The Ultimate Guide To Selling Out Your Courses & Coaching Offers Using Sales Funnels

So, you want to sell out your programs and offers but don’t know where to start? This article will provide you with an effective process for building your sales funnels.

Some gurus and experts will make you (or have already made you) think that creating online courses or crafting and selling coaching programs is easy. While the production part may seem like a piece of cake, the selling part does not happen magically. You can’t just put up a sales page, call out on social, “hey folks, doors are open!” and wish on a star that your perfect buyer will find you and hand you her credit card as fast as she sees your offer.

This wishful thinking is simply a waste of time. While I suggest you have a sale page and put your offers on your website, you simply can’t depend on organic traffic and search engines to draw people to your offer. The internet is far too big, and competition is much too fierce (and let’s not talk about people’s attention span…) Consider organic traffic and a nice perk if you can get it. Your focus really needs to be on actively marketing your programs.

Want to create an online course but not sure which idea will work or even where to start? Read the “How to find ideas to create your own online course” to get your wheels running.

Now that we got this out of the way let’s get to the good stuff…

Want An Effective Sales Funnel? Start With Setting Your Intentions First

Before you do anything else, you have to know your intentions and sales goals.

What does the phrase “selling out” mean to you? Is it a monetary value or a certain number of students and clients? Both? How will you know when you get there if you don’t define where ‘there” is first, right?

Once you understand why you’re in business, what your intentions are for your business, and who you aim to serve, you’ll find a weight lifted off your shoulders. Instead of playing a mysterious guessing game about what you want to say and how to communicate it so the right people get it, you’ll know EXACTLY how to coach the conversion.

Get yourself motivated to fulfill your intentions and crush your goals

Ask yourself these questions:

Why do I want this?
How will this intention (goal) benefit me?
How hitting this goal will help others?
How hitting this goal will help the world?
What will I gain if I go after this goal and achieve it?
If I don’t go after this, what could I lose?
What resources do I already have available to help me meet this goal? (For example: Do you already have an established audience to sell to? Do you have testimonials from previous clients? Anything that might help you reach this goal is good to get on paper.)

Many entrepreneurs are tempted to take the “let’s see what happens” route but does that really excite or inspire you? When you set an intention and specific goals like reaching a certain amount in sales or a certain number of new clients, you can track your progress and improve.

The next essential step is to

Gain Razor-Sharp Clarity On Your Message

If you want your business to grow, earn a sizeable profit, and make a bigger impact, you need to be proactive with your marketing, i.e., sharing your message. Yet the biggest mistake coaches, service providers, and online experts make is not being clear on their message in the first place.

If you’re unsure of your message and have no idea who you are talking to, you’re in for an uphill battle. But have no fear! It’s not too late to create a message that reflects YOU and connects with the right people on an invisible level. The truth is: If YOU don’t know what you stand for or believe in, how will your ideal buyer know you’re the perfect person to help them?

Now that you’ve got a bit more clarity around your intentions and messaging, it’s time to get some clarity around exactly who you’re selling to.

Build A Brilliant Offer Tailored To Your Perfect Buyers Before You Start Mapping Out Your Sales Funnel

To feel 100% confident about selling your programs and offers and making the process much easier on yourself, you need major clarity about exactly what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to.

First, identify what skills you have that you’ll use to provide a transformation for your clients. Are you capable of delivering this promised transformation? You must honestly believe this to be true, or your lack of confidence will show.

Next, you’ll need to determine WHAT problem you’re solving for your clients with this program, 1:1 coaching, or service offer. (And remember, you don’t have to solve every problem for every person–especially not in one offer!) If your clients have a varied list of problems or needs, you might consider tackling each of those in separate classes or group programs. Private coaching sessions and 1:1 services allow much more latitude. However, when building and growing with digital courses or group coaching programs, the idea is to tackle just one problem per course or group coaching program. As I’m sure you know, there’s rarely a “one size fits all” solution in this world.

Whether you’ve done this type of work before, you can never go wrong by doing it again or diving deeper into your perfect buyer’s needs. The more in-depth you can know these people, the more you’ll connect with your marketing efforts. You want to empathize with them. You want to relate to them and know exactly how they feel in their current situation. Showing empathy and compassion (instead of just launching into a hardcore sales pitch) will win you quite a few more fans.

Dreaming up a perfect buyer might be tricky for you, but here are a few things that will differentiate a “good enough” offer buyer (aka someone who has the problem you solve) from a PERFECT buyer:

The PERFECT buyer should tick the following boxes:

ONE specific group of people (Translation: You’re not trying to talk to everyone. You’ve chosen to focus on a particular person with one specific problem, i.e., you’re not trying to solve every problem a parent has, but a particular one a specific type of parent has.)

Holds your same or similar worldview and values

Is ready and willing to pay for what you’re offering

Is already interested in or believes in what you’re offering. For example, if you’re an astrology coach who helps people build their business around the moon’s cycles, you probably DON’T want to choose someone who is brand new to astrology or skeptical about it as your ideal client.

Why is this perfect buyer exercise so important? Quite simply, it’s much easier to sell to an audience already looking for what you offer. Or an audience who’s at least interested in or believes in whatever you sell. Would you try to sell cheeseburgers to a vegan? Or the classic example of selling ice to Eskimos. Don’t make it harder on yourself by skipping this exercise.

And one quick note:

Do the work but don’t let perfection hold you back from creating or launching products or programs your audience can use. Sometimes identifying your perfect buyer is a fluid process, and you’ll notice some changes in that demographic over time. That’s perfectly fine and natural, but you should start with a good understanding of your audience.

Now it’s time to think about WHAT you will offer this particular segment. Your solution should be the bridge between where they are now and where they want to be. Your program is THE solution to their problem.

So, how do you create an irresistible offer – one you can stand behind and your people actually want to buy?

Think back to the #1 problem your ideal clients are struggling with. Think about the 1-3 results you can promise with your program. What will life look like for them after working with you? What transformation will they receive or go through as a result of working with you?

Now, think about WHAT and HOW you can assist them in getting those results. What do they need? Support, accountability, a curriculum of modules on particular subjects?

What do they WANT? Sometimes your perfect buyer has no idea what they want, so they’re coming to you for your expertise. Or sometimes what they want is different than what you know they need – and that’s okay!

Write out exactly what this offer looks like:

What is the transformation you’re promising?
What exactly is included and why?

While it’s essential to know the features (the WHAT) of all that’s included in the program or service you’re offering, it’s more important to focus on the RESULTS/BENEFITS/TRANSFORMATION those features will provide. Show empathy and compassion for your clients and sell the results instead of the features.

Lastly, once you’ve nailed down the RIGHT ideal client and crafted an irresistible offer around what THEY need, you also need to

Make sure your offer is something you’re WILLING and ABLE to deliver on

This is where many coaches and service providers get stuck. They KNOW they CAN offer something to solve a problem for their perfect buyer, but they:

Don’t have the skills to deliver yet
Don’t feel EXCITED about providing this particular solution
Don’t feel EXCITED about delivering the solution the way their perfect buyer currently wants to consume it. Example: You know your perfect buyer has little time to spend and prefers to implement on her own terms. While you may know one-on-one coaching is the best way for her to get results, a self-study course might be a better solution for her. So, if you don’t want to create a course, you need to consider how you can serve best while not interfering with your own alignment and values.

Think back to your goals from step 1 – Setting your intentions and goals. Are you genuinely willing and able to provide what you want to include in your package or program to the number of people it takes to hit your sales goal? Or do you need to scale back what you’re offering or your goal? Or maybe you need to consider a different way to hit that goal?

Whether this is your first program or your 50th, you have to feel confident in what you’re offering – the quality of your information, the process you are taking people through, and your price point. Remember, you can’t be everything to everybody or solve every single problem your (potential) clients might have, so focus on one main problem and how YOU uniquely solve it.

Believe in Your Offer – And Yourself – to Authentically Attract The Clients You Want To Work With

Once you have clarity on your offer, you also have to make sure you have confidence in your ability to offer it. If you’re putting together a program that doesn’t feel authentic or you don’t feel confident in actually delivering, it’ll be so much harder to sell.

Serving Based On Experience Vs. Degrees

Make sure the program (or service) you just created is focused on teaching things or guiding people to transform their lives based on what you truly know and understand right now. Even if you’re only a step or two ahead of where your perfect buyer is, being confident in what you teach or coach and sticking to what you know goes a long way to combat that feeling of “imposter syndrome.”

Many people fear that they don’t have enough knowledge to teach something or become a coach. Some believe they shouldn’t command top dollar for their programs because they’re self-taught. Still, others believe that if they don’t earn a degree in this field, they’re an “imposter” and will be exposed as fake.

Obviously, this isn’t true; millions of people are self-taught in some field. Even for college graduates, their college degree and name only have relevance for a few short years. Then, they are judged on their work experience rather than what school they went to. Imposter syndrome is a common limiting mindset roadblock that can hold you back if you don’t shift your beliefs.

One great exercise that can help eliminate imposter syndrome

Write out a list of 50 reasons you’re the PERFECT person to offer this particular solution. (Seriously–do it!)

Another way to build up belief in your offer & yourself is to use sales-specific affirmations, such as:

“I enjoy selling.”
“Selling is serving.”
“The more I sell, the more I help others.”
“I can sell anything at any price.”
“Selling is so fun!”

Fill a page in a journal or on a mind map of affirmations that actually resonate with you. You can find hundreds of other sales affirmations online if these don’t work for you.

Be Hold Of Your Self-Integrity

You’ll read more about marketing and selling your program and services in a minute. But first, one thing to keep in mind! While marketing is meant to inspire others to action, you do NOT have to overstate or exaggerate the results, your background, or the program itself to make your offer appear more attractive.

In fact, doing this can KILL your confidence. While being honest about your accomplishments, background, and results/benefits of your program can FUEL you, OVERDOING it or straight out lying can actually kill your confidence. Why? Because you won’t feel like you can live up to this exaggerated image of who your (potential) client thinks you are. And, if you straight up lie, people will know (and most probably call you out.)

Your audience will like you for YOU – not a fake, idealized version of you. They will be drawn to you for your values, beliefs, leadership, and personality. Authenticity and empathy will attract the people you want to work with. So, have confidence in your true self – and get yourself out there to spread your message!

Your marketing message (i.e., social media posts, coaching sales page, webinar scripts) should be clear, precise, and, most importantly: sincere. When you’re aligned with your wording and methods across all platforms, you’ll feel more grounded in what you provide, making it easier for you to share it with confidence.

When you genuinely believe that what you offer is valuable, you can take a more relaxed approach to sales. You’ll have a more relaxed “take it or leave it” energy – rather than desperation that seeps into your marketing or sales pitch. No one responds well to pressure, so thinking of “sales” as simply an invitation to a transformation.

Create a Sleaze-Free Sales System to Enroll Clients with Ease Now–And Later

Once you know WHAT you’re selling and TO WHOM you have to decide HOW you will sell it. One key to selling your programs and services online is choosing the right “sales system” for you.

See your audience as ‘pre-clients and pre-students’ who need a transformation (identity, belief, stories) and the conditions that drive these like safety, vision, and so on.

Acknowledge the fact that everyone who enters your virtual world is a potential client or student, and it is up to you to coach the transformation to conversion. To unlock that potential, you must understand what they really need and lead that transformation. It is up to you to be responsible for leading them in an honest, transparent way so they can make an empowered decision.

That’s why one of the previous steps is essential→to Get to know your perfect buyers on a deeper level which makes you and your offer relevant.

Relevancy is the most valuable currency in your marketing!

Not sure how to sell your program? Whether you’re more into the “traditional” way to sell online or would love to switch to automated, hands-off approaches to selling, know that it ALL works. So, you’ll just have to decide which one showcases your strengths the best.

Choose The Right Enrollment Process For YOU And YOUR PEOPLE

While you shouldn’t shy away from selling over the phone or on video call/Zoom just because it seems “harder,” – you also shouldn’t force yourself to sell in a way that doesn’t make sense for you either.

One of the most popular ways to enroll clients into your coaching programs is through a discovery(or a strategy) call. That said, just because someone signs up for a discovery call does NOT guarantee they’ll turn into a client. Your confidence and presence can significantly affect how the pre-client perceives you–and whether they want to invest.

A discovery call is simply a phone call (or a Zoom meeting) to discuss your program/product in greater detail. Your prospect can also ask questions and can get a better understanding of your coaching style. This is YOUR chance to answer any concerns they might have. Remember, you’re selling the overall transformation, not the total number of features your product contains.

This discovery call is also a way for you to qualify your pre-clients. In other words, do YOU get a good feeling about THEM? Do you feel they will do the required work to reach their transformation? Or will they expect you to wave a magic wand to make their problems disappear? These calls really work both ways – for you and your prospect – to check each other out to determine if you can work together well.

Free strategy sessions are also another popular way to enroll clients into coaching programs and 1:1 services. When you offer a free strategy session, make sure you hold onto your promise. For example, if you provide a 60 min. Free sales funnel strategy session, you assist the person who signs up for it in creating a big-picture sales funnel strategy so she can implement the strategy by herself after the call. You don’t pitch on that call directly, although you should mention how you can further help if she’s looking for more support. Use the follow-up communication through email, messenger, or DMs for support, answer questions and upgrade invitations.

These strategy sessions can also be a paid offer as well.

More Examples For Enrollment Processes

Choose the right enrollment vehicle for YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE. While you shouldn’t shy away from selling over the phone or on video call/Zoom just because it seems “harder,” – you also shouldn’t force yourself to sell in a way that doesn’t make sense for you either.

Don’t want to sell over the phone? Never fear! There are plenty of other options:

Automated webinar.
Webinar to email follow up series where you sell either straight in the email or on a sales page linked in the email
Free challenges or mini-courses..
Email marketing.
Free or paid Workshops and Bootcamps.
Affiliates (they receive a percentage of profit from the sales they refer to you.)
Plus, you can always have your programs available on your website or social media handles linked to a sales page or application form.

How do you choose?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

What feels most natural to you?
Where do you feel like your true personality shines? Is it on video, in writing, on audio, etc.? What about your passion for your work and clients?
Where do your perfect buyers consume content, or how do they like to consume content? If you’re unsure, think about where YOU have the most followers or where you tend to follow people similar to you.

Not sure what to choose? Pick one, implement it and see how it feels and performs. You can always change your enrollment process and even use more than one option. I actually recommend having at least two ways for moving your perfect buyers from Point Complete Strangers or Solution Seeker to Point Happy Clients. Start with one option and add on the next later.

How A Challenge Sales Funnel Could Look Like

Let’s say you decide you want to try running a free challenge to sell your signature group program. Here’s what a sample sales system/funnel/flow might look like, from start to finish:

Begin with social media (and paid ads) to draw traffic to your intentional content (challenge topic) and challenge registration page.
When people sign up for the challenge, they will receive challenge emails and directions for joining your group.
On the last day of the challenge, invite participants to a webinar/masterclass/Q&A session to discuss the challenge outcomes, any further lessons you want them to know, and an invitation at the end for your program. Here you can be really creative.
The invitation leads them to a sales or checkout page for your program, including what they’ll get and the options to purchase.
Ultimately, your “buy now” button leads to sales.
Every new member receives an onboarding email sequence. (and optional a kick-off call)
Happy new member.

Ready to rock the launch of your upcoming program or course with a challenge that gets real results? I highly recommend checking out Zach’s Challenge Launch Toolkit.

Zach Spuckler taught this system to thousands of clients (including myself) and generated over $1 Million in student case studies. For just $37, you’ll have everything you need to build an epic 5-day challenge launch that generates sales. Think sales email copy, challenge content, Facebook Ad fundamentals, and more.

Another example might be selling via email marketing or social media.

A Great Sales Email Campaign Could look Like This:

Instead of your usual weekly emails, write a 5 to 7 days email sequence that you send every day(or every other day) for 5-7 days. Each email talks about the problem, the mistakes your people might be making, and the consequences of continuing making these, illustrating the transformation you’re promising to your clients. Bonus points if you incorporate stories to make your points even more clear.
Each email also contains a CTA (call to action) to sign up for a discovery call, read or listen to intentional content. (check out step one in the ‘Simple Three-Part Sales Funnel’ part for what I mean by that) for them to find out if they’re a right fit for the program.
Your prospect moves to the next step of your funnel flow – books a call/watches a video/buys an entry-level product from the email.
(Optional) Your discovery or short Q&A call proceeds the same as above, giving more details, evaluating this prospect as a good fit, and answering objections.
A successful discovery call or intentional content will yield a sale.

If your intuition is pointing you toward using social media and more private communication through DM’s, I highly recommend checking out my mentor, Scott Oldford, ‘Skip The Pitch Workshop.’

Scott will show you how to use selling to close sales effortlessly through social media, DM’s, and text messages without using sale calls for your course, coaching, consulting, mentorship, and service-based business.

Answering Your Questions About Sales Funnels and Why You Need One

I am often asked what a sales funnel is and why it is essential to have one? I guess that’s really two questions, but they go hand in hand, so I’ll tackle answering them together.

A sales funnel is a pathway that moves people from Point Complete Stranger to Point Happy Buyer.

It is a visualization or map of a pre-client’s journey from the initial awareness stage or actively searching for a solution to the final purchase. It is also the process that ‘filters’ someone interested in getting more information about the topic, and your perfect buyers, committed to doing the work needed to solve their problem (with your help)

It’s called a funnel because it’s wide at the top (the sales funnel entry point) and gradually narrows as the pre-clients moves toward your offer and become clients. I’d like to see it as a flow, a journey they move from one point to the next in the process.

The types of content and offers you present and where you place them based on what your perfect buyer needs to know, understand, and believe at each step are critical to your funnel’s success. The content and offer types include free videos, training, lead magnet, low-ticket offer, one-time offer, order bump, upsell, and down-sell. This list isn’t comprehensive, but it provides the foundation for all successful funnels.

Hence The Need For A Sales Funnel

At first glance, building a sales funnel and mapping it out seems like a complicated process. Before getting to your core offer, you need to understand your audience, clearly define your core offer’s unique positioning, and create a series of supporting content and offers and related communications. Based on the stage your pre-clients are – are they actively looking for the solution, their awareness of the problem and if they are already clients of you or not, etc. –choosing the right content and offers is essential. Meaning that there isn’t a “one size fits all” funnel flow.

So, ensuring you meet the right people at the right time with the right message (and offer) is the key to a successful funnel (and sale)

It’s worth it.

A sales funnel of content and offer tailored to the right people makes the process more efficient.

No more…

Constantly adjust your core offer to appeal to different members of your audience.
Wasting time engaging with people who just want your free content.
Scrambling to create content and communications to promote your core offer.
Annoying your audience with conversations they’re not interested in and driving them to unsubscribe.

Instead of spamming them with unwanted content, you can build a relationship with your people through your sales funnels. The communications related to your offers will genuinely help them understand the problem and the mistakes they might be making. And also gain new perspectives towards moving the needle to get the result they want. And they’ll come to see you as a trusted expert who provides value. This will increase their chances of purchasing your core and future offers.

Finally, a sales funnel with multiple offers (if that makes sense to solve the problem faster and easier) helps you learn even more about your perfect buyers. By choosing or rejecting offers, your pre-clients give you valuable information about their preferences and needs.

Their decisions also provide valuable input on the offer itself. If nobody takes you up on the offer, the message or the offer itself may need to be adjusted. On the other hand, if you have great success with an offer, you can figure out why and replicate it. Same for the content you offer throughout your funnel.

What Types Of Offers Could You Put In Your Sales Funnel?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Everybody’s audience is different. You’ll have to do some planning and trial and error to discover what works and what doesn’t. Here are some of the offers most commonly found in a sales funnel aside from the intentional content like podcast episodes, videos, and social media content.

The Primary Offer

Your primary offer is the main thing you sell in the funnel. It is usually your primary product/service and the reason why your offer sales funnel exists. It doesn’t matter if it is a low-ticket or high-ticket offer funnel; you always have one primary thing you wanna sell.

Lead Magnet

Technically not inside the sales funnel yet in the funnel flow, a lead magnet attracts pre-clients to the entry point of your funnel. A free resource is offered in exchange for a person’s name and email address. Once you have this information, you can start marketing to them directly via email.

Low-Ticket Offer

A low-ticket offer is usually found at the front end of your sales funnel. It is a low-risk and get-a-quick-result program, toolkit, workshop, etc., with a lower price tag, usually under $100. It primes your audience to purchase your primary offer, especially if it’s a higher ticket offer, by having a kind of trial experience of working with you. Most importantly, it separates serious pre-clients from casual ones who just want your free stuff. And also, build your email list with buyers.

One-Time Offer

A one-time offer (OTO) is a powerful way to support your new clients even deeper and make some more cash aside from covering your ad spend if you’re using paid advertising to drive people to your offer. For example, let’s say you’re launching your primary offer with a paid low-ticket Bootcamp. So, you may want to add a VIP Upgrade with additional Q&A and in-depth working sessions or a bonus masterclass, i.e., more time with you.

I see great results with that. Its exclusivity and more time with you nature make it so powerful. Usually, the bigger percentage of the VIP Upgrade clients will buy your main offer at the end of the Bootcamp. It’s a win-win.

Order Bump

An order bump is located at the end of the sales funnel on the checkout page for your primary offer. With a single click, customers can add a lower-ticket item to their cart before pressing the ‘Buy’ button. An Order Bump should be something that will help your clients implement what you offer in the main offer faster and simpler. Order bumps have a high conversion rate and increase the value of your primary offer and point of sale revenue.

Upsell

An upsell is a higher-priced offer presented after your primary offer. The difference between the Upsell and the One Time Offer is that it isn’t a one-time opportunity. It can be the Next Step to the primary offer, the next step the new client needs to get the big result she’s looking to achieve. That might be what you offer inside your course, group coaching program or 1:1 service, done-for-you stuff, or continuing the support in a membership. The right buyer will appreciate an upsell that enhances their initial experience.

Down-sell

A down-sell is a lower-entry offer based on your primary or next step solution presented to your new client after turning down the upsell. It may also be a payment plan option to the Upsell offer. The idea is that, while the new client is not ready to invest in full in your Upsell offer, they may be interested in a payment plan. Or she may want to do it by herself and not be interested in a Done-with-you service, so a DIY version is a less expensive (and more valuable to her) alternative.

You don’t need to have all these options in your sales funnel especially if you’re just starting out, creating a funnel for the first time, and you haven’t yet validated your program, course, or whatever you want to offer. You can always add layers later. The keys to effective sales funnels are to make sure you do your diligence in:

getting to know your perfect buyer on a deeper level,
test your offers and
get clarity if you can deliver what you promise.

Turn Your Content into Cash with a Simple Three-Part Sales Funnel

We already covered that every business should have a sales funnel, which is the journey of how to attract people into your business and convert them into paying clients and members. Yet many coaches and online experts procrastinate or are scared to create a funnel for various reasons. Most commonly, they get overwhelmed at the idea of having to have multiple offers for their people. And like anything else, once you start to overthink an idea, it gains a life of its own and seems impossible to create.

Remember, you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want, but you have to make sure it’s a frictionless path for your people to move from Point Complete Stranger to Point Happy Buyer. A confused mind doesn’t buy: that’s your rule of thumb.

So, let’s simplify the whole sales funnel idea.

Step One: Offer Something for Free

Now, when I talk about Offer Something For Free, I don’t mean some kind of Free resource only. Your free resources are all the content you share on your social media channels, podcast, blog, YouTube, and email.

If you add in anything shared via social media platforms, podcast interviews, or videos, you’ll notice that you spend an awful lot of time on free information. It’s all well and good to attract people to you, but now it’s time to move on to the next level.

The key to creating content that converts without feeling like you’re on that constant content creation hamster wheel is:

You have to identify what they need to know, understand, and believe to make an empowered decision to connect, buy, and actually commit to doing what it takes. If you don’t identify and address these in your messaging, framework, and conversations with your perfect buyers, they’ll never be able to understand why your solution is the only logical choice for them and why your course will help them finally get the outcome they desire. And if they don’t understand and believe you, they’ll never buy. And it’s not about dismantling objections but recognition, acknowledgment, and transformation towards the new desired reality with empathy, love, and care.

Step Two: Lower Level Paid Offer

Once someone devours your free content or resource, they will want more, so have another product in place but make it a paid item. Create a mini-course, a toolkit (a bundle of things to implement something to get a specific result), or recordings from a workshop. You’ve gained some of their trust, so now it’s really time to show them how you can help them with experiencing a taste of working with you. Once they get a result from working with you, it’s easier to invite them to continue working with you because they already trust you.

Step Three: High-Level Paid Offer

A successful sales funnel is getting people results with what you offer in a frictionless, simplified way. A great high-ticket offer is a VIP-Day or Intensive. It can also be a Done-with-you based on your lower-ticket offer from above, a 1:1 or group coaching on the topic, or a program or course (or a membership) where you will help your new client to scale what they implemented in the low-ticket offer. There is no need to recreate the wheel and get overwhelmed by creating a new product. Just offer a high level of support to those who want more hand-in-hand assistance or coaching.

The whole sales funnel could look like this:

Your free intentional content (videos, blog posts, podcast episodes… whatever your preference is. →

A CTA (call to action) in the video, podcast episode, or blog posts to grab the free resource. (sign up for your email list or even continue the conversation in the DMs) →

In the free resource itself, add a link to your low-ticket offer/ or on the thank you page after they sign up for the freebie /in the conversation in the DMs / retargeting paid advertising. →

Place your low-ticket product in a members’ area and add a next step at the end with an invitation to Upgrade to the high-ticket offer / follow up through email / continue the conversation in the DMs where you can discover if the high-ticket offer is something they might be interested in / retarget your low-ticket clients with paid advertising.

You can get really creative… the better you know your perfect buyers on a deeper level, the more effective you can make your sales funnel.

The Keys To Success With Your Sales Funnel

Know Your Audience

The key to a successful sales funnel of offers is to know your perfect buyers on a deeper level. Meaning: their struggles, challenges, and desires, their beliefs and values, where they are stuck, what keeps them awake at night. Conduct research and pay attention to what they’re saying and what they are NOT saying, and why. This will allow you to identify your audience’s unique challenges and problems and solve them through your offers based on your experience and expertise. If you create tangible results and wins for your clients, the more likely it is to continue to work with you.

Focus On Your Free Content

You have to identify what they need to know, understand, and believe to make an empowered decision to connect, buy, and actually commit to doing what it takes. The keyword here is relevancy. Nobody will listen/watch/read and pay attention to what you’re saying if it’s irrelevant to them. Also, if they can’t find you, they’ll never get the opportunity to know you and how you can help them.

Know The Stages Of Your Offer Funnel

People move through different stages of awareness, understanding of the real problem, and openness to purchasing your solution as they progress through your funnel flow. It is critical to present them with the right offer at the right time. So, you first need to cultivate a relationship and trust.

Get crystal clear on these stages, so you’re making the right offer at the right time. And remember, the stages aren’t necessarily linear. Some pre-clients may get all the way down to the engagement stage and then decide they need more information, returning to the evaluation stage. Some will be ready to invest right away, even in a high-ticket level of support.

Longer Doesn’t Mean Better

Your offer funnel doesn’t need to be 75 steps long and complex. You just need a simple, frictionless path. Assess your people’s needs and how you support them in each state.

Don’t Despair When People Leave

Don’t feel disappointed when people leave your content or sales funnel flow. That’s supposed to happen! They’re sending you valuable feedback that your offers aren’t for them.

Craft Captivating Marketing That Shows Prospects You’re Truly Listening

Marketing in a way that speaks to the people you want to work with AND is authentic to you is a HUGE part of selling with confidence and ease and sold-out programs and services.

Whether you have an ongoing enrollment or booking process or use a launch-based approach (where you only accept clients or students during a specific time period)… Either way, here are the keys to captivating your perfect clients and keeping their attention on what you’re saying:

Speak to the right people

After defining who you want to help and how, all your marketing messages should focus exclusively on speaking to those people – where they are in life and how you can help them. Selling is nothing more than having a conversation with someone and inviting her to say YES to herself.

Build relationships and trust

Selling is all about relationships. Authentic selling comes from understanding your audience at a human level and connecting with them. They’re a person just like you. They’re also inundated with marketing messages, Facebook ads, TV ads, radio, etc., so it’s normal if they’re feeling exhausted. To truly build trust with them, you have to be YOU.

Lean into who YOU are

The key to authenticity is to lean into who you truly are. You will never be too much for the right people. Your people are ready for your truth (and your funnel)

Ultimately, to feel truly grounded in your messaging and offers and be able to sell with 100% confidence, you have to have a strong relationship with your community and everything else we’ve already talked about, including feeling grounded in your experience and what you’re promising.

Keep Your Vibe High To Enroll More Clients Confidently

As you’ve probably picked up, selling coaching programs, courses, or 1:1 services is about selling your experience, so your vibe matters! Whether launching a group program or simply promoting your current one-on-one service or coaching, it’s essential to keep your vibe high in both marketing and sales.

How can you keep your vibe up? There are lots of ways, but it’s super important to have a life outside of work and to keep your own cup full, so you can continue to market, sell, and serve your clients with a smile on your face (and not feeling like you’re run down). You know that announcement they make on airplanes: Please use the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping others. If you’re suffering and not taking care of yourself, you won’t have any energy left – or the desire – to help others, including your clients.

A few suggestions to help you keep your energy high

Can you relate to this scenario? Maybe there are days when you wake up and dread opening your emails. Or you dread speaking to a client who needs a lot of hand-holding. Take a step back, focus on yourself first, and revisit those emails and the client’s needs.

Try making a list of things that refill your cup. This will be unique to you, but some examples include:

Meditation
Journaling
Yoga or your favorite physical exercise
Pampering: massage, pedicure, reiki, etc.
Lunch with a girlfriend or spouse
Getting out in nature
Reading your favorite non-business book

If you’re in launch mode, prioritize at least one of those activities per day. If you’re not launching, you should still prioritize doing at least ONE of these weekly activities. Even if you’re doing a smaller “soft” launch or decided to promote your programs or lower-priced products during a particular time, it’s essential to keep the good vibes going. The more relaxed and complete YOU feel, the more that vibe will translate to anyone who asks you about your programs.

One important note: Trying to raise your vibration does not mean avoiding or ignoring any kind of negative feelings. Sometimes the best way to deal with those negative feelings of sadness or self-doubt is to journal about them. Habitual journalers argue that it’s refreshing to write down your negative thoughts; get them out of your mind so they don’t take up space there. Then when you turn the page – or rip the page out to burn it – your psyche releases those negative thoughts, leaving more room for positivity and confidence. Too often, negative emotions kept inside will eventually spill over into your interactions with others – including potential clients.

Practicing these self-care routines is a small way to invest in yourself. Some might argue it’s the most important way to invest because you’re limiting your stress and taking care of your mental health. But it’s also essential to continue to invest in your own learning and education so you can continue to grow and hone your skills as a coach and expert. Whether purchasing a new book, enrolling in a course, or investing in your business tools or mentorship, there’s never an end to learning. After all, if you’re not willing to invest in yourself or your business, why should others?

All of the above is equally important for selling out your programs, but your vibe is truly the icing on the cake. You can have every other piece in place, but you can turn off even the most perfect clients with the wrong energy. Clients want to work with coaches and experts who care, know who they are and what they’re talking about, and are confident in what they share!

In Conclusion

Throughout my entrepreneurial journey for the past 7 years, almost every day, I see so many entrepreneurs who still use hope and luck… pure hustle… or just a single source of people to turn into clients and students.

Even worse, they’re using a strategy and tactics that aren’t aligned with who they truly are and what feels good for them.

But what happens when your marketing and sales aren’t in alignment?

What about not using your natural gifts and talents in a way that feels “right”?

One of the biggest consequences is feeling salesy, sleazy, or manipulative, so you feel uneasy talking about your offers and products and hate selling.

You might have clients you don’t feel connected to… Your refund rate is high (and so is your retention)… You burn out & feel completely disconnected from your business…

And even if on paper your business works, it doesn’t work in your heart.

I genuinely believe that with the right marketing, we can build and grow a sustainable business in a way that feels really good, allowing us to have a life full of joy and fulfillment.

A business must do its marketing and sales in an aligned way that feels good to YOU, or the entire coaching business will never grow, flourish and impact the way we deep down know it can.