Win Report: How future pacing doubled demos for a SaaS company

Published: June 2025

Win Reports help you grow your business by showing our methodology at work. Each Win Report showcases a real-world test, sharing the research, insights, and techniques that led to the win.

In the next three minutes, we’ll show you how simplifying a lead generation page and using future pacing with an app interface increased conversions by 105%.

The original and variation screens for this test.

SFG20 is the UK industry standard for building maintenance specification. Its comprehensive library of schedules helps building owners and managers keep track of changes in legislation, regulation, and codes of practice. SFG20 sells cutting-edge software that helps customers ensure that buildings are safe, legally compliant, and maintained in a cost-efficient manner.

Research: Leveraging our Wins Database

As with many SaaS companies, SFG20’s visitors convert best when they can see the service in action. A live demo with a product expert allows prospects to imagine themselves using the tool and experiencing its benefits.

One of the psychological principles behind the success of live demos is called future pacing. When we help potential customers imagine themselves using our products or services (and enjoying the rewards), we move them closer to saying yes. That’s why the main conversion goal of the SFG20 website is to book demos.

But the value of future pacing isn’t limited to demos, and we can harness some of its benefits in simpler ways. In this case, patterns in our Wins Database identified future pacing as a high-probability win for SFG20.

A screenshot of the Wins Database, highlighting the previous win. — A relevant future pacing win from our Wins Database. (See the Win Report.)

How could we use future pacing to increase the number of website visitors who opt into a live demo with SFG20?

The original page (or control)

If you’ve read our previous SFG20 Win Report (+53%), you’ll already be familiar with the site’s original lead-gen page and our goal to make it more effective.

A screenshot of the Control page, which shows supporting copy and the long form. — The Control: The page includes supporting copy and the long form.

The tested page (or variation)

Given our hypothesis—that a simpler page would reduce friction, and that future pacing (hinting at the product experience) would increase motivation—we created a much more streamlined version.

Here’s the new page.

A screenshot of the Variation page, which shows a much smaller form that is styled as a modal, and is sitting over a blurred image of application interface. — The Variation: The lead-gen form now sits above a blurred image of SFG20’s app interface.

For the variation, we:

Replaced the entire page’s background with a blurred image of the app interface (to add an element of future pacing). Notice how close and real the value feels.
Removed almost all of the content except for the form (to remove the “work” and associated friction of reading the page).
Added a new headline and sub-copy that emphasized the personal, interactive, and low-obligation nature of the demo:

Schedule Your Live Demo
Ask questions or let our friendly team highlight key features—no pressure, no time wasted.

The variation was intentionally different from the control because we wanted to test the simpler page quickly. By using a modal-style overlay on top of an image of the existing interface, we were able to isolate the form and minimize development time. The blurred app background subtly hinted at the product’s interface and reinforced the future pacing effect.

As we say on page 72 of our book, Making Websites Win:

Small improvements take ages to detect. You should aim for bold, targeted changes, for the following reasons:
Each change gets you more profit (an 80% improvement gives four times the benefit of a 20% improvement, obviously).
It’s more fun and interesting.
It’s much quicker.

Result: Demo requests increased by 105%

Simplicity and future pacing worked. During the test, we observed a 105% increase in demo requests for SFG20.

What next?

As usual, we added the test to our proprietary Wins Database, then looked for ways to apply its lessons to other parts of SFG20’s business and then to other clients.

If you want us to grow your profits—quickly and efficiently—check if you qualify for a free one-on-one strategy session with one of our CRO consultants.

We’ll only work with you if we believe we can get amazing results together. Our success has come entirely from positive word of mouth, and we plan to keep it that way.

A few words from Jessica and Lisa at SFG20

Watch the full testimonial below, or read a transcript.

“Our results are pretty mind-boggling,” says Jessica Vella-Bone, Marketing Manager at SFG20.

Thanks to SFG20 for letting us share these insights (and for being such a wonderful team to work with).

How much did you like this article?

“135% more leads with one test... and the busiest month in history,” says Luke Belmar-Jones of Reach Cambridge

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