What Journey Do You Want to Take Your Future Clients On?

branding byobagency engagement small business social media Apr 25, 2022

“When you bring leads into your universe, whether via social media, email, podcasting, etc… what is the JOURNEY you’re taking them on?” - John Lee Dumas

A common misconception behind social media is that many new coaches think that if they just simply post a couple of pieces of content on social media, clients will come rushing to their door. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Often it takes time and many touchpoints (it use to be between 5-7 touchpoints, now it is more like 11-13) and interactions, for clients to become aware of what you do and feel like they know and trust you enough to work with you.

If you just dive into social media and start posting content with no plan behind it, no goals or strategy… do you honestly think you will grow a successful coaching business?

The answer is no. But this is unfortunately what many new coaches and consultants do. They do not spend the time to actually think about the sales journey people will go on prior to making the investment to work with you. Many do what my husband calls, “posting and praying” with their content and become frustrated when no calls are being booked and no courses are being purchased. People need to hear something multiple times before it sinks in, so the work you have previously done (getting super-specific of what you want to be known for) is key, you want to become the go-to expert to solve their problem when they are ready to make the investment.

What I am about to share with you is going to save you enormous amounts of time and effort. If you do ONE thing as you are building your coaching business, it will be to create a solid sales funnel. Otherwise, you will be showing up on social media with no clear next steps for people to go on. You will be doing a lot of work, with very little return.

Let's now talk about creating a Sales Funnel!

A sales funnel is the steps a future client goes through when they purchase a service or product.

Goal: To take your future clients on a journey through your sales funnel, to move them through each stage until they are ready to buy from you.

Why is this important? We want to create a repeatable process so that you are able to close sales more easily.

What you can do with this information:

Create a sales machine for your coaching business.

Think of a sales funnel as a metaphorical water main that flows from top to bottom, with each section being responsible for converting visitors into customers.

When you are generating leads in your business on social media, a successful sales funnel will help you close more sales and help you scale your coaching business. You need a place to send people to learn more when they start engaging with your social media.

The basic overview of a sales funnel online is:

AWARENESS: Build awareness of your coaching services through content (social media)

INTEREST: Generate interest by providing value and resources, get them to subscribe to your email list, by signing up for something (a lead magnet)

ACTION: Convert them into a paying customer, by selling a low-priced offer, delivering amazing value within that offer, that makes them want more! (low priced offer)

NURTURE: Continue to nurture and engage with them and promote additional services that will help them along in their journey (email sequence)

LOYALTY: With all the value you have provided they will now become amazing referral sources and spread the word about how amazing of a coach you are to others!

In order to create a solid sales funnel for your coaching business, I recommend the following marketing assets:

*Clear Offer*

The first goal when creating your sales funnel is to be clear on what you offer (it all starts here), so if you are NOT clear on your offer and are unable to clearly communicate what you do, who you help, and how you help them, go back to the previous exercises and make sure you are clear on your offer first.

*Website*

As you are building out your personal brand, it is very important for you to build a professional website. It is a one-stop-shop for you to feature who you are, what problems you solve, who you work with, and how others can work with you. It is your home base!

Full transparency, I always get a weird feeling when I want to work with someone and ask them to share their website with me and they don’t have one. Why not have a website? In fact, there are so many low-cost options, even as you are getting started (even some that are free), so there is no reason not to.

Not only does it make you look more professional when you have a website, but you also have a place to drive traffic to. You can send people to your website to learn more about you and what you offer. It is also an amazing place to showcase and feature your services and other ways for people to connect with you. You can also place a pop-up on your website, with your lead magnet to collect emails.

Q&A: I often get asked the question, should I create a company website or a personal website with my own name?

When you are building your personal brand, my recommendation is to build the website around YOU as the personal brand. Especially if you are a coach or consultant. This becomes your umbrella and having a website that is YOU, allows you to build out different business ventures, products, and services down the road.

When you create different businesses, products, services, and platforms you can create separate pages or even separate websites. But in my opinion, when you are building the brand of YOU, you need a home base.

When I first started doing freelance work, I became a jack of all trades. I helped entrepreneurs with a little bit of everything, but my favorite thing to do was to create websites. I became GoDaddy Pro certified and was able to build out websites using templates or from scratch. I loved to help clients tell their stories and market their services through their websites.

Example of a Client I worked with:

Health Coach: She offered local services and also virtual coaching services as well. She wanted to paint the picture of how she was best able to help both local clients and virtual clients as well. It was so fun to problem solve and build out a beautiful website that took her clients through a journey to clearly communicate what problems she solved and why it was a no-brainer for clients, local or from all over to work with her. Having a home base to send people opened up so many more opportunities and it became easier for her to close sales by having a professional site.

*Lead Magnet*

Next, you will need to create a lead magnet, aka lead generator. A lead magnet is a free resource you can offer to your audience that will give them value in exchange for their email. This will allow you to grow your audience with contacts full of people who would be interested in the services you offer. My rule of thumb, have at least 3 lead magnets (that you can alternate) that you have optimized to generate leads and have one as a pop-up on your website.

Examples of Lead Magnets you can create:

-guide

-checklist

-ebook

-resources/toolkit

-cheat sheet/handout

-quiz/assessment

-video training

-spreadsheet

-templates and more!

*Email Sequence*

After that, it is important to create an email sequence, along with nurturing emails to keep you top of mind with your future clients.

*Low Priced Offer*

An additional important part of the sales funnel is to create a low-priced entry-level offer, aka tripwire for your clients. This is an offer between $29 and $97, that will allow your client to take the first step to invest with you. Creating a product that will give them extreme value will quickly build "know, like, and trust" and open the door to future buying potential.

*This may be created further down the line (in your business), but is great to have in your sales funnel and can generate additional income.

Q&A: What if I don’t have a sales funnel built?

If you do not have a sales funnel, the rule of thumb is to have your audience reach out to you directly, such as asking them to message you directly on social media or sending you an email. This is fine when you are first beginning and as you get going, but if you truly want to build a solid structure and system within your coaching business, I highly recommend building out the pieces of your sales funnel within the first year.

Q&A: Can you show me an example of a sales funnel?

Yes, using my own business for example:

Future clients check out my social media content or podcast (see examples below).

They want to learn more and visit my website www.thetimetogrow.com

I have a pop-up on my website that says “Download the Content Planning Calendar”

Then an email sequence is triggered. The future client receives an email with their free content calendar, followed by 4-8 emails that share more valuable information, helping them along in their journey, letting them know I am here to help them (with a variety of services) if needed.

*Fun facts, within the first 3 months of putting this lead magnet on my website, I collected almost 100 emails organically, with no ads.

Q&A: What programs and tools do you recommend to build out my website, lead magnet (and opt-in form), email sequence, and low ticket offer?

Q&A: Should I hire someone to help me with all this?

Short answer, if you can, yes. However, I want you to take into account a couple of things: you will want to make sure you have a set budget in mind for what you are looking to build, and also it is important that when having these things built out for your business, that you have a basic knowledge of your website, course, and email platforms, otherwise you will be at the mercy of having to spend money every time you need a simple update or change to your website or email campaign. Many freelancers and creators are happy to do a walk-through of this process with you to help get you acclimated.

There are many freelancers and agencies out there that offer entry-level pricing and others that charge a premium based on experience and expertise.

To learn more, visit: www.thetimetogrow.com

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