The Problem with Your Sales Funnel

Hello, hello, let's talk sales funnels. So, on this episode of the podcast, I've been thinking a lot about sales funnels. It's something that's been coming up a lot with clients recently and their their problems. That's why they come up in coaching a lot. 

So this episode is for you, if you really feel like you should have a working sales funnel. And like maybe that because you don't you're not getting enough clients, you're not getting enough customers, you're not getting inquiries, that there's something wrong with the process by which people are getting to you. You're worried that you have a funnel, but it's not right somehow, that it should be doing more for you. And it's not or like you think you maybe have something that's like funnel ish, right? If that's a word, and somehow, it's also not right. 

Today I want to talk about sales funnels. And what I see is like the typical problem here. So the first you know, starter idea here. PS, my name is Sarah, I'm a business coach. Sometimes I just hop right in. I know there's an intro at the start, but like, I hope you're well. I hope everything in your world is good. It's summer here where I live, we're like mid August almost, which is insane. But also like, Okay, I'm ready for my kids to go back to school. I love them. And the carting someone somewhere different every day for the last however many weeks is turned.

 So, for me, I am looking forward to getting towards September in a lot of ways and some regularity because I am someone who needs everything to have like regularity. I could eat the same three things every day for the rest of my life. I don't know. Anyways, sales funnels back on track. So first, the way I think of a sales funnel, in its most simple form is this a sales funnel is a pathway to you to sales, it is the way people find their way to you and buying from your business no matter what you do.

 If you're like I have clients who are I have a client who is a professional organizer, I have clients who are coaches, I have clients who run consultancies, I have clients who, gosh, do all kinds of things who run tutoring businesses who are artists, gosh, I have a whole bunch of artists right now. It's so fun. I have musicians, I have people who help with your operations. I have people that work with others at ADHD, I have all kinds of people in my world. And for all of them. Part of the goal of coaching of running a business for all of them is to help more people to have more people come into their world. So here's the thing for me that I really have had to think about with funnels that I talk with these clients about a lot. funnels are tricky, right? 

They feel funny, in some ways funnels have always felt a little bit icky to me. And it took me a really long time to realize why I realized that the reason I have an issue with funnels, generally this idea of like the idea is you have like a freebie or something. And a lot of people get a freebie or workshop at download a group or whatever. And that over time, you like think of the shape of a funnel, things narrow down to the middle, that over time, like somebody takes the next step and they buy a low cost offer. And they take the next step and I buy something slightly higher cost and then they take the next step and buy the highest cost thing that they like funnel closer and closer to your highest paid thing. Okay, it's great.

 Like it's theoretically sound, I get it, it makes sense. It's logical. And always, it has felt weird to me. And what I realized is because sales funnels are inherently about me, the business owner, it is about chat, trying to channel someone, a whole bunch of someone's actually into a pathway that I have decided is the right pathway for them to access me. And when I say that out loud, I am like you that's so gross. That's not what I want for people. What I want for people is to come to me get what they need and whatever way they need it and continue on their merry way. And that's very different from a funnel. So the issue I think sometimes particularly, excuse me, for people with a teacher heart. 

For people who are service oriented. For people who really are here, people like you people first people who are here for the good of others, is a sales funnel feels tricky, because it's about me it's not about service. And that's like, counter to how we do the things. So it's really like sales funnel is about a well built funnel is about getting other people to do what I want the way I want them to. And they keep saying that out loud. If I messed up, right, like we Yikes. So. And that's not to say that in my business, I don't have things that act as funnels. There's nothing wrong with people having ways for free to get access to you to learn about you to learn to trust you. That's what this podcast is. That's what my Facebook group is. That's what my YouTube channel is. 

That's what tic tac all the places, there are places where people can learn with me from me, beside me together. And in and in, decide if they like or trust me, and they want to do more with me, that's fine. That is, you know, sort of a funnel. But it is not the formalized version of funnel that we're told we need to have, right? That we all feel like we ought to do with this very like tiered free three, low cost offer mid cost offer high cost offer like this very tiered structure, that's really not what I do, like on purpose at all. And so like I have the funnel things, but what I don't have, what I've subtracted out of that, for me, is the expectation.

 I don't stress over which pathway people are taking, if you want to join my Facebook group, and then you want to listen to the podcast a little bit, and then you want to download a freebie or you want to come to a free workshop. And like you never ever pay me for anything. It's totally cool. Now, like I don't look at the metrics of that and think like, holy crap, my funnel is failing. I think, holy crap, I'm helping a lot of people. And that's amazing. Like, that's a gift to get to do. So for me, that's like, I don't need to expect your path. What I love it if you came into my Facebook group and decided that you wanted to actually talk to me as a human and maybe coach together. 

Sure, absolutely. And that happens. I have a conversation later this week, just like that. But that's not my expectation, my expectation is you can get what you need. Go about your merry way, right. So here's the thing like the salespeople, the salespeople, the officials, the experts, the whoever they are, you know, probably think this is a pretty dumb way to do it. But for me, and the way I want to show up in service, this is the way I have to do it in it. What I find is when I talk to other people like me, and my clients are people like me, you're listening to this podcast, you're like me, because you want to be here in service, it feels better to peel out the expectation and to not be so stressed about like, are they taking the next step that I expect them to? Can it just be that like, Okay, this served them really well. And if they want more of the comfort, like that would be that's magic. 

So I think of sales funnels in their traditional form this very like formalized form as ABC, if you don't know what I'm talking about, I think of sales like there's a the traditional styles of sales is ABC, it's always be closing, it's about the money, it's about the process, it's about me, the business owner, right, it's always be doing what I need you to do for me. I am an ABG business owner, I instead of always be closing and always be giving, I really want to give. So if you want, you know, and just as like a side note, I have a couple of podcast episodes in the first season of the podcast about ABC, and AVG, specifically, I think they're episodes 71 and 72. And you can go look for them. They are really, really useful. They're among the most downloaded that I have. And they're really handy to you know, just rethink how you're thinking about sales in general about sales philosophy. Because you don't have to be this machine. It's not about always closing people and always getting people to the asset could be just about serving, and it can work out because my business is going to make, you know well over $100,000 this year, and it is very giving forward. So like I'm not doing anything wrong. 

What I think about is in a funnel, a funnel in some ways assumes that I have to lay the pathway out for people that I have to say to people in order for them to get to me I have to say to them, here's this free thing. And then if you try that, then try this low cost thing, excuse me. And then if you try that, try this next thing and I have to like lay the path Have out for them to get to me in that feels inherently uninteresting to me, I really am all about trust in my business. ABG is a very trusting kind of way to go about things like that trust that I am going to give and serve. And that is going to come back to me. And it does. It is not an easy skill to build this trust, but we it's worth it, to have this trust, because there's a level of anxiety and guilt and panic that just comes right off and is gone. When you have this level of trust, like there is no more scrambling Enos in my business, which is saves me so much time. 

So I think that, you know, inherently a funnel is kind of untrustworthy, that it is saying to people, you have to follow my steps to get to me, or I don't think you're gonna get here. And I don't think that's true. Because what I see in practice what I see with clients, and people will say to me, well, but they're not following the steps, like, well, but do they need you? Did they find their way to you as a paying client eventually? Yes. Gotta consult with somebody last week. And she and I have had a consult before it was two full years ago. 

She's always been here with me, I she's going to show up when she's ready, I trust her. I trust that I'm going to keep showing up that I will still be here. And that's how this works, right? We work forward with trust, and it all kind of does its thing is it the fastest thing maybe not. But like is forcing everybody to do things my way, the fastest thing. Also know. So I choose to trust, I choose to assume that people are smart. And my clients are grownups and that they're brilliant business owners. And they're really good at what they do. But they might need the kind of help I have. And that's why they're in my world. 

So in that sort of assumption, I am assuming that my clients, the people who are going to be my clients, the people who are going to be helped by me as served by me, because everybody, even if it's free their clients, like your client, you're listening to this, I love you, and I'm serving you, I want you to get what you need from me, I assume that you're a grown up, that if you then get to go like, Hey, I think I need more from her, you're gonna come find a way to get it. Maybe it's paying me maybe it's in my Facebook group, maybe it's some other way, that's fine, I assume that you're going to ask for what you need. Because you're an adult, and I'm an adult. And that's how it works, I do not need to lead you by the nose, I do not need to like leave a trail of breadcrumbs because otherwise you'll get lost because that's just wrong. So for me in this sort of non funnel funnel, I have a couple of assumptions. I trust people I give openly.

 I am forever, like I at some point in the last six months made an agreement with my coach to stop doing like these crazy one off free workshops in my Facebook group. She was like just pause them. We were talking about like doing extra. And she was like, they could pause for a little while, whatever. And then inevitably, like, I have some idea. And I'm like, workshop, like I can't help it. I love a workshop I love alive in my groups. It just is. That's what happens. And I can't help it. It's like my favorite way to give and it just, she's like, What are we doing? Like workshops, it is what it is. So I give openly I don't feel the need to cut that back and feel scarce about it. It's like, well, am I giving too much like, I never think that because there's no such thing. And sure there are limits. 

There are certain kinds of work that I don't that people have to pay for. Right? Like if you want weekly coaching, that's that has a cost, because you being invested, also makes a difference. And I believe that so but if you want to be on my Facebook group every day, get stuck that way, it's super great. Do that, whatever. I create pathways that flex. So for me, I don't need you to follow an expected pathway to me. You want to just like Grant and I've had this happen, like randomly find me on the internet and send me a message great. You want to Google great, you want to be in my Facebook group for three years and talk 50 times and in the group and send some Facebook messages and Someday Coach together. Cool. You wanna get a referral for me for somebody else? Awesome. That's fine. And I then the other thing inherent in this is that I believe in my value and impact. 

So I know the work I do. I do makes a difference. I know that the more I give the greater impact I have. I trust that that's part of trust. And for me, that's the end all like for anybody who's A teacher like what you want is for the people in your world, to walk out of your classroom to walk out of your workshop to walk out of your business better, right? I used to teach eighth grade for a long time. And my my eighth graders would then go from me to be high school students. And I said to somebody, I was talking to somebody about this the other day, my goals in eighth grade teacher was much less about content, I mean, contents important. I taught math. But my goal was always to have them walking into high school thinking, I got this with confidence. 

My goal for clients and coaching is the same. It is for them to walk out into the business world and think I got this, I know exactly what to do. I may not always have the answers, but I always figure it out. And like to be able to give that to eighth graders or adults or whoever that's, that's it. That's the value. That's the impact. And I know I do that. I know you do that. So for me, do I need a formal funnel? No. Do I trust people?
Do I give? Do I have pathways for people to find me? Do I know my value and impact? Yes. And if you have those same things, you can take this whole life, but is my funnel working? Is my funnel, right? 

Is it channeling people the right way? How many people started in my funnel? How many people ended in my funnel? What are the metrics of my funnel? If if that feels like death by 1000 cuts to you, maybe let's go with trusting and giving openly and flexible pathways and less expectation of how other people have to do the process of getting to you. And just trust that they will. Because they will view keep showing up the people come whether your funnel works quote unquote, or not. So what you get to do as a business owner, and this is crazy, is any degree of funnel you want to or don't I have some clients are like, I have this amazing funnel and it works for me great, super. If it feels really good, do it. And if you're like, oh my god, I'm never gonna figure this out. And I spent all this time on it, and it just makes me crazy. Well, then let's chuck it out the window, you don't need it. 

There's other ways to do this that are not nearly as stressful. We could focus on. So let's do that. For me for you. If the funnel thing is torturing, you ask for help. Like, you know, we can work that through together. There's lots of ways to work with me. One of the best of them is group coaching. And the next round of group coaching starts in September. The groups are sort of what's the word? Assembling is not the word I meant. But that's it. Now people are joining them as we speak. If you want a spot and group it is 20 weeks is $3,000. It is weekly meetings, it is amazing group is capped at four and you get the very best of individual coaching and learning from others.

 It is solidly amazing. As my very favorite thing. I always have spaces for one on one, I think like it really well. Most of the time, I've spaces for one on one. And I work with people weekly or bi weekly, or something in between there. And then I also do one bite coaching. So like if you are new to this and you're like I don't know, if I'm gonna like this, I don't know if she's for me. Let's schedule a session. It's 90 minutes you come we work through you know, your funnels, your sales process, your whatever. And then you walk away, like I'm not going to sell you anything more unless you ask for it. If you're like, oh, okay, we should do more of this. Great. And if you're like Thank you, good luck. See you never also fine. Not a big deal. 

So what matters to me is that you get what you need. If you're not in my Facebook group, and you think it might serve you come on in. If you love this episode, and you think it would serve other people I'd love if you share it sharing and subscribing is super, because that is how more people get what they need for me. And that is really my goal, as you well know. But for me for you. The key takeaway here is like, you're not doing funnel Tron. It's not broken. You're not doing there's no problem. It's maybe just that we need to expect differently. 

We don't need to layer the expectation that we have on it. There is no right answer. There's just the you answer. You get to do it as you want to do it. And if what you want to do is toss the whole idea funnel out the window. Go for it, do it, you're allowed. Alright, I will see you in a couple of weeks on the next episode of the podcast. Until then, enjoy