As a coach, you may be wondering if sales funnels can help you grow your business. After all, with over 12 million results on Google, it’s clear that this is a popular topic.
However, most of the information out there is not specific to coaches. That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate guide to creating effective sales funnels for coaches.
We’ll cover everything from what a sales funnel is to how you can use one to grow your business.
So whether you’re a business coach, personal trainer, health coach, selling online courses, or professional coaching services, this guide is for you.
After reading, you’ll:
Gain a better understanding of what a sales funnel is and how it works
Learn how to create an effective sales funnel for your coaching business
Get insider tips and strategies that are specific to coaches
Discover ways to use your funnel to grow your coaching business
Get access to exclusive resources that will help you take your coaching business to the next level
Now, let’s get started!
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What Is A Sales Funnel For Coaches?
A sales funnel is simply a process that takes your dream clients through a journey that eventually leads them to convert into qualified leads and then purchase your coaching program.
The traditional sales funnel typically consists of the following stages:
Build Awareness: This is the first stage; you’ll want to focus on creating content that will help you attract people who are your potential customers and get them interested in what you have to offer.
Gain Interest: Create content that further educates them on the benefits of coaching and how it can help them achieve their goals.
Buying Decision: In this stage, you’ll focus on helping your dream clients see how coaching can specifically help them achieve their desired outcome. (sharing testimonials, case studies, or even creating a free mini-course that helps them get started with coaching.)
Action: Finally, you’ll want to encourage your dream clients to take action and sign up for your coaching program. To do this, you’ll need to have an effective sales page or checkout process that makes it easy for them to purchase.
We’ll not go too deep about sales funnel definition in this post, but we have an in-depth guide covering everything from the basics to more advanced strategies if you want to learn more.
Now that you know what a sales funnel is and how it works let’s look at why business coaches need to build it instead of focusing on other methods.
Why Does Coaching Business Need To Build Sales Funnels?
Nowadays, coaching services are a rapidly growing industry and are worth over $2.85 Billion in 2019
With so many businesses competing for attention online, it can be challenging to stand out from the crowd and attract potential coaching clients.
Once a coach has found potential clients, they then need to find a way to convert them into paying customers.
You’ve tried all of the digital marketing strategies out there, and you still aren’t seeing the results you want. It’s so frustrating when you put in all that time and effort and don’t see any return on investment.
You feel like you’re spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere.
SEO, Youtube marketing, writing blog content, or social media marketing are great ways to build awareness and convert cold traffic to warm.
But they’re time-consuming and don’t do a good job of converting that traffic into paying customers.
This is where a sales funnel comes in. A well-designed and effective sales funnel can help you:
Attract more clients to your coaching business
Build trust and credibility
Convert them into paying clients
Increase the lifetime value of your customers
And much, much more…
So should I skip all that and focus on the sales funnel?
No, don’t get me wrong!
If you currently have a blog post site, Youtube channel, or creating content to generate social media followers.
Keep doing it…
We don’t change anything but optimize the process to improve the conversion rate.
In fact, every business has a sales funnel, even if they’re not aware of it.
Creating a sales funnel can feel like a daunting task.
But it doesn’t have to be! You can create a sales funnel explicitly tailored for coaches by following a few simple steps.
The 3 Best Sales Funnels For Coaches
If you want to sell more coaching programs, you need the right sales funnel. But with so many options out there, it can be tough to know which one to choose. The good news is that you don’t have to overthink it.
Here are three sales funnel templates that many coaches used and helped them sell like crazy.
Now let’s see how those sales funnel works.
1. Lead Magnet Funnel
Lead Magnet Funnel (or Lead Funnel) is a simple funnel that can help you generate a list of ideal clients by providing something of value for free in order to capture leads.
Here’s how it works:
Opt-in Page: A landing page where you offer a freebie (lead magnet) in exchange for someone’s email address. This could be a PDF report, an audio training, or a video course. Once they opt-in, they’re added to your email list and sent to a thank-you page.
Thank You Page: A page where you thank them for opting in and provide instructions on how to access the freebie they just signed up for. You can also include additional resources or offer a free call on this page. So, you can make a call and close the deal.
Most people won’t make a purchase or sign up for your coaching program right away.
This is why it’s important to lead them through a sequence of emails (email nurture sequence) that build trust and credibility.
You can start building a relationship with them by sending them valuable content. After a few emails, you can then offer them a paid coaching program. If they’re interested, they’ll buy it and become your client.
But if not, no problem – you’ve still built up goodwill with them.
They may buy from you in the future or send them moving forward to the next funnel, and you still make profitable from it.
2. Tripwire Sales Funnel
A Tripwire Funnel is designed to get people to buy a low-priced product or service from you as an introductory offer.
The goal is to get them to purchase from you so that you can get a high-quality list of the ideal client, help you cover the cost of ad spend, and start building a relationship with them.
The Tripwire sales funnel usually has four pages:
Sales Page: A landing page where you promote your tripwire offer. It is important to carefully consider the offer and the price point. If the offer is not attractive or the price is too high, people will not take advantage of it.
For example, if you’re a life coach who specializes in helping people overcome anxiety, your tripwire could be an e-book on anxious thinking patterns and how to reframe them. You could set it as $7 or $17 price.
Checkout Page: Once they click on the call to action button, they’re taken to a checkout page where they complete the purchase.
Upsell Page: After they purchase the tripwire, they’re taken to an upsell page where you offer them a related product or service at a higher price point.
Most coaches forget or are not aware that they can use their knowledge to create an online course and make a lot of money from it.
I know your core offer is a coaching program. But, by creating a low-priced tripwire and some upsells, you can increase the customer’s average cart value.
Offer both online courses and coaching together you can reach a wider range of people and help them achieve their goals. There is no limit on location or time, which gives you more opportunity and potential to make money.
Thank You Page: You can also include a video on this page that further explains what they just purchased and how it will help them. By doing this, you increase the chances of them using and benefiting from what they bought from you.
Plus, you can invite them to connect on social media or offer a free 30 mins 1-1 consultant.
This will show them your value and how you can help them solve their problems faster.
If they like the conversation and are persuaded, they’ll be more likely to purchase your high-ticket coaching program and become a paying client.
3. High Ticket Coaching Funnel
Last but not least, is the high ticket coaching funnel.
This type of funnel is designed to sell a high-priced coaching program. The average price point for these programs is over $2000. There are two types of funnel that you can use to generate coaching clients:
As a coach, I highly recommend you should use the application funnel.
Here’s how the sales funnel works:
Application landing page: You can create a video success story from your current clients or a video explaining why they should work with you. What benefits you can bring to them. Once people click on the CTA button, the application form appears.
The application form will be longer and different from the simple op-in form in the lead magnet funnel.
Besides general information such as name and email, you’ll ask them other questions depending on your niche – What you really want to know about them.
The goal of the application form is to help you identify the ideal client’s problems, who they are, what are their pain points, etc.
You should get as much information as possible about them before your sales call
Don’t forget to add the calendar on this page, so your ideal client can book the best time for the consultation call.
After they submit the application, they will be redirected to the thank you page.
Thank You Page: You can deliver more value by giving them free resources (an ebook, or a mini-course)
Make A Call: Now you have all the necessary information from the potential client, it’s time to make a sales call and close the deal.
If you need a script for the sales call, you can read the Dotcom Secrets book, which gives you printable and editable copies.
They provide you the different scripts depending on who is calling – You (the expert) or your sales team.
Click here to get the book for free (just pay a small fee for shipping)
The Big Picture Of Your Marketing Funnels
After understanding the different types of sales funnel for coaches. Now, you may be wondering which one is better? Or what is the plan?
We believe that the best way to sell anything online is using a Value Ladder. In fact, the three sales funnels above are standing on different steps of it!
Bait: Lead Magnet Funnel
Front End: Tripwire Funnel
Backend: Application Funnel
Here is the process that your potential clients go through.
First: Connect with your audience by using content marketing. This could be from blog posts, articles, or even social media posts.
The key is to create content that will encourage people to click through to your Lead Magnet Funnel.
Second: Once people drive in your Lead Magnet Funnel, it’s time to use all your marketing efforts to convert visitors to leads.
Third: After people receive your free value and join your email list. The next step is to build a relationship with them by sending a follow-up email sequence. After that convince them to get your tripwire offer.
Fourth: You use the Tripwire Funnel. This step aims to help convert potential customers into paying ones by giving them an introductory offer and then returning your investment on ads through targeted campaigns.
In a simple word: this funnel helps break even and get a high-quality email list.
Fifth: Now that you have a list of people who have purchased from you, it’s time to offer them your high-ticket coaching program through the Application Funnel.
If you’ve done well in all steps above, then the traffic that you drive into this funnel is actually free.
Here is where you promote your core offer and all of them are your profits.
Coaching Sales Funnel Best Practices
There are a few best practices that you can follow to ensure that your coaching funnel is as effective as possible.
Identify Target Audience
The first step in any sales funnel is to identify your target audience. This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many businesses don’t take the time to do this essential step.
The truth is, if you don’t know who you’re trying to sell to, it will be very difficult to craft an effective sales message. So take the time to think about your ideal customer and what they are looking for.
Once you have a good understanding of your audience, you can move on to the next step in creating a successful sales funnel.
Note: If you’re unsure about how to identify your dream coaching client, so you can check out 9 simple ways to do it from Databox here
Create An Irresistible Lead Magnet
Source: Fit2Fat2Fit
The next step is to create lead magnets that are relevant to your audience. The key is to make sure that your lead magnet is high quality and targeted to the right people. Otherwise, you’ll just be wasting your time.
For example, if you’re a fitness coach, you could create an ebook about diet cheat sheets, calorie calculators, or a mini-course about workouts at home.
Don’t want to do it?
You can go to Funnel Rolodex or Fiverr to hire someone to write and design the lead magnet for you with a few bucks.
On the other hand, if you have no ideas for a lead magnet, you can check out the Lead Funnels Swipe File (for $7).
It provides 106 world’s successful lead funnels, so you can get inspired and start modeling them.
Focus on Your Headline
The headline is the most important part of your landing pages. It’s what determines whether someone will stay on your page or click away.
That’s why it’s so important to spend time crafting a headline that will capture attention and encourage people to stick around.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating your headline:
Be clear and concise: Your headline should be easy to understand and free of jargon.
Make a promise: Give people a reason to stick around by promising them valuable content.
Create curiosity: Use your headline to pique people’s curiosity and get them interested in what you have to say.
The easy way to create a compelling headline is using Funnel Scripts.
It helps you generate a hundred headlines or titles in minutes (Even if you’re bad at copywriting)
Make Sure Use Retarget Ads
According to the Rule of 7,
Prospect needs to “hear” the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service.
No wonder you have a compelling headline and irresistible offer, but people still leave your landing pages without taking any action.
That’s why you need Re-Targeting Ad campaigns.
If you’re not using retargeting ads as part of your sales funnel, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Retargeting ads are incredibly effective at keeping your brand top of mind with your audience, and they can be a key component in driving conversions.
Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when using retargeting ads:
Make sure your ad creative is relevant and engaging. Remember, you’re trying to reach people who have already shown an interest in your product or service, so your ad should be carefully tailored to their needs and interests.
Use a strong call to action. Your goal is to get people to take action, so make sure your CTA is clear and concise.
Test, test, test. As with any marketing initiative, it’s important to test different versions of your ad to see what performs best. Try different copies, images, and calls to action to find what works best for your business.
By following these best practices, you can make sure that your retargeting ads are highly effective and drive results for your business.
Analyze Your Sales Funnel
Image Source: Click here
The final step in optimizing your sales funnel is to analyze your results. This step is critical in understanding what’s working and what’s not so that you can make adjustments accordingly. There are a few key metrics you should track:
Cost per acquire a client: This metric tells you how much it costs to acquire a new client through your sales funnel.
Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors who take the desired action (e.g. Opt-in, purchased tripwire offer, how many clients your team closed, etc.). A higher conversion rate means that your funnel is more effective.
Average cart value: The average amount that customers spend when they make a purchase. A higher average order value indicates that your sales funnel is delivering high-value customers.
By tracking these key metrics, you can get a clear picture of how your sales funnel is performing and make necessary adjustments to improve your results.
So, these are simple best practices, you can create a highly effective coaching sales funnel that can help you to boost conversions, get more coaching leads, and create clients faster.
What Would You Do If Your Coaching Funnel Doesn’t Work?
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “if you build it, they will come.” But when it comes to your coaching funnel, that’s not always the case. Just because you’ve created a funnel doesn’t mean it’s going to work. In fact, there’s a good chance that your funnel isn’t working as well as it could be.
Your landing pages design are bad or ugly
Drive the wrong audience to the funnel
The message on the landing page is boring
Your ads didn’t good enough
etc
So what do you do if your coaching funnel doesn’t work?
If you use funnel templates from Clickfunnels or Systeme, the issues rarely come from your design.
Suppose the design of your landing pages and ads campaign is good. Then 90% of the problem comes from your Hook, Story, or Offer.
Russell Brunson explains very detail about it in the video below.
For example, If people come to your lead funnel but they don’t convert to leads. So you should take a look at the headline, your message, or the lead magnet.
Take A Look At Real Coaching Sales Funnel Examples
The best way to understand how to create a funnel for coaches is to take a look at some real-world examples.
Rob Cuesta
Rob Cuesta is a coach and marketing expert. He helps people use their knowledge to become a leader in their industry.
Let’s see how his funnel works:
Website: Robcuesta.com
Bait: Free book that teaches people how to generate leads and grow revenue with a book
Thank You Page: He creates a video to warm up his subscribers. He explains how a book can help them get more leads, close more deals and raise the price.
CTA: Provide the link to download the free book. Plus, book a 30-minute one-on-one call consultant for free.
Business Success Solution
Loren Fogelman is a business coach who specializes in helping her clients identify and clear the obstacles to their success. She has worked with clients from a wide range of industries, and she has a deep understanding of the challenges that business owners face.
In addition to her coaching work, Loren is also an experienced speaker and workshop leader. She is passionate about helping her clients achieve their goals, and she has a proven track record of success.
Let’s see how Loren Funnel’s work
Website: Businesssuccesssolution.com
Lead Magnet: On the first page, she offers a free ebook about how to get potential clients excited to work with you.
Thank You Page: Once people opt in, they’ll direct to the thank you page where she provides the link to download the ebook for free. Plus, she introduce the limited offer.
Application Page: After subscribers click on the CTA button, they’ll direct to the application page with the form that includes various questions. After submitting the form, she’ll contact you within 3 business days about scheduling your appointment.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Everything you need to get started with your own coaching sales funnel.
I hope you liked the ideas and strategies that I shared. It’s simple but extremely powerful.
Now, it can be challenging to put into action when you build your funnel the first time. Remember, the most important part is to constantly test and tweak your funnel to make sure it’s working as well as it can.
If you have any questions or want some help getting started, be sure to leave a comment below.
Have fun and success!
What Next? Get This Free Resources For Coaching Business
Now, you already know how to create a coaching sales funnel. I truly understand that you want to look at real-life examples of how successful online coaches or personal trainers can attract ideal clients, convert leads and get more sales.
So, I highly recommend you register for the Brick and Mortar Summit, or 30 Days summit (Free) where you can learn from business owners (just like you):
Gym owner
Medicare coach
Relationship coaching
Real estate investing coach
Local business consultant
Fitness studio
etc
They will teach you how to use a simple sales funnel to get at least 100 or more paying clients in the next 100 days. (Even if you’re a new coach, no list, referral, and in a market that has more big competitors)
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