4 Reasons Your Sales Funnel Isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)

Show of hands: Who’s ready to generate more leads, impact more lives, and put more money in their bank through high-converting sales funnels that *actually* work?

I hope your hand’s raised right now because that was a trick question… if you’re the boss I know you are, your answer is a loud, “ME!” *hand raised high*

As a self-proclaimed marketing nerd, I’m wildly in love with sales funnels. They’ve transformed my business and generated tens of thousands of dollars in sales for my coaching clients. 

True story: I helped Kate generate $18k in passive income from a $99 offer all through a simple sales funnel (side note: all the juicy details are worth the read, I promise!) 

BUT creating a sales funnel that works on autopilot year-round isn’t an easy task. I see so many online entrepreneurs set up their sales funnel and give up the second they don’t see success. A big no-no for any marketing strategy…and honestly, for anything in life. 

No matter what stage you’re at in the sales funnel creation process—haven’t started yet, just launched, launched a while ago, or have given up entirely—I’m going to share four reasons I see so many sales funnels fail…and how to fix them. 

My goal is to get you to stop stressing about your sales process so you can do what you do best: making game-changing moves with your clients. 

Now, let’s get to work! 

Reason #1: You Aren’t Targeting The Right Audience 

With more competition than ever before, it’s critical to know exactly who your target audience is…down to what type of coffee they drink in the morning. Okay, that might be a *slight* exaggeration, but you get my point. There’s nothing worse than spending your time, energy, and money selling to someone that will NEVER buy your products or book your services. 

For example, let’s say you’re a Pinterest Strategist that created a course for busy mompreneurs to increase their website traffic 5x in 90 days. Unless your list is made up of moms, then you’ll have a tough time selling out your programs. 

The fix: Create an online survey to figure out who your current audience is. You can determine what their pain points are, what they need help with the most, and most importantly, what coffee they drink. Once you have a clear customer avatar, you’ll find selling your services or products is a lot easier because you’ll target people who NEED your genius. 

Reason #2: You Don’t Have Enough Subscribers On Your Email List 

If you’ve nailed down your target audience, but you still aren’t seeing many people sign up to your email list, then the problem may be with your freebie. One of the keys to creating a successful sales funnel is a consistent stream of leads signing up for your opt-in offer. If you don’t have an offer that’s compelling enough for your ideal customers to hand over their email addresses, then you won’t have enough people to sell your product or services to. More people on your list means more opportunities to make a sale. 

The fix: Create multiple opt-in offers and test which one converts the best. This is a simple way to determine what freebies you should focus your efforts on and offer more often to potential customers. For example, if your opt-in offer is a 5-page workbook, create a one-page cheat sheet or checklist. 

Reason #3: You Don’t Have A Clear Customer Journey

Imagine walking into your favorite boutique, and the fitting room is front and center, followed by their clothes and accessories. That makes for a confusing customer experience, right? And think about all the sales they might lose because they’re turning customers off from the moment they walk into the store. 

There’s a reason why most retailers have their fitting rooms in the very back: it gives customers time to look through all their beautiful clothes, pick out their favorite shoes to go with an outfit, and ask the sales team questions about their products. Without a clear customer journey, you’ll never truly connect with your target audience, causing your sales to suffer.

The fix: Before creating your funnel, outline your ideal customer’s buyer journey from start to finish.  Determine what they need to learn before buying your main offer and what you need to teach them along the way to reach the checkout line. Knowing this ahead of time will help you increase your funnel conversion rate. 

Reason #4: You Don’t Have Multiple Buying Opportunities 

Have you ever heard of the terms tripwire, down-sell, up-sell, or order bumps? Before you go on a Google search spree, let me explain. These are powerful marketing tactics you can use to quickly turn “on-the-fence” shoppers into “add to cart” buyers. 

You see, many online entrepreneurs create a sales funnel with only one or two purchase touchpoints…and that’s not going to cut it, especially when your sales goals are as ambitious as I know they are. 

The fix: If you want to get the most out of your sales funnel and sell-out your products (I mean, who doesn’t?), then you need to have SEVEN purchasing points throughout your funnel. Yes, I said it…seven. While that number may seem high, It’s 100% required to get your customers buying one or even multiple products. 

Whew! That was a lot of information, but I hope you’re inspired to take major action after reading today’s lesson. Sales funnels are a critical way to grow your business without increasing your workload, as long as you don’t give up on making them work for you. And the best part is once you’ve put your funnel on set it and forget it mode, you can make more money than ever while working a lot less…I think we could allll use that, especially after how hard this year’s been. Am I right?  

P.S.: You may want to turn your phone on silent because as soon as you use these tips to fix your funnel, it’ll be dinging every few minutes with a sales notification! *pops champagne*