Most entrepreneurs breathe a sigh of relief when their launch ends—but that's actually when some of the most valuable work begins.

In this episode of Growing a Deeply Rooted Business, Jess and Rachel break down why your post-launch process can make or break your next launch. From analyzing your data without judgment to collecting meaningful customer feedback and setting realistic goals, they share the systems they use to continuously improve launch performance without burning everything down and starting over.

If you've ever closed cart feeling exhausted, disappointed, or unsure what to do next, this episode will help you turn every launch into valuable data for future growth.

In This Episode You'll Learn

• Why post-launch debriefs are essential for long-term growth.
• The launch metrics that actually matter—and how to analyze them.
• Using buyer and non-buyer surveys to improve future conversions.
• Leveraging AI to uncover insights from launch data and customer feedback.
• What to optimize, what to keep, and what to avoid after every launch.

Resources Mentioned

• The Launch Cure: https://www.thelaunchcollaborative.com/launch-cure
• Rooted in Reality Planner: https://buy.stripe.com/eVqaEY0pC9v8cPl9F6d3i00

Meet Your Hosts

Jessica Walther is the founder and CEO of The Launch Collaborative and Sustainable Success Systems. As a launch strategist and systems consultant, Jess is dedicated to helping solo business owners and small-but-mighty teams build businesses that deliver both peace and profit. She specializes in creating sustainable growth strategies that align with her clients' values and lifestyles.

Rachel Lopez is the founder and CEO of Gal Marketing Agency, a boutique email marketing and strategy firm. With over a decade of experience, Rachel helps heart-driven entrepreneurs craft intentional marketing strategies that attract, nurture, and convert leads sustainably. Her human-first approach ensures that marketing efforts feel authentic and effective .

Together, Jess and Rachel blend systems, storytelling, and soulful strategy to help you grow a business that's deeply aligned with your life—not just your revenue goals.

Connect With Us:

• Jess Website
• Rachel's Website

Hang Out & Say Hi!

• Deeply Rooted Business Instagram
• Jess Instagram
• Rachel's Instagram

The most valuable week of an entire launch is the one right after

2

it ends, and I know that this is the

week that almost everybody skips.

3

I don't blame them, because cart

closes and you are absolutely

4

wrecked and exhausted probably.

5

Even if you've had a peaceful launch, it

still takes a lot of energy to do this.

6

And at that point, the number is

either something you wanted or it's

7

something that you didn't want.

8

And either way, you just kinda wanna

close that laptop and not look at it.

9

And I get it.

10

I have run over 50 bazillion

launches at this point, and I still

11

feel the pull to completely check

out after a big launch is over.

12

But when you skip it, you lose kind

of all of that data and that insight

13

that is there while it is still warm.

14

And if you're not sending, a post-launch

survey or anything to gather intel,

15

you're losing great insights from the

people that showed up, were active in

16

your launch, but ultimately didn't buy.

17

If you skip this part, you may just

come to your own conclusions that

18

aren't necessarily data-backed, and

you may end up throwing away a launch

19

or a product completely when all it

needed was a couple of little tweaks.

20

So today we're gonna be walking

you through three things that we're

21

gonna tell you do not skip after the

launch, because it's gonna make your

22

best launch so much better and help

you to continue to optimize and grow.

23

And also three things you kinda can skip.

24

Plus we're gonna kinda weave in a little

bit of how AI can help you get the

25

best, quickest insights from all of your

launch data and your launch surveys.

26

So let's get into it

27

Rachel: welcome back to another episode

of Growing a Deeply Rooted Business.

28

I'm Rachel, your marketing

ecosystem strategist.

29

I'm here with Jess, our systems

and sustainable growth genius, and

30

this truly is her zone of genius.

31

I'm gonna be over here representing

the people who are saying, "Yes,

32

I'm exhausted from launching.

33

Yes, the numbers kind of

give me more anxiety."

34

So I'm representing that side over here.

35

And we're gonna be

diving into a few things.

36

Before we get anywhere near a number,

we're gonna do, obviously, our first

37

energy check because I know what happens

when people hear "launch debrief."

38

Their hands get a little clammy, and

they're like, "Please, can we just not?"

39

So we're gonna unclench our jaw,

drop our shoulders down, which I'm

40

gonna say, post-launch shoulders is

a legit thing, 'cause, I think the

41

most of the time I'm sending emails

and my shoulders are up to my ears.

42

So we're just gonna

reframe before we start.

43

And kind of a reminder that

we've been going through with the

44

Mid-Year Reset series, which is

your data is not a report card.

45

It is your map.

46

We are not grading you.

47

Whatever comes out of this

is not a verdict on how

48

successful your business is.

49

It's just purely information and

directions on how you can move forward.

50

So let's take a deep breath.

51

And out.

52

Let's get started.

53

Jessica: All right.

54

So number one, my number one

recommendation is to get that

55

launch debrief on the calendar

even before you open cart.

56

That way there's no temptation to skip

it, or it doesn't kinda get lost in

57

that muddled I actually like to create

a little form that our team is kinda

58

filling out as we're going throughout

the launch, so that every single day

59

we can capture those little insights

that are happening at that time.

60

And with the debrief, we are looking for

both qualitative and quantitative data.

61

You wanna both look at all of your

metrics, but you also kinda wanna tap

62

into what felt good for whoever the face

of the launch is, what felt bad, where

63

were there some trip-ups or last-minute

stressors kind of thing, all of that

64

stuff, and really kinda start moving

through every single conversion point

65

of that customer journey so that you

can get a accurate read and see kinda

66

where people fell off, where people,

converted so that you can kinda have

67

better intel going into your next launch.

68

Rachel: it's important to note

that, when we say, "Oh, just look at

69

your numbers," "Look at your data,"

that's not super-duper useful, so

70

we wanna really break it down into

the things that you can be doing.

71

And then one of the things that I see

with some of my more AI-heavy clients

72

is that when you are utilizing AI

to give a debrief or have AI help

73

you debrief, is that you're not

necessarily giving them that full

74

picture, which is important, right?

75

Because they have no other context.

76

The AI has no emotional connection

to what you just went through.

77

So when you are giving numbers, you

want to make sure you're looking at

78

every single touch point possible,

whether that's top of funnel, how

79

they come in, middle of funnel, how

they engaged, emails sent, emails

80

opened, clicks, sales page visited, so

closer to that, middle of the funnel.

81

Like, how many sales page did you visit?

82

What was that checkout start?

83

And then that final bottom of the funnel,

which is the purchases, the revenue,

84

the refunds, all of those things.

85

That's the full picture that we're trying

to take moments of insights and say,

86

"This is what we need to be observing."

87

Right now I'm in a big lead magnet

debrief, trying to optimize it, and

88

we have high open rates, 50%-plus,

high click rates, 7% on our click

89

rate, and this is the number one

email that has zero conversions.

90

So my feedback is the email's

doing what it needs to do, right?

91

It's getting people out of their inbox

and into a page, and that's a typical

92

problem when it comes to launches as well.

93

Jessica: I actually have a freebie that

we'll link under that's called the Launch

94

Cure, and it goes through all of the

different metrics that we do look at.

95

And then if you're seeing a

certain thing, it gives you ways

96

to use AI to help tweak that.

97

So we'll definitely link it down below.

98

The numbers, it's important to look at it

from a bunch of different lenses and ways.

99

So we're not just looking at sales, we're

looking at sales per day, so we can see

100

what email might have popped off or what

did we do on social that helped that day.

101

We're looking at not just how many

people converted, but we're also

102

going to look at how long have

these people been on our list?

103

What other content have they consumed?

104

To give us a little more insight about

how long it's taking people to convert

105

and who these people actually are.

106

I know we're gonna talk about sending a

survey to your non-buyers later, but also

107

having a post-purchase survey right there

is a really good way to gather intel, and

108

actually it gets completed a lot 'cause

people have just bought in and invested.

109

So having that on your confirmation

page, I definitely recommend.

110

But making sure that you are not just

skimming over the top of the numbers.

111

This is my revenue, this is

my sales page conversion.

112

But really digging in deep, like you're

a little detective to figure where those

113

opportunities were to maximize and then

where the opportunities are that you just

114

need to tweak so that you can repeat it.

115

And typically, we never will

ever probably tell you to throw

116

your offer in the garbage unless

you didn't like sell one thing.

117

If you sold a couple of your offers,

then that means that the offer is

118

validated and there's just some tweaks

that need to go on before purchase that

119

need to be refined to help you really

start maximize those conversions.

120

Rachel: Yeah, and I was just telling

a client this too, because they run

121

probably about five launches a year, and

every single year for the last two, three

122

years, they have never done a debrief.

123

I call them postmortems.

124

Jessica: That sounds creepy.

125

Rachel: But you never sit there

and literally tear it apart and say

126

what's working and what's not working,

and, what do we wanna continue?

127

What do we wanna stop?

128

My client, they're burnt out because

they are just operating purely off

129

of just "we just need to execute.

130

I don't think they have a lot of

vibes because they're so exhausted.

131

But the importance of this

debrief is to help you pull

132

forward what did do something and

leave behind what didn't work.

133

Typically, when people are

skipping this part, they're

134

pulling forward all of it, right?

135

They're saying "Yeah … well,

we don't know what worked, and so

136

we're just gonna keep doing it."

137

In our annual planning, the Rooted in

Reality Planner, where we're saying

138

there's a lot of things that could

be working, but are also mentally,

139

and physically killing your team.

140

You don't wanna Bring that forward.

141

We need to find efficiencies

in order to scale and do more.

142

So that's essentially the energy of the

debrief, is to really shake off what we

143

don't want to move forward, what we do

want to move forward, and all of that.

144

So in summary, it's a

start, stop, continue.

145

Jessica: Yeah, yeah, definitely

a start, stop, continue.

146

One thing too is we're talking about

live launches right now, but this

147

can definitely should be applied to

evergreen as well at some point, whether

148

it's quarterly, monthly, or whatever.

149

You should be breaking apart

any evergreen funnels you have

150

as well to see what's working.

151

And then on top of that, I think

it's also important to understand

152

what industry benchmarks are.

153

Because for a lot of my clients,

they'll come in and they'll have,

154

you know, maybe 1,000-ish person

email list, and they'll have a

155

bigger 10,000 social media following.

156

But they're expecting to get 500

signups because that's what all they

157

hear about launches and all that.

158

You're supposed to make all this

big money really, really fast.

159

And the reality is that those numbers,

they're not gonna convert like that.

160

So you might have to, instead of

spending your energy trying to figure

161

out why social media isn't working, it's

probably working as much as it could be.

162

And if you need more traffic to your

launch, then that might be a time to

163

explore paid ads, or partnerships,

or affiliates, or other avenues.

164

I had a client over and over again:

" my social need to get better."

165

i'm like, "Your social media is

converting above what industry

166

standards are right now.

167

You just don't have that audience right

now, so we can go pay for the audience,

168

or we can go try to figure out other

ways to get that audience as well."

169

Rachel: I have heard so many people

be like, "I have a wait list full of

170

people", and then they open that cart,

and then it's crickets, or maybe not

171

as many people come in as they thought.

172

And one of the key things to understand

after a launch is the internal

173

workings of what your buyers said or

what your prospects said they were

174

gonna do and what they actually did.

175

Because that gap in consumer

behavior is something that's

176

gonna tell you so many things.

177

Which brings us to that

post-launch survey, which I always

178

launch it to the non-buyers.

179

So anybody that

participated in the launch.

180

You can really segment it down even

further to the people who actively clicked

181

and opened and all of that, just to get

a more focused result out of that survey.

182

But you also wanna survey

your purchasers, right?

183

What did they find to be valuable in your

messaging, and what got them over that

184

hump of actually giving you information?

185

Because that's the data that you

need to unpack, and You're not

186

gonna find it in your email metrics.

187

You have to get it directly from

the words of your non-buyers

188

and the words of your buyers.

189

Jessica: Yeah, and one important thing,

too, when you're building out this

190

survey is that a lot of people will

put price at "Why didn't you buy?"

191

Do not put that.

192

Everyone is going to default for price.

193

Let's go a little bit deeper, and

was it that you didn't think you were

194

gonna get ROI based on the price?

195

Did you not have enough proof

that this price was worth it?

196

Go a little bit deeper into price,

and don't just let them just

197

choose price as a default because

that's not gonna take you anywhere.

198

Of course, everyone didn't buy

because they didn't wanna give you

199

your money, but what was the deeper

reason underneath them not wanting

200

to convert or invest at that time?

201

Rachel: I have found so much success

in this, in being able to pull

202

out misconceptions that maybe your

messaging was presenting, and people

203

just have a little bit of confusion.

204

And so a confused buyer

literally will never buy.

205

So it helps you really narrow down

your messaging for future launches.

206

And I think one important thing here is

if you're thinking like, "Well, I never,

207

ever take surveys", put a call to action

in there and just humanize it, right?

208

Hit reply.

209

I'm on the other side of this

email, and I'm reading every

210

single thing that comes through.

211

If somebody does not fill out your survey,

but has that option to just connect with

212

you, that's still the end goal, right?

213

So I think that that's probably

the most valuable thing.

214

The questions that I always ask, like

Jess said, what was the number one reason

215

that you didn't invest that's not price?

216

And then what would make this

an absolute no-brainer for you?

217

And then maybe if this wasn't

the right fit, what do you want?

218

Something that I always get

pushback on from my clients is that

219

they want to do multiple choice.

220

Select it.

221

So we put the answers in radio

buttons or whatever, drop-downs.

222

It always needs to be open text.

223

Like always.

224

We want the words

directly from their mouth.

225

We want the phrasing directly from

their mouth, and I think that is

226

where the power of this survey lies.

227

Jessica: Yeah.

228

And this is also where AI becomes really

229

useful because why do

we want radio buttons?

230

It's cause it's kinda easy to

filter and sort and kinda get

231

an aggregation of what it is.

232

But now you can take those free text

responses, throw it into AI, and it can

233

still do that summary, but then you have

the exact language, and this is language

234

that you can use and speak to directly

in your social media or in your content

235

so that the buyers think you really get

them, and you really do because you took

236

the time to survey them and you're using

the voice, the verbiage, the language that

237

they would use to describe these problems.

238

Rachel: And I will say, obviously we're

not trying to give the robots everything.

239

Make sure you scrub your list

before you upload it, right?

240

Names, emails, anything identifying,

we're still team human here.

241

Jessica: You don't have

to do all the names.

242

Delete those columns, download

as CSV, delete name and email

243

column, and we just want the data.

244

Rachel: The number three of how to make

sure your launch is super successful

245

is something that I love doing.

246

This kind of happens before the

launch, but it's still really good

247

to check in with after the launch.

248

I think launches can be really emotional,

and people put a lot of weight on

249

having X amount, like what Jess was

talking about with the benchmarks

250

and hitting all of these things.

251

But really establishing a good, better,

best goal system to help you understand,

252

sometimes there's so many reasons that

people do not buy, and you can plan for

253

that in your goal mapping, so having

a good goal and being happy with that.

254

Like, what is good enough for you?

255

What is a better goal?

256

And then what's the best?

257

Like heck yes, let's celebrate

this with popping champagne

258

bottles and everything like that.

259

These are things that I think are

really important to maintain that

260

emotional, balance of a launch

versus just setting yourself up to

261

be like, "I'm gonna sell this out.

262

Everybody on my email list is gonna buy."

263

And then you are gonna be super sad at

the end when maybe you had 10 people

264

buy, and that was your good goal.

265

Jessica: Yeah, I always like to joke

that I'm the worst seller of my launch

266

management services because this is an

exercise that I do with people on the

267

discovery call because I want them to not

have unrealistic expectations of me, like

268

"Yes, I have run a $3 million launch."

269

That does not mean that you can come to me

with a thousand dollar people email list

270

and get a $3 million launch this time.

271

That can be something that we can work

towards and continue to optimize towards.

272

But, really taking down and, breaking

down, what is your audience size?

273

What is your email list size?

274

If you want to use ads to grow,

is your offer validated and what

275

is a realistic budget there you

are willing to invest in that?

276

We can give you guidelines of this

is how many leads we think you can

277

bring in if this is the money you're

gonna spend and that sort of thing.

278

But everything is rooted in

reality and rooted in math because

279

I want you to feel successful.

280

I want you to feel like you're going

to get a return on the investment.

281

And I can say that some people do

come to me, and it's their first

282

time launching this product, and

they just want the support to launch.

283

They know that they're not gonna

get an ROI this time, but all of

284

the assets and things, even when

Rachel's, writing emails, they

285

can reuse in launches to come.

286

So the investment does make worth it if

you're doing this step and debriefing

287

and continuing to optimize each time

and figuring out what you're going

288

to repeat and figuring out what needs

to be tweaked and then figuring out

289

what you can kind of just let go of.

290

But the point is to be rooted in reality.

291

That's one of our, favorite

phrases of this show.

292

But super important when you're going

into launch, both for your team,

293

too, team morale, and for yourself.

294

Rachel: Yeah.

295

And really bad goals can set

you up for so much failure.

296

Making sure you have things that are

actually structured is gonna help.

297

And like we've said, I don't know

if we've said this on this episode,

298

but the truth of launching is that

your first launch will always be the

299

hardest, most mentally twisting thing

that'll make you wanna burn that

300

product down and then start a new one.

301

But then hey, you have to first

time launch that one again too.

302

So debriefing first launch to get

to that second launch, having those

303

good, better, best goals are gonna

be so much easier to build upon

304

that and say, "Okay, we converted.

305

Now my rooted good, better,

best conversion goal was 3%, so

306

that's gonna be my minimum good.

307

5 is gonna be better, and then maybe

6 or 7 will be best," kind of thing.

308

So just understanding that you have to

start someplace and actually giving you

309

validated numbers to start from is more

ideal than sitting there crying when

310

you didn't hit that 10% conversion rate.

311

Jessica: All right, so yeah, here's

the three things on that vein of do

312

not change, just leave these alone.

313

And number one is do not

go and build that offer.

314

Like Rachel said, this

is your first launch.

315

It's gonna be your hardest launch ever,

but you are going to continue to optimize.

316

I have one client and the first

launch I think we had 60 enrollees.

317

The second launch we had 300 enrollees.

318

The next launch we had 900 enrollees

because we continued to do these steps,

319

debrief, survey, gather intel, figure out

what to tweak, what to repeat, so that

320

we can continue to keep getting better.

321

We didn't just throw it out at

the first time because we only

322

got 60 sales this first time.

323

Number one is do not change everything

at once because then it's hard to

324

tell what worked and what didn't work.

325

Rachel and I had a launch client who

we helped rewrite all their copy,

326

their sales page, all of that stuff,

but then she also changed the price.

327

So it was really hard to

tell was it the copywriting?

328

Was it the price?

329

She changed the price without our counsel.

330

Then it was really hard

to tell what went wrong.,

331

So when you are figuring out,

what to tweak, you wanna look

332

for the biggest opportunity.

333

Do you need traffic?

334

Does your sales page

need to convert better?

335

Usually it's not a pricing issue.

336

That seems like the easiest thing to

change, but it's usually not that.

337

Definitely pick and choose what

you're going to change so that

338

okay, this worked, this didn't work.

339

And number three, do not skip documenting

everything, and then keeping everything

340

organized for the next time too.

341

Like we said, a lot of these email

assets you can reuse or tweak.

342

Having debrief, having all of your

social media post, the webinar

343

thing that you did, the recording.

344

You wanna be reusing as many assets

as you are, especially if you're gonna

345

be launching multiple times a year.

346

Rachel: That organization of having

content bank, your email bank, and all

347

of that is only gonna make it so much

easier to refine and improve versus

348

starting from scratch every single time.

349

So whether that is launch one and you're

like, "Ugh, this didn't work," still

350

put it in a Google Doc, in Notion, in

something that you can come back to.

351

And then as you're making changes

in your post-launch debrief, make

352

notes, make comments to yourself

that's like, "Hey, this didn't work.

353

I wanna change this."

354

You don't have to make those changes

right then and there, but just get it

355

out of your brain while it's fresh, and

while you can then come back to it and

356

not have to think back to six months,

seven months, whatever in the past.

357

And then I'm gonna add one bonus

shift here, because I think

358

this one's so freaking impact.

359

It's so important and so powerful,

and I've seen it work time and time

360

again, and it's super time sensitive,

just that survey of understanding

361

things, while your audience is still in

launch mode, is that, after the launch

362

ends and after you close that cart,

363

having downsells..

364

All of those people that were

maybe still potentially interested,

365

but, didn't take that nudge and

needed maybe a step just below.

366

This is a strategy that you

can read out of the book,

367

Influence, by Robert Cialdini.

368

The basics of this is saying,

"Hey, Jess, can I have $100?"

369

And you're like, "No."

370

And you're like, "Oh.

371

Well, can I just borrow five then?"

372

And then a lot more people are gonna

be more likely to say yes to the five,

373

because it's a smaller, easier yes.

374

So essentially, that downsell is

the people who wanted in, couldn't

375

really make that number work,

that's who you're trying to target.

376

Not necessarily the person that

wasn't interested or wasn't

377

correct fit or anything like that.

378

It's just a step down in your ladder.

379

Jessica: Yeah, and I think the

key piece is plan it before.

380

Plan it as a part of the launch, not an

afterthought, because like I said, once

381

you're done with that cart open, you

kinda wanna have this already set up,

382

set it and forget it as an email sequence

that kinda goes out after while you're

383

resting and debriefing and catching

your breath, and it's a nice little way

384

to just scoop up a little bit of money

that may have been left on the table.

385

And then also, if that product is really

good, which it should be, everything you

386

put out should be really good and get

results, then that's helping to prime

387

and warm those people up that maybe

have just come into your ecosystem, and

388

they weren't ready to spend thousands of

dollars with you, but they could invest.

389

They trusted you enough to spend 100.

390

That will help them get them closer

to that ready to invest for next time.

391

Rachel: So let's tie it all together.

392

I know we put a lot

out there on the table.

393

So the three things not to skip in

your post-launch to help you have

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a more successful the next launch.

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One is the debrief.

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Don't skip it.

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Every number, all of your emotions, put

it onto one page so you can see it all

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broken down, instead of trying to reflect

when you're planning your next launch.

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Step two is the non-purchaser survey.

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Send it soon after doors close when

people are the most engaged still.

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Look beyond price.

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Have them understand, their

internal psyche of what didn't work.

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You can do it with four simple questions.

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Step three is the good, better, best.

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Build it off of your actual conversion

rates and the goals that you had

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set at the beginning of your launch

versus maybe industry, what they

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told you should have been converting

at, and all of those things.

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And then after those three

things are done, it's time

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to close it and then reset.

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What we don't want you to do is

don't be building that new offer.

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Don't burn everything down and restart.

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Don't change too many things that

you don't actually know what is

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gonna improve and all of that.

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And then, don't skip documentation.

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Documenting why you're changing things,

what you emotionally didn't vibe with

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during it so that as you go forward

into your next launch, you can plan it a

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little bit more cohesively with past you.

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Jessica: Yep, and this

is my favorite line ever.

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I've been saying it probably for over

five years now, is business is a science.

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Launching is an experiment.

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Treat it like one.

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Be a little detective, researcher.

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Go deep into the data and figure

it out because you can do it.

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It's just numbers at the end of the day.

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I mean, it's people, too, but it

is just numbers, and it is just

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a science that anyone can master.

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So if this episode hit home, make sure you

share it with a business bestie, the one

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that launch might have not gone exactly

how she wanted it a couple of weeks ago.

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This is gonna help her

out for the next round.

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Make sure if you are

launching, we wanna know.

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We wanna follow along.

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Come find us on Instagram

at Deeply Rooted Business.

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Come find us on TikTok, or just hit

reply if you have subscribed to our new

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email newsletter that is now going out.

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If you're not on that, the link

to join that will be on the,

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in the description as well.

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Tell us when you're launching.

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We wanna follow along.

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We might even shoot some, tips

or feedback in as we're watching.

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Make sure you come back next week.

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This is gonna be episode two of our

launch series that we're gonna be

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doing throughout the month of August

because we know that we're heading

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into September and October, November.

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Big heavy launch seasons.

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And until next week, we

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Rachel: rooting for

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Jessica: for you.