Ok so one of the trends I see all of time especially in Facebook groups is people posting these complex or well thought out sales funnels and maps. You’ve seen them too. They normally start with something like Heres the funnel I use to book X calls every day, or heres the only funnel you’ll ever need for real estate, or coaching or affiliate marketing or WHATEVER ELSE.
and for the most part these people mean well. Most of them are sharing so you reach out and hire them but it’s not a bad way to go about it. Value is value.
If you’re watching this or listening to the podcast version, theres a good chance you’ve actually taken one of these maps or strategies and tried to implement them yourself. And I’m willing to bet that if they worked at all, it probably didn't work as you expected it to, OR as well as it did for the person who created it.
Because chances are, they didn't jump out of bed one day, map these complex systems out on a napkin, build it and make 1 million dollars. No, chances are they started simple, and refined the process over time, adding in the pieces they need specifically for their business and their unique customer journey.
There’s something I’m sure you’ve heard of… the 80/20 rule.
Like most things in life, and especially business, the 80/20 rule can be applied to funnels as well. The structure, flow and design of the funnel only really account for 20%. Your offer, your messaging, your hooks, they actually make up that other 80%
So many people always fall into this trap of thinking the more advanced and complicated a process is, the better it must perform. Trust me I use to think the same thing, and what I’ve come to find over the years is that for the most part, simple is all you need. The more complexity something has just makes it that much more vulnerable.
And thats why so many people can plug their business into one of these super specific funnels and not see any results at all.
You see, the biggest risks you take when you build a system like this is adding in friction where you don't need it. Friction makes it harder to do business with you, but its not always a bad thing.
Most businesses, especially the businesses with the complex funnels, add in friction when their business grow to a point that its needed.
So when is it needed?
well, You always want to start off with the least amount of friction in a funnel. A common point to add friction in would be in a funnel where you want someone to book a call. If you get to the point where you’re generating so many leads that your calendar is filling up completely, and you find that a lot of the people booking calls don't actually qualify to work with you, thats where you might add in a piece of friction, like an application form that people need to fill out. Typically adding this simple step will reduce the number of people who book a call, giving more opportunity for your calendar to fill up with only qualified prospects.
But if you have an empty calendar to begin with, the last thing you should be doing is adding in friction. You should be speaking with as many people as possible, because by having those conversations, you might find out that your ads are simply targeting the wrong audience, or that your audience is really looking for a different offer from you.
I don't know about you but I’d rather have that information, than no information at all because my funnel isn't even converting and I have no idea why.
And thats the risk you take when you adopt one of these pre-made funnels or sales systems. Cookie cutter only works when its simple, complex cookie cutter rarely works at all. You need a customized system for your business, your offer, and your audience. You don’t get that straight out of the box. you start simple, find what works and iterate over time to improve efficiency, ROI, and conversions.
At the end of the day, your funnel will never work if you can't:
Those pieces right there are what I’ve found business owners need the most help with. I can show you Solopreneurs and even large businesses that make millions with the small simple funnels. 2, maybe 3 step funnels, the proper follow up and a dedicated nurture strategy, and thats all they need.
It isn't as sexy as one of these big complicated funnel maps that people post, but it takes a third of the time to setup and implement, and you can spend the rest of that time making sure all of the other pieces are in place.
Thats why when I do complete growth engine build for clients, I build it in a way that allows them add in those pieces over time when it makes sense to add them, without overcomplicating things that don’t need to be complicated.
If you want more information on what my Done For You growth engine would look like for your business I’ll leave a link in the description, but lets keep going.
HOW - How do they go about building it the right way?
So if you’re not going to build a complete marketing flywheel, and you want to give it a shot on your own, building piece by piece, here’s what you should do.
Follow the proven systems, don't recreate the wheel. Start with a lead magnet. If you cant get someone to raise their hand and exchange their email for something that solves one of their problems quickly and easily, or that takes them 1 step closer to their desired result, then you’ll never be able to sell anyone.
So start with a lead magnet funnel with an email sequence. Thats IT! Don’t waste your time going any further. Instead spend your time testing different lead magnets to see which works the best. In a perfect world you’ll end up with a handful that consistently drive new leads onto your list every day.
NEXT, after you have a funnel thats generating leads, now you can go in and offer them the next step. This could be an upsell, a cross sell, it could be anything. But you need to ask yourself what they would want the next step to be. Most people put a sales page here, which can convert really well.
BUT, why is it that some people can go from lead magnet to upsell, and convert leads into buyers like crazy, and some people can’t seem to do no matter what they do? Whenever I’ve audited these funnels for clients I’ve found it rarely has anything to do with the copy or the offer or the design or any of that. MOST of the time people don’t convert because of where they are in their buyers journey. If you look at it from a prospects point of view, are they even ready for that offer, or do they need something else to get them there?
Here’s an example, If you’re a business coach and you run an ad to a cold audience for a lead magnet thats a free training on how to create better lead magnet, they likely won't be ready to buy your complete business framework. You haven't build up their trust level to throw out their current business structure and use yours. A better next step would be something that takes them a little further in their customer journey, like a course, guide, about your nurture system that shows them how they can take the leads your training helped them generate, and nurture those leads through email so they can turn them into sales. THEN the next best step might be to offer your complete system.
So this is why you want to build things step by step. And if by the end you wind up with a big complex funnel or sales system, fine, you know why each piece needs to be there and the role it plays. You can justify it.
Another advantage of building it in this way and only adding pieces on 1 by 1 is you get to market significantly faster, AND you know which piece is increasing conversions or causing a bottleneck. If you build one big massive complicated system you’ll end up spending weeks or months if you finish it at all, and then you’ll have no idea which piece is increasing or decreasing conversions because you have no baseline to start from.
Starting small also lets you focus in all of your attention on just that 1 piece. That 1 asset. And by focusing on just that you’ll be able to execute on it at a much higher level, rather that worrying bout writing copy and designing pages and offers for 100 different things. There’s no way you’ll be able to execute at a high level without a team around you.
So the key is to follow through the customer journey. Don’t make the mistake of choosing what your next step is by copying someone else. It should be pretty clear what the natural next step is, especially if you’ve gone through the Offer Section of the Solopreneur Playbook where I walk you through the process of creating and positioning bulletproof, irresistible offers for your business from lead magnet all the way to your core offer. So if you haven't already I’ll link up here as well as in the description so you can get that free worksheet that walks you through it.
Remember, Building an online business is easy when you have the Playbook.
