We recently took a trip to Point Perpendicular, which delivered more than one pointy moment during that day. It wasn't the tired kids or the food we'd promised our girls when we arrived that didn't exist due to no cafes. No, you see the pointiest of moments happened two hours after finding a nearby cafe for lunch, driving the hour home and then opening the car boot to discover I'd left my handbag in the cafe.
I took a photo of the beautiful view at Point Perpendicular and when my hubby spotted it on Instagram, he remarked: "If only people knew the real story going on behind that photo".
Sales funnels are much like that moment. This past month I’ve undertaken a lot of sales funnel audits and seen what look like Instagram-worthy moments on the front end, but overwhelm and frustration for the entrepreneur on the backend.
Maybe you feel you need to fix your funnel after spending a large sum of money to create a soulful sales funnel and spending even more again on Facebook ads to drive traffic to it.
To fix YOUR sales funnel mistakes, there are really 7 key areas that you need to focus on.
Generally, what I’ve found doing sales funnel audits, is that it comes down to just one or two of the seven top sales funnel mistakes that need attention.
What you may feel is "funnel shame" due to conversion funnel mistakes that needs to be fixed, but it's often merely a funnel in need of a few tweaks.
So let’s dive into the seven key areas you need to look at to fix your sales funnel.
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You don't have clarity around your ideal client
This is one of those areas that often gets overlooked. If you do any course or program, creating your ideal client is often the first step you look to do.
Once upon a time I'd groan at the thought of doing this task AGAIN, but I've learnt to now incorporate it as a regular activity and especially if I'm creating something new.
Each time I do it, my idea client evolves a little more and the picture continues to get clearer on who that person is.
What that allows you to do is:
- your messaging has more clarity
- you have more empathy for the person you’re talking too, so your messaging resonates far more with that person
- you start creating opt-in and paid offers that are more aligned with the person you most want to work with.
So instead of saying I’ll help do sales funnels for anyone who can walk, talk and run a business, I’m really clear on the fact I want to work with service-based businesses and coaches. When someone reads my message and they’re a service-based business or a coach, they know I’m the one that can help them.
Or alternatively, if someone who's aware of me is in a conversation with a service-based business owner or coach who is lamenting the fact their sales funnel isn't working, that person is more likely to respond with: “you know what, you need to talk to Kellie. She’s the one who can help you wth that”.
Contrast that with when we're really generic with our message. We don’t tend to attract many perfect fit clients - if at all - because people don’t identify you as the person with that really clear, distinct answer to their problem.
So get really clear on who that ideal client is and really niche down so you become the go-to person for whoever it is you work with.
So who is your ideal client? How are you niching down so when they read your messages they know you’re calling out to them specifically - they can hear it and they can feel it?
2. Your Opt-in Offer Isn’t Aligned
We just spoke about opt-in offers, but this one is similar in that you’re not calling out to the person you most want to be working with through your lead magnet offer.
During my marketing mastermind, we do a “Get It Done Day” to get your sales funnel up and running quickly - because you can't audit something if it doesn't exist.
Within that day, one of the biggest aha moments is when participants identify their opt-in is attracting their competitors or someone researching that subject for their own business, as opposed to their ideal client. So you end up creating an opt-in offer for your peers and not your ideal client. This is one area to fix your funnel.
So audit your opt-in offer. Is it actually what your ideal client want or does it make you look good in front of your peers?
3. Your email sequence isn’t connecting with your ideal client
When we get really clear on who that ideal client is and we know what the piece of content is - or the free opt-in - we have a much clearer idea of what the stories are that we need through that email sequence.
Again, this is where people sometimes throw a bunch of stuff at the beginning because they want to give value, followed by a couple of sales emails, but there’s no real strategy behind what they’re doing with those emails.
So think really clearly about what is the path that gets them from the free opt-in offer to the paid offer. How do you bridge the gap between those two things and what do you need to demonstrate to that person to get them to take the next step with you?
Are you being strategic about what emails go into your sequence, how long that sequence need to be and whether you're touching on critical messages, like overcoming objections and sharing your why?
4. Don’t have a clear value ladder
Having a business eco-system built around your value ladder is important in a sales funnel, because it's not just about moving people from free content to paid offer. It's about the long-term relationship you're looking to build with someone and how you can fully service them.
A value ladder is the free and paid offers in logical order that your ideal client might experience them. Of course, some people skip right tot he top of the ladder and skip a few rungs.
When I work with clients, we take that value ladder and create a business eco-system map - a high level holistic view of what your business looks like and how it "flows".
You see, it's much easier to get a client to invest with you again than it is to spend money acquiring a new client. So this value ladder is critical to your business' growth and to building a long-term relationship with clients.
What is your value ladder? How does that work in your business and how are you getting people to take on the next offer in your business so they’re not just a one-off client?
5. You’re sales funnel is just too complex
Have you got a quiz set up, a PDF checklist and a three-part video sequence all triggering within one sales funnel? If so, it's likely way too complex and you're struggling to track it and know which components are working and which ones aren’t converting.
It's important to start simple or look at simplifying things when you fix your funnel. It’s why when you do searches for sales funnels everybody has this really basic version of a sales funnel, because that’s where you need to start.
Start with a simple, easy to follow system that you can track.
Once you’ve tracked it and got that working, then you can add on additional pieces as you see opportunities for things to be expanded, to be improved or to enhance.
So don’t start with something complicated, because chances are it will fail because there’s no way for you to know what’s working and what’s not.
Can you easily track the analytics of your sales funnel? Or does it all feel too complicated?
6. There’s not enough people going through your sales funnel
Nine out of 10 people who tell me their sales funnel isn’t working have a traffic problem. When I look at the analytics, there just hasn’t been enough people going through it at the front end to be able to get the results at the back end.
Everyone’s conversion rates are different, so it's often difficult to sprout numbers in a post like this and for you to then swear by them. There can be a big difference between warm traffic (like current list subscribers or Google traffic that coms in via a blog post) and cold traffic (like someone else's audience targeted via Facebook ads).
But as a simple guide you should aim for:
- An opt-in that’s converting at at least 30% or more
- A download of or access to your free opt-in at 75% or more.
- Open rates that stay above 25% (you'll notice significantly higher open rates higher in the sequence and lower as you near the sales messages). Clickthrough rates will vary dramatically
- Conversion rates on sales page are typically 1-3%. However, it depends on the offer and how warm the leads were. For example, I've had clients with sales pages that convert up to 9%
But even a 9% conversion rate is only successful if financially it's covering the cost of any advertising being done. Or, if it's only breaking even or even making a loss, that there's another offer in the value ladder that provides the profit.
So it’s important to look at how many people you have going through, because if you only have a small amount of people at the front end, you’ll never be able to know if the back end - or the stages later in your value ladder - are actually working.
Many times I've discovered that clients who felt their sales funnels were failing in fact had insanely good conversion rates. The issue of not getting enough sales stemmed from not having enough people going through the system.
But not just any ol' person will do. One other thing to be mindful of is that the people you ARE attracting are actually aligned to you, your business and your offer. Be wary of someone who can promise “cheap leads on Facebook”, because sometimes they can end up being expensive leads because they don’t actually buy.
How many people do you currently have going through your sales funnel? Have you had at least 100 people see your offer yet?
7 Your offer isn’t enticing enough or copywriting not strong enough
If you've found yourself having ticked all the boxes above, - with great conversion rates on your opt-in offer and great opens and clicks in your email sequence - this may be where you need help... getting sales.
Really, our sales funnel can look amazing at the front end and have incredible conversions, but if it’s not converting into sales then it’s not a success. And this is where we need to be looking.
Sometimes it's that:
- the offer isn’t quite right - it’s not what your ideal client wants, so you need to go back to the drawing board with that offer
- it’s not aligned to the rest of the sales funnel - everything works really well up until the point of the offer because the offer doesn’t match the rest of the sales funnel.
- the pricing doesn't work with the offer, the audience or your positioning. There’s a lot of psychology around products that are “too cheap” and things that are “too expensive” and what your audience is prepared to pay.
There’s also other triggers that entice people to take action with you. And one that needs to happen throughout your entire sales funnel is the business storytelling.
What are the stories you’re telling through your
- marketing,
- opt-in offer,
- email sequence and
- sales pages.
What are the stories you’re telling that allow people to say: “I need this. This is the answer I’ve been looking for. And I trust you with my money and to give me the transformation I most want and need”.
Go back and audit the offer itself, getting clear on the positioning of the offer, who it's most ideal for, the pricing, the messaging and the eventual transformation it provides.
Once you have this piece converting, it’s simply about getting the most aligned people moving through that entire system for a consistent, predictable flow of leads that result in clients.
You’ve probably heard me say it before, but it’s like the “insurance in your business” - that, when life happens, this system has already been set up, it’s already working for you and it’s bringing through that repeatable business.
Beyond the Funnel - What Happens After You Fix Your Funnel?
So you fix your funnel. Now what? What happen beyond this initial sales funnel conversion?
Well, the truth is this is just the start. The reality is, only a small percentage of people who go through your initial sales funnel will buy. But, if done correctly, you can bet that 100% of them gained value if you did all the above steps correctly.
Obviously, not all leads turn into sales. In fact, in my own business, it’s rare for people to go through an initial sales funnel and become instant clients. Often, it takes at last 90 days before someone decides “yes, I want to work with you”.
If they do become a client, then there’s a pathway they can follow that nurtures them, builds a relationship and extends an invitation to work with me in another way.
If they don’t become a client, they’ll continue to gain value from me through free content and will be offered relevant paid invitations based on their actions.
A sales funnel doesn’t end when the final ‘cart close” email is delivered - or whatever your final CTA is.
The relationship must continue. This is really the secret to a successful sales funnel - one that's designed for the long game, not a quick buck. You’re in to build relationships, not just take people’s money.
Yes, you need to get paid and you should never shy away from that. But you also need to understand that everyone’s buying journey is different.
So take a look at your current clients. How long did it take for those people to turn into clients from the point they first discovered you or got on your list?
This gives you clues as to how much nurturing is going to be required for people to be comfortable with investing with you.
If you would like your sales funnel audited - you have a bit of a sales funnel started or you have a really complex one set up and now you don’t know what to do with it - book in a time for us to chat.
This is a complimentary 30-minute call to look at your sales funnel.
I’d love to see more women having really successful sales funnels and building that insurance into their business, so when "life happens" your business doesn’t suffer during that time. Instead, you have this wonderful system set up that’s continues to pay you regardless of what else is happening.
If you have yet to start your sales funnel and you're looking for a done for you sales funnel, learn more.
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