purchase journeys, you’ll notice how often your recollection of what influenced you differs from what companies might assume, helping you understand the importance of accurate data attribution and the pitfalls of relying on a single source.
- a practical way to test the impact of tracking errors is to set up a basic spreadsheet for any side project or small business you run, logging every marketing effort and the resulting sales, then intentionally introduce a few tracking mistakes to see how your decisions would change if you relied on flawed data
- This hands-on experiment will show you how easily misattribution can lead to poor budget allocation and missed growth opportunities, reinforcing the need for ca ...
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Customer Segmentation and Strategic Positioning
Focusing On Diy Customers As the Core Business
Luis Loira points out that 70% of the business consists of DIY customers, yet there has been a tendency to deprioritize this segment in favor of contractors and designers. Alex Hormozi argues strongly for optimizing the business around the DIY and custom segments for several reasons. First, DIY customers are less price sensitive than contractors or designers, who are typically more focused on comparing prices across several sources. DIY customers display a higher level of emotional attachment to products, often stating they find the products "dope" and are drawn to the purchase out of enthusiasm rather than just necessity or price.
Even when comparing average order values, Hormozi notes that there is no significant advantage in chasing contractors or designers—unless their orders were dramatically higher (e.g., $20,000 per contract), which is not the case here. DIY and contractor order values are close enough that chasing the lower-margin, more price-sensitive contractor/designer segment does not make economic sense. Thus, with DIY customers driving similar order values, there is no need to pursue less profitable segments.
Optimizing Margins Through Strategic Customer Focus
By focusing on the DIY segment, Hormozi suggests it would be possible to increase average pricing from $873 per order to $1,000 per order or more without reducing sales volume. DIY customers, being less sensitive to price, would likely accept these increases, especially as the perceived value and emotional attachment to the railings rise. Custom options particularly appeal to these buyers, who desire unique railings that differentiate their home from others. This creates a sign ...
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Customer Segmentation and Strategic Positioning
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Relying heavily on the DIY segment may increase business vulnerability if market trends shift or if DIY demand declines.
- Contractors and designers, while more price sensitive, can provide repeat business and larger project volumes over time, potentially leading to more stable long-term revenue.
- Contractors and designers may influence multiple projects and clients, offering opportunities for broader brand exposure and referrals.
- Focusing exclusively on DIY customers could limit the business’s ability to diversify its customer base and mitigate risk.
- Customization and higher pricing may alienate price-sensitive DIY customers or those with limited budgets, potentially reducing overall sales volume.
- The assumption that DIY customers will universally accept higher prices may not hold true in all economic climates or regions.
- Contracto ...
Actionables
- you can create a simple checklist to evaluate whether a product or service you’re considering buying is something you feel emotionally attached to, then use that insight to justify spending a bit more for features or customizations that genuinely excite you; for example, if you’re shopping for home decor, ask yourself if a unique or custom option would make you happier in the long run, and allow yourself to prioritize that over the lowest price.
- a practical way to boost your satisfaction with purchases is to look for opportunities to personalize or customize items you buy for your home, even if it’s just choosing a unique color, finish, or accessory; for instance, when buying shelving or hardware, see if you can select a special design or add a personal touch that makes the item feel more like your own creation.
- you can experiment with setting a slightly hi ...
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Sales Funnel Optimization For Custom Orders
Optimizing the sales funnel for custom orders transforms prospects into high-margin customers by streamlining how buyers move from discovering options to making a purchase decision. Alex Hormozi details a proven approach, emphasizing structure, automation, and urgency.
Building a Structured Sales Process For Custom Orders
The process begins with making custom order options highly visible and accessible. Every product listing should feature a custom order button, not just best sellers, supported by a sticky sitewide banner that highlights the availability of custom design capabilities. Streamlining starts when customers click to submit a custom order form, collecting all relevant details before seamlessly transitioning them to the next step.
Recommended System: Custom Order Forms Feed Into a Video Sales Letter On Railing Selection, Pricing, and Delivery Expectations
After submitting a form, prospects immediately receive a video sales letter (VSL). This video answers common questions, introduces pricing ranges, and sets delivery timing expectations, thus reducing uncertainty and engaging buyers at a critical moment.
Sms Nurtures Leads Post-Video Sales Letter By Gathering Critical Bant Info: Budget, Decision-Makers, Installation Urgency For Sales Conversation
Following the VSL, SMS messages nurture and qualify the lead by collecting BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) information:
- Budget: “What is your target budget?”
- Authority: “Will you and your spouse/decision-maker be present for the call?”
- Need: Already established, as interest in custom railings implies a purchase intent.
- Timing: “When would you ideally want the installation completed?”
These texts clarify critical decision drivers informally, prepping buyers for a focused sales call.
Sales Calls Framed As Buying Experience With $200 On-call Discount to Encourage Quick Decisions and Limit Follow-Ups
Sales calls are framed as decisive buying experiences. Prospects are told upfront they’ll receive a $200 discount if they commit on the call—saving admin time and reducing drawn-out follow-ups. The structure encourages quick, confident decisions, with clear benefits for both customer and business.
Implementing Video Sales Letters to Drive Conversions
The VSL, delivered immediately after lead capture, makes the buying journey smooth and persuasive.
Open With a Compelling Hook on Railings' High Roi For Home Value, Framing the Decision as an Investment, Not an Expense
The video starts with a hook: “Have you ever thought changing your railing could transform your home?” It reframes railing installation as a high-return investment—railings reportedly cost a fraction of the value they add to a home’s market price. This anchors the conversation in financial upside, not just design.
Middle Section Outlines Four Key Steps to Confidently Select a Railing and Ease Concerns During Sales Calls
Next, the VSL outlines the four steps to selecting the right railing—covering materials, quantity, mounting/hook style, and any other key considerations. Explaining the process up-front removes purchase barriers and streamlines sales calls.
Pricing Expectations, Establishes Authority, Reconfirms Requirements, and Creates Urgency In a Five to Seven-Minute Video
The VSL transp ...
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Sales Funnel Optimization For Custom Orders
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Overemphasis on automation (such as immediate VSLs and SMS nurturing) may alienate customers who prefer a more personalized, human touch during the custom order process.
- The $200 on-call discount could be perceived as a high-pressure sales tactic, potentially undermining trust or making some prospects uncomfortable.
- Not all customers are comfortable sharing BANT information via SMS due to privacy concerns or communication preferences.
- Relying heavily on video sales letters assumes all prospects are willing and able to watch videos, which may not be the case for those with accessibility needs or time constraints.
- Making custom order options highly visible on every product page could clutter the user interface and overwhelm customers who are only interested in standard products.
- The promise of a 24-hour quote turnaround may not be feasible for highly complex or unusual cu ...
Actionables
- you can create a simple checklist to review your own online shopping experiences and note where you see or miss custom order options, then use your findings to suggest improvements to small businesses you frequent, helping them make custom options more visible and accessible.
- a practical way to streamline your own custom order requests is to draft a reusable template with all the details you typically need to provide (like measurements, preferences, and deadlines), so you can quickly fill out forms and ensure businesses have everything needed to move your order forward witho ...
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Email and Long-Term Customer Nurture
Alex Hormozi emphasizes the importance of a strategic long-term nurture plan built around regular, consistent email communication to turn a customer list into an ongoing lead-generating asset.
Creating a Sustainable Long-Term Communication Strategy
Committing to sending two emails per week to the entire list is central to Hormozi’s approach. This establishes frequent, predictable touchpoints, ensuring the brand remains top-of-mind for customers' future home projects. Consistent communication compels customers to automatically think of the brand when they’re ready for another project or expansion, helping the business become the go-to choice for repeat railing needs.
By nurturing the existing customer list, the business creates a compounding effect—much like a snowball—that consistently builds momentum and loyalty. This approach generates fresh opportunities without additional spending on new lead acquisition, leveraging follow-up and ongoing relationship-building to convert previous buyers into repeat customers and turn the customer database into a steady source of leads.
Structuring Email Content Around Customer Interests
Hormozi outlines a straightforward content structure that appeals directly to homeowners interested in railing projects and home improvement. He recommends one weekly email focusing on before-and-after showcases. These highlights of completed jobs allow homeowners to visualize project results and possibilities for their own spaces.
The second weekly email centers around “cool projects”—striking or unique railing installations that stand out, encouraging people to open the emails and feel a connection to the brand. To address objections and help potential customers move closer to a purchase, Hormozi also suggests regularly rotating FAQ-focused emails. These should address the top 20 questions from non-buyers or new inquiries throughout the yea ...
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Email and Long-Term Customer Nurture
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Sending two emails per week to the entire customer list may lead to email fatigue or unsubscribes, especially among customers who are not currently interested in new projects.
- Not all customers will be interested in frequent updates about railing projects, and some may perceive the emails as irrelevant or intrusive.
- The effectiveness of visually engaging emails depends on the quality of the images and the relevance of the content to the recipient; poor execution could reduce engagement.
- Relying solely on email for long-term nurture may overlook customers who prefer other communication channels, such as SMS, social media, or direct mail.
- The approach assumes that all previous buyers are likely to become repeat customers, which may not be true for products with long replacement cycles or one-time purchases.
- Regularly rotating FAQ emails may become repetitive or be ignored by recipients who have al ...
Actionables
- You can set up a recurring calendar reminder to spend 15 minutes twice a week drafting a quick, friendly email update to your customer list, using your own phone photos or simple stories from recent projects to keep things authentic and relatable. This helps you stay consistent without overthinking content, and you’ll build a habit of regular communication that feels natural.
- A practical way to keep your emails visually engaging is to create a shared folder on your phone or computer where you drop any interesting or eye-catching project photos as you come across them, so you always have fresh images ready to include in your next email without scrambling at the last minute.
- You can invite your ...
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Results and Implementation
Quantifying the Impact of Strategic Changes
The company reported a significant increase in performance following strategic changes. Over the past 12 months, revenue climbed from $2.5 million in April 2025 to $3.6 million by March 2026, marking a 44% increase. Profit also grew from $384,000 to $540,000, representing a 41% rise. The most impactful change was optimizing for custom orders, which drove this growth.
Custom orders grew to comprise 50% of the business, up from 30%, considerably increasing their contribution to both revenue and profit. The close rate on custom orders is at 20%, and the volume of submitted custom orders has tripled, indicating improved conversion rates and more qualified traffic entering the sales funnel.
Prioritizing Implementation Order for Maximum Results
Successful implementation relied on executing changes in a specific order for maximum effectiveness. The first step was setting up a robust custom order sales process before driving additional traffic to the offering. Enhancing the custom order page was prioritized to ensure leads could self-qualify into the custom track, allowing for more efficient handling and higher conversion rates once traffic increased.
Simultaneously, an independent email nurture campaign was deployed, building brand awareness and nurturing leads in parallel with the sales process. This nurture sequence runs separately, primarily requiring a one-time setup, while the main sales systems focus on immediately converting inbound traffic. ...
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Results and Implementation
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- Custom orders are products or services tailored specifically to individual customer requirements rather than standard offerings. They often involve more complex sales processes and higher customer engagement. Custom orders can command higher prices and margins due to their personalized nature. Successfully managing custom orders can differentiate a business and drive significant revenue growth.
- A "close rate" is the percentage of potential sales leads that successfully convert into actual sales. A 20% close rate means one out of every five leads results in a sale, which is considered strong in many industries. Higher close rates indicate more effective sales processes and better-qualified leads. This metric helps measure sales efficiency and forecast revenue.
- Lead qualification is the process of determining which potential customers (leads) are most likely to buy a product or service. Self-qualification means leads provide information or take actions that automatically categorize them into the appropriate sales path without manual sorting. This can be done through online forms, quizzes, or behavior tracking that assess their needs and readiness to buy. It helps sales teams focus efforts on leads with the highest potential, improving efficiency and conversion rates.
- An email nurture campaign is a series of automated emails sent over time to build relationships with potential customers. It educates, engages, and gradually moves leads closer to making a purchase. This approach keeps the brand top-of-mind and addresses customer needs or concerns. It helps convert leads who are not yet ready to buy immediately.
- The "main sales systems" refer to the processes and tools directly involved in converting incoming leads into customers, such as the custom order page and sales team activities. The "email nurture sequence" is a separate marketing effort designed to build relationships and keep potential customers engaged over time, even before they are ready to buy. This sequence educates and warms leads gradually, increasing the likelihood they will convert later. Together, these systems work in parallel to maximize sales effectiveness.
- Operational capability refers to a company's ability to effectively execute its business processes and deliver products or services. It includes resources, skills, technology, and systems that support daily operations. Strategic decisions must align with these capabilities to ensure plans are feasible and can be successfully implemented. Ignoring operational capability can lead to strategies that are unrealistic or unsustainable.
- Prioritizing implementation order means arranging strategic changes in a sequence that maximizes their effectiveness. Early steps create a foundation that supports later actions, preventing wasted effort and resources. This approach reduces risks by ensuring each change builds on previous successes. It also helps manage complexity by focusing on manageable tasks one at a t ...
Counterarguments
- The reported increases in revenue and profit, while significant, may not account for external factors such as market growth, economic conditions, or industry trends that could have contributed to the results independently of the strategic changes.
- The focus on custom orders, while beneficial in the short term, could potentially lead to over-reliance on a single business segment, increasing vulnerability if demand for custom orders declines.
- The text does not provide information on changes in costs or resource allocation associated with the shift to custom orders, which could impact the sustainability of profit growth.
- The improvement in close rate and qualified traffic is attributed to process changes, but there is no mention of potential changes in marketing spend or lead acquisition costs that may have influenced these metrics.
- The effectiveness of the email nurture campaign is asserted, but no specific data or metrics are ...
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