What is the best way to get clients online?

In this video, we’re going to break down seven of the top high-ticket client acquisition funnels to find out.

If you’re trying to get clients online, you may already be using a sales funnel.

And a sales funnel is essentially a series of steps that you can use to take a stranger and turn them into a paying client.

And over the past few years, we’ve spent over $3 million testing dozens of different sales funnels to figure out what ones are most effective.

Stages Of Sales Funnel 

And so if we look at client acquisition as a whole, we can break it into three steps.

We have lead generation, which is the process of generating a lead or an interested prospect.

We have lead nurture, which is the process of warming up and qualifying that lead to the point that they’re ready to book a call to speak with you.

And then finally, we have sales, which is the process of taking that call and converting them into a client.

And so if we were to apply that to an organic strategy, you might organically go out and find leads by messaging people.

You might then ask them some questions or have a conversation to qualify them and warm them up..

..and then finally might book them in for a sales call to actually sell them.

The purpose of a funnel is essentially to automate some or all of those steps so that you don’t need to do it manually.

And so if that’s a goal, we can then figure out what exactly is a sales funnel meant to do and how do we know if it’s effective?

Well, ideally it’s doing two things.

Number one is qualifying that lead, which is ensuring that by the time you speak to that person, they’re actually qualified and you can help them.

The second part is warming up the lead so that they know that you can actually help.

So we want to qualify the lead so that you know can help them, and we want to warm up the lead so that they know you can help them.

So first of all, let’s look at the seven most popular and most effective types of funnels.

And then from there we can compare them and rank them to find out which one is going to be most effective for you.

And keep in mind, there isn’t ever really a best funnel, but there is a best funnel based on where you are.

Different funnels will work better for different people and different businesses.

And so the goal is not to figure out what is the best funnel period.

It’s to figure out, based on where you are, what funnel is going to make most sense for you.

And so the first two types of funnels are what we would call enhanced organic funnels..

..which basically means taking an organic method or strategy and then amplifying that with some sort of paid acquisition tool.

So the first funnel we’ll be looking at is the Facebook Group Funnel or a group funnel.

Essentially this is the process of having some sort of group, typically on Facebook, where you run ads to get people into the group.

And then from there you can post content to warm them up and then message them, qualify them, and then book them in for a sales call.

The second type of enhanced organic funnel would be using a social media platform and then using ads to drive people to that social media platform.

So for example, if it was Instagram, you could use ads to get more people to that profile and therefore generate more followers.

And then from there you can reach out and message them, have the conversation to qualify them, and again, book them in for a call.

The next two types of funnels are what we could call hybrid funnels.

And these are basically funnels where we’re using paid ads to generate a lead and then using some sort of follow up method..

..typically offline, to reengage that lead and then book them in for a call.

And so within this, the two most effective and most common funnels are number one, a lead generation funnel, and number two, a quiz funnel.

And so a lead generation funnel is a funnel that is offering some sort of opt-in, typically an ebook..

..and you would run ads to an opt-in page where people can opt-in for the ebook.

And then on the second page you would have some kind of upsell video where you could explain to the prospect..

..after they’ve opted in for the ebook, that you can help them more if they book a call and then there’ll be an application that they can fill out to book.

The quiz funnel is very much the same except rather than offering an ebook, you are offering a quiz.

And so prospects can take the quiz to get some sort of outcome..

..and then from there they’ll be taken to an application page where they can fill out an application to get more one-on-one help.

And that is when you would book them in for a call.

Next up, we have automated funnels, and these are typically the most common types of funnels.

We have the VSL funnel or the Video Sales Letter funnel, and then we have the webinar funnel.

And so the benefit of these types of funnels is that it’s completely online, meaning there is no follow up, there is no nurturing process, that’s done manually.

The entire process is taking the prospect, warming them up enough to actually book in the call.

And so the VSL funnel would be taking prospects to a page that’s offering a free training.

And then once they opt-in, they then watch the training.

It’s typically 10 to 30 minutes long, and then from there they can fill out an application and book a call to speak to you.

The webinar funnel is quite similar except the difference is, instead of having a static video that’s always there..

..with the webinar, people will select a time for the webinar and then they show up at that specific time.

So it’s still a page with a training and it’s still a video, although this webinar video is typically longer, normally around 30 to 60 minutes.

And then from there, application, schedule a call, and then you speak to them.

The final type of funnel is what we call an ascension funnel.

And this can come in a few shapes and sizes, but it’s essentially the process of selling someone a lower priced product first and then from there..

..once they consume the product, trying to upgrade them or upsell them or ascend them into the main offer or the main product.

So they’re the seven types of funnels.

Now let’s compare them and we’ll use seven criteria to judge which one is going to be most effective for you.

So that will be setup time, maintenance time, skill, technology, complexity, cost per lead, and quality of lead.

So first of all, let’s look at setup time, meaning how much time is it going to take to actually get this funnel live?

So with a Facebook group, there are two things we need to set up.

First of all, we need to set up the group itself.

So that would involve posting content and making sure it’s something that people would actually want to join.

And then the second part is the acquisition page.

The way Facebook works is it won’t let you run ads directly to a group.

So typically what people do is set up some sort of opt-in page..

..which would be on a third party website where you can run ads to that page and then people can opt in.

And then from there they get forwarded to the group which they can then join.

So with the Facebook group, there are two things we need to set up.

Because all of these strategies will require ads, we won’t factor setting up ads into the build.

However, it is something you should consider if you are looking to build one of these funnels.

Next, we have the social media platform.

So for this strategy, you’re essentially running ads to a social media platform, there’s no page in between.

So the only thing you need to set up is the profile itself.

Next, the lead gen funnel.

So with this, we need to build two pages, so the opt-in page where people can opt in for the ebook..

..and then the confirmation page, which has the video explaining that they can book a call.

On top of that, we also need the e-book itself, so we need to build that.

And then we need to record the video that goes on the confirmation page.

So in total, three things we need to build.

The quiz funnel is similar, but instead of building an ebook, we need to build a quiz.

So we have the funnel pages, the quiz, and then the application that goes on the confirmation page that gets people to book a call.

Next we have the VSL.

So for this, we do need a few pages.

We have the opt-in page, the video page, and the application page, but we can rank all the funnel pages as one thing.

Next we have the video, and because this is a longer form video, 15 to 30 minutes, it is quite a lengthy setup process.

So we’ll give this two points because of the time, then we have the application so that leads can book a call.

And then finally, because this funnel doesn’t include any manual one-on-one interaction with a human..

..we will need some sort of follow up process to make sure that when people book a call, they actually show up.

So that could be a confirmation page that gives additional information, or it could be an email automation sequence.

So we’ll count that part as an additional step.

So for the VSL, we have the funnel pages, which will count as one, the long video..

..which will count as two, the application page, which we can count as one, and the pre-call prep, which will count as one as well.

So in total, there’s five things to build for the VSL.

For the webinar, we need the funnel pages, so an opt-in page.

However, with the webinar, there’s also a thank you page because often people will opt in for the webinar, but it’s at a different time.

So we need a second page that tells them when to show up, as well as has calendar reminders to actually make sure they show up.

So we’ll count that as an extra step.

Then we have the webinar itself, which again is going to be a long form video.

So we’ll count that as two.

We then have the application and the pre-call prep.

So in total there’s seven.

And finally we have the ascension funnel.

And so for this one, we need a funnel to actually sell the front-end product.

And so we need the pages, we might need videos, we need a payment processor, and then we also need the product itself.

And so we’ll just give this one a rating of 10 because there are a few things you need to build.

So to summarize the setup time for the Facebook group, we’ll give that two.

The profile we’ll give one, the lead generation funnel we’ll give a three.

The quiz funnel we’ll give a three, the VSL we’ll give a five.

The webinar we’ll give a seven, and the ascension funnel we’ll give a 10.

Sales Funnel Management

Next we have the maintenance time.

And so this is how much time is it going to take to maintain this thing each day?

And so obviously the automated funnels are going to have very low maintenance time..

..because ideally there shouldn’t be any maintenance time because the funnel’s doing all the work.

But for the enhanced organic strategies and the hybrid strategies..

..there is going to be ongoing maintenance to actually take that lead and warm them up, qualify them, to book them in for a call.

So for the group funnel, the qualification process is done by messaging the prospects on Facebook.

And because that’s an ongoing thing, we’ll give it two points.

We also have the ongoing content that you need to post inside the group.

So that will be an additional one point.

So in total, there’s three points.

Next for the social media profile, we again have the ongoing messaging.

So two points.

However, with this one, it’s not essential that you post content consistently.

And although it can help the strategy, it’s not required to make it work.

So this one, there’s just the two.

Next, for both the lead gen and quiz funnel we need someone to call the leads after they’ve opted in to book a call to qualify them..

..because there is no additional qualification step.

And because that again is ongoing, we’ll give both of them two points.

For both the VSL and the webinar funnel, we can give both zero..

..because there shouldn’t be any ongoing maintenance to actually warm up the lead because the funnel is doing all of the work.

And then finally, we have the ascension funnel, which theoretically should also be zero because prospects should buy the product and then upgrade on their own.

However, because we’re actually selling a product, this is going to require some sort of ongoing support for customers.

So we’ll give it one point for the ongoing support requirement.

Next up, we’ll look at skill, meaning how much skill does it take you as the business owner or the funnel builder to successfully build the funnel?

Anyone can build a funnel, but is it going to work?

How much skill is involved in actually making that thing effective?

So for the Facebook group, we do need to be posting content and the quality of that content is going to affect the overall effectiveness of the strategy.

And typically the way this funnel is run is it’s not just a post of content, it’s a live that is done in Facebook.

And this is done for a few reasons.

Going live typically means that you get more reach with your post.

So often, the post or the content you do each week will be alive.

And so that adds an additional layer of complexity to the strategy because it’s not just a post that you could script out and edit later and then post.

It’s alive.

And so that does require some skill.

So we’ll give this two, one for the content and one for the additional skill required to actually do the live.

For the social media profile.

This, again, does require content to set up, however, it can be edited after.

It doesn’t need to be alive.

And so we’ll rate this one.

For the lead gen and quiz funnel there’s not a lot of skill required to actually make the funnel work…

..but we do have that second step of calling the prospects once they book in, which requires some sales skill.

So we’ll rank both of these two.

For the VSL, this requires a 10 to 30-minute video, which does require quite a significant amount of skill to make that effective.

If you’re expecting someone to sit and watch a 30-minute video, then it needs to be good.

And so this does require quite a bit of skill, and so we can give this a four.

Because the webinar is the same, but typically even longer, we’ll give this one a five.

And for the ascension funnel, not only do we need to be able to get someone to actually pay us money..

..which is the only funnel that requires people to pay, that requires skill, but the product that we deliver needs to be so good.

And so this requires a lot of skill.

And so for this, we’ll give it a 10.

Next we have technology.

And so with most funnels, there are going to be additional pieces of software that you’ll need to make the funnel work.

And so every additional piece of software is going to be an additional cost.

And so we need to factor this in when deciding what funnel is going to be best..

..especially if you’re starting out and don’t have a massive budget to spend on 10 different pieces of software.

For the group funnel, we do have that page that we send traffic to before the group.

So that is going to require some sort of website or funnel software.

So that is one for group funnel.

For the social media profile, these are free.

And so there’s no additional cost.

So this one is zero.

For the lead generation and quiz funnel, we have the funnel itself, so that’s a cost.

And then we also have, for the lead gen funnel, the video, which will require some sort of video hosting software.

So that’s one.

And then for the application on the quiz funnel, that will require some sort of third party application or survey software.

So for lead gen, we have the funnel and the video, so that’s two.

And for the quiz, we have the funnel and the application, which is two as well.

For the VSL, we have the funnel, the video, we have the application, and then we also have that pre-call system..

..which is typically going to be an email automation system.

So that’s four.

And while most of these strategies can use email automations, not all of them require them to make them work.

And this VSL and webinar do require that because there is no manual interaction.

So there is no way to manually follow up.

That’s why we need the automation software.

So if the VSL it’s four.

For the webinar, it’s the same, but we also have the webinar software, which is an additional cost.

So for this it will be five.

And then for the ascension funnel, we have the funnel to actually sell the product.

We need the payment processor because we need to actually take a payment.

We need the follow up to then encourage the person who bought the product to then upgrade.

And then we need the costs with the product itself, which could be additional video hosting or other third party softwares to actually deliver the product.

And so we’ll give this a six.

Next up we have complexity.

And so this is basically how many things can go wrong as we’re building and optimizing this funnel?

So for the group strategy, because we’re taking prospects from an ad to a page before they get to the group, there is going to be some complexity with tracking.

And so that’s one.

And then we also need to manually accept people once they’ve joined the group.

So that’s two.

For the social media profile, because it’s all on a social media platform, there’s not a lot of complexity because the social media platform makes sure nothing goes wrong.

So this is a zero.

For both the lead gen funnel and the quiz we have the funnel that we need to optimize.

And then again, we have the tracking.

So two.

For the VSL, we have the funnel, the tracking, and the email follow ups, which email software can sometimes break so that’s three.

And then for the webinar, same three, but also the webinar software, which can sometimes break, so we’ll give that four.

And for the ascension funnel, we have the funnel, the payment processor, the emails, and any troubleshooting required for the product itself.

So we can rate this five.

So let’s summarize complexity for the group strategy.

We have two for the profile, zero for the lead generation and quiz funnel, two.

For the VSL, three.

For the webinar four.

And for the ascension funnel five.

Next we can look at the cost per lead, meaning how much is it actually going to cost in ad spend to generate a lead?

And we’ll class a lead as someone that we can talk to and have a conversation with.

So for the Facebook group, the social media platform, the lead generation funnel, and the quiz funnel..

..the cost is going to be quite low because we’re basically getting prospects to take one step and then we can talk to them.

However, for the social media profile, there’s one less step because there isn’t that additional page that we need to send people to.

So we’ll give the group, the lead gen and the quiz two, and the social media platform one.

For the VSL, because we’re only able to speak to someone after they book a call, so going through all the steps, the cost is higher, so we’ll give this a four.

And for the webinar funnel, because we need to get prospects to find a time for the webinar and then actually show up..

..the typical show up rate is around 50%, which doubles the cost of the VSL.

And so it’s all the same steps.

We can only speak to someone after they book a call, but 50% of the people that opt in to watch the training won’t even show up to watch it.

So for this, we’ll give it an eight.

And finally, the ascension funnel, because we actually need to sell a product, which is far more challenging than getting someone to book a call..

..because the call is free and the product is not, this one is going to have the highest cost of all.

And so we’ll rate this a 10.

And then finally we have quality.

So if we know the goal of a funnel is to qualify and warm up a prospect, how effective are these different strategies for doing that?

And because quality is a positive, not a negative, we’ll give these points a negative rating in the overall score and subtract that number from the total.

So for the group funnel, typically to join the group, there’s going to be some questions to qualify the prospect.

So that’s one point to qualification.

We also have long-form content in the group, which if people watch, is going to warm them up more than short-form content.

So we’ll give that an extra two.

And then finally we have the messaging process, which we can use to qualify prospects.

So that’s one.

So in total, we’ll give the group strategy four.

For the social media profile, we have short-form content and the messaging process.

So we’ll rate short form content one.

If long-form content is two.

And the messaging process is one, which qualifies.

For the lead gen funnel people are opting in for a specific e-book.

And so because they’re interested in that e-book, we can assume they are somewhat qualified.

So we’ll give it a one.

And then for the quiz funnel, we can qualify in the quiz questions itself.

And then in the application form, we can qualify again.

So we’ll give that two.

Next, for the VSL, we have the opt-in, which is one step of qualification.

We then have a long-form video, which we’ll rate two.

And then we have the application, which is another one.

So in total we’ll give that four.

For the webinar, we have the opt-in, we have the person actually showing up..

..which is an additional step of qualification because they’ve made the effort to show up to the webinar.

We have the long-form video and then the application.

So we’ll give this five.

And then for the ascension funnel, because this person has purchased the product, liked it enough to actually then want to purchase the second product,

We’ll give this a 10 because this person is very warm.

And so if we were to compare these different strategies on all seven criteria for the Facebook group, we have eight.

For the social media profile, we have three.

For the lead gen funnel, 12.

For the quiz funnel, 11.

For the VSL 16.

For the webinar, 24.

And for the ascension funnel, 32.

And so for the enhanced organic funnels, the social media profile is clearly the winner.

For the hybrid funnels, the quiz is the winner.

For the automated funnels, the VSL is the winner.

And the ascension funnel is not really a winner at all.

And so that’s how they compare.

But does that mean the social media profile is always going to be the best strategy?

No, because like I said, for different businesses, there’s going to be strategies that are more or less effective.

So the social media profile strategy is very likely going to be the best place if you’re starting out.

However, if you’re at the point where you have a team and you want to maximize the volume of leads..

..then the quiz funnel is likely going to be better because you can get higher volume.

We do need someone to call those people.

However, if you have the team, then that’s probably going to be a better option than the social media profile.

If you want to maximize quality while reducing time, then the VSL funnel might make sense.

However, keep in mind with this, there is going to be the higher cost.

And so this isn’t the place I would suggest starting for most people.

However, if you’re at the point where you have a sales team and they’re fully booked..

..but you want to increase the quality of the leads to increase core conversion, then the VSL might make sense.

And then to take that a step further, if you want to improve quality even more at a higher cost, then the webinar can make sense too.

Around 18 months ago, we were using the VSL funnel and we had two sales reps at the time.

They were fully booked out, so we couldn’t increase volume without hiring a third sales rep.

And so instead we switched the VSL to the webinar to increase the quality of the calls.

And so in that situation, it made sense to do that.

However, again, it’s not the place I would suggest starting for most businesses.

And then finally, the ascension funnel, although this was the worst based on this ranking.

It can still make sense if the front-end products that you’re selling is something that you actually want to be selling.

If the goal of the front-end product is simply to ascend people to the back-end product, this strategy is probably not what you want to do.

However, if you have some sort of SaaS business where you are trying to get users for the front-end product…

..you can then use this model to have that additional back-end product as your premium service.

And so in that situation, it would make sense because you are able to get users on the front-end product.

But if the goal is just to sell a front-end product to then upgrade them, I wouldn’t suggest this strategy for anyone.

And so they are the seven funnels.

Hopefully, this has given you some clarity on what might be best for you.

Do you agree, or do you disagree?

Let me know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe for more videos like this soon.