75 Percent Increase in Conversion in 60 Days: How Flatiron School Rebuilt Its Sales Motion in Close

Jem Millett, Senior Director of Growth at Flatiron School, can tell a CRM is failing well before there’s a critical event. She looks for spreadsheets.

“The first thing that tells me we need to consider a migration is we have to create workarounds with spreadsheets outside of the tool,” she says.

At Flatiron, she found them at pipeline review. Reps were pulling up hand-built trackers to talk through their own deals, because Salesforce could no longer tell them where they had left off.

“Here’s my personal spreadsheet where I’m tracking everything,” Jem says. “And it’s like, what are we doing?”

Her reps were not the problem. Since 2011, Flatiron has helped people break into tech through certificate programs, university partnerships, and a paid apprenticeship model. Along the way it became a WeWork subsidiary with international campuses, spun back out, and was acquired by a private equity firm. Every chapter added new requirements to Salesforce. Almost nothing was ever removed.

It got to the point where it was like a multi-layered cake, and you were like, I don’t know what the truth is. I don’t know which one is actually active or is from many years ago.

By the time Jem arrived, a capable team was doing good work around its CRM instead of inside it, an outside contractor owned every change, and reporting lived in disparate tools. The cost that bothered her most was that applicants were waiting longer than they should have.

Tune in to the whole interview here:

What Flatiron Needed From Its Next CRM

After more than 15 years running sales and operations across several CRMs, Jem knew what Flatiron needed: A system her team could manage without contractors, fewer tools, and clear pipeline visibility, with calling, texting, email, reporting, and lead management in one place.

Flatiron CEO Peter Barth gave Jem ownership of the decision: “I trust your leadership here. You’re going to own it. You’re going to be the admin. You’re going to be the one who sets it up and your team has to use it. So make your best call.”

She had experience using Zoho, Sugar, HubSpot, and Salesforce, and had used Close at a fintech company before this. So Jem felt confident to make the call herself based on the team’s needs. With no long-term contract or procurement cycle, it was a decision she could reverse easily. “Worst case scenario, we do this and very quickly I say, whoops, I made a mistake.”

A 30-Day Migration Without 15 Years of Baggage

Jem started with Close’s Salesforce importer, then stopped the data transfer.

Wait a second, I shouldn’t have done that, because of how much data and how brittle everything was. This is a unique opportunity for us.

Rather than carry 15 years of clutter into Close, Jem and Flatiron’s data scientist decided which records and fields were worth keeping, and moved only that data over to Close.

Flatiron went live in May 2025, and every rep was fully up and running in Close within 30 days.

Jem’s advice for other teams is simple: “Be ruthless with the data and activities that actually move the revenue needle, and cut the rest.”

Jem did not port the old process either. She started at the top of the funnel and worked down, because her reps already had the bottom handled.

Flatiron receives more than 2,500 applications a month, and an applicant is usually talking to other schools at the same time. “Historically, the school you talk to first is the one you’re comparing all schools to,” Jem says. “So we need to connect immediately.”

So the team built for that. Flatiron uses Close’s voice agent, Chloe, to reach new applicants and book their assessments and interviews right away.

Some people don’t check their email. Some people prefer text, some people prefer phone calls. Phone calling is not dead. [Voice agents are] the perfect little scheduler.

Workflows carry the follow-up from there. Applicants hear from Flatiron immediately, then every other day, then every three days, then weekly, and then monthly. Applicants who don't engage move into what Flatiron calls the "holding cohort" and keep getting something useful once a month that is foucsed on delivering value.

We don’t believe that inaction is a rejection. We believe it’s just not the priority right now. So we continue talking to you.

Jem built it that way on purpose. In her experience, teams that say they need better conversion rates are usually just giving up too early.

"Persistence is the lever that you get to own," she says. "It needs to be mindful persistence. Value add, knowledge add, not just, hey, are you ready?"

The reps felt the impact of their new CRM immediately. AI summaries turn a student’s whole history into a few lines, so answers could be personalized. Texting, emailing, and calling in one place turned their day from hunting for the next task into working a queue. All they had to do was show up and do the work.

The Result: $200K Saved, 75 Percent More Conversions, and 91 Percent Lower CAC

Within 60 days of moving to Close, Flatiron increased its conversion rate by 75 percent, a number that continues to hold today.

Replacing Salesforce, including the platform, add ons, and the contract Salesforce administrator, saved Flatiron more than $200,000 each year. And by rebuilding how it sources apprentices, the team cut the cost of acquiring one by 91 percent.

The change Jem’s reps have experienced is a reduction in repetitive tasks, and spending more time doing the uniquely human work.

It’s given them so much time that they’re focusing on showing up for the meetings and being fully present, versus trying to chase down the meeting.

Even with results like those, Jem points to something less measurable when asked what she is proudest of.

Our capacity to sit in uncertainty and allow that to be what creates creativity and opportunity. So many people become uncomfortable with uncertainty, but in wanting to get out of it and live in certainty, you are removing opportunity.

If Your Reps Are Keeping a Spreadsheet, It’s Time for a Change

When your team tracks pipeline outside the CRM you’re paying for, take the hint. Start a free trial and bring calls, texts, email, and follow-up into one system your team can manage themselves.

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