The #1 Reason Reason Your Funnel Isn’t Converting

Kathryn Thompson  00:00

Welcome back, I'm super stoked that you're tuning into this week's episode. And I cannot wait to dive into today's topic because we're talking about the number one reason why your funnel isn't converting. So if you're an online coach or a consultant, and you use a funnel to sell your offers, whether it be a digital product, a group coaching program, an online course of some sort, or even your one-to-one experiences, then this is going to be of even more interest to you, especially if your funnel isn't converting. 

And I know that we've all been there, I have been there even as a conversion copywriter, where we pour our blood, sweat and tears into our offer into writing the emails into creating content that we know is a value and inspirational and as identifying the problem and identifying the solution that you can offer. But for whatever reason, you either feel like you're speaking into the void because no one's really engaging or, you know, taking action in any way. Or you feel like you've been totally freaking friendzone. And I've been in both of those camps. And friend, zoning is really hard because you got people that are like rallying behind, you're like, I love what you do. This is so inspirational. Thank you for the tips. Thanks for doing what you do. And yet when you go to sell your offers, you're not really seeing the sales that you want. And what I've discovered, after being in the industry for four years, but having loads of marketing experience, and having done things wrong a lot and failed a lot, and gone back to the basics in my own intuitive way of knowing what I need to sort of do in order to move people along. Because it is and was so different than what I experienced in the brick and mortar product based world, right. And I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, and she was in the product world as well. And now is an online coach. And we were sharing our stories of like, I used to yet be able to send a single email and it would garner you know, 10k in sales, or 30k or 40k in sales. Or for her she was a photographer, and she's like, I used to be able to just show pictures and say, 

Hey, do you want to book a session with me, and people would sign up, you know, she was like, I was using just my images. And so if you feel like you've come from a different world that felt like sales was easier. And now you're in this online coaching space, and you're like, it just feels really hard. I want to share with you that you're not alone. I've been there too. But I've I also realized after a lot of trial and error, what I was doing wrong, but also having worked with so many people now, where the biggest mistakes fall when it comes to creating content, especially when you're trying to create a highly converting funnel. And the number one reason why fine funnels don't work is because of the copy. Right? Your your copy isn't converting, and therefore people are not purchasing. But even more specifically, the reason why the copy doesn't convert is because we're not taking our customers down a customer buying journey. And when you're in the product, world selling wine, that journey is really frickin quick. Number one, nobody who doesn't like people that don't enjoy wine are not going to be vested. So you've already repelled people really quickly, the non wine drinkers are like, I don't want anything to do with you. And then for us, we got even more specific because it wasn't just wine drinkers, because the wine world can be pretty snooty, right? And we were doing micro brewing of wine. So it wasn't, you know, from a winery or anything like that we were doing it locally and brewing in our store. So it's going we were repelling the extremely snooty wine drinkers. We were targeting very specific types of wine drinkers, people who drank regularly, maybe daily or weekly, and we're consuming a couple bottles or more a month. And we were offering that product at a fraction of what the retail stores were. So it became a no brainer offer before we ever had to communicate. And that made selling really easy, but that also made the whole process of communicating super easy as well. So our journey to get people into the store and into buying was very different than what it is online. 

And when you're selling a course or a program or mentorship, there's a lot more trust that has to be built. And for our brick and mortar there. There still needed to be trust because they were getting a consumable and they had to purchase the consumable before they were ever able to try. And based on legalities, we were not allowed to offer samples. So what we did was we put a guarantee in And to develop that trust, and it was 100% guarantee that if you're not satisfied with the wine will either give you a full refund, or we will make another batch on our dime. That was our promise to them. And so it made buying really easy, but you can see the journey, right? We created awareness with what we were doing, we shared how we were different. And we shared, we solved a problem for people because we were giving we were creating or making wine for people at a fraction of the cost, which saved them a lot of money. And then we developed trust, prior to purchasing with that guarantee. And then we even developed deeper trust with the experience when they came into bottle when they tasted the wine and they loved it, my service to them. And that then created what I call word of mouth, that snowball effect on the back end that creates that word of mouth, which is all part of that journey, right? But the journey is really quick with the product business when you're selling a service online. And the trust in relationship takes a little bit longer. 

We need to cultivate that and nurture that with emails and content. And podcasting, right we've got, we've got to be able to do that conversation with our people. But what I see most people doing in the online space, and this is the biggest mistake that's being made, and I made it in the early days of my business is that we focus so heavily on identifying the problem. And we pump out content about the mistakes they're making, what they're doing wrong, this is the solution. If you want to, you know get x, y and z, then you need to be doing this. And so we're we're hitting them up front with either how to content and valuable content of what they're doing wrong. And here's how to fix it, so to speak. And so they're rallying behind you how that's awesome, that's amazing. Or we're spending so much time selling our offers, we see this heavily in the coaching space by my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing. And there, there is even rhetoric out there that's like you should be selling every single day. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't talk about your offers, I highly believe that you do. But what ends up happening is is that you there's this big gap in the journey, that doesn't happen. And that's the whole trust building component. Right? That's the whole like, can this person actually help me? You know, how will? 

How do I know they can help me? Do I relate with them? Do I connect with them, right? So there's this front end bed at the journey that's like promotional and or problem awareness and inspirational and how to, and all the things you're doing wrong, or all the things that you you know, the dyes desires that you want. And here's how we can help you achieve those desires. And then it's like, but I have this offer, and here, I'll sell it to you. But that whole relationship piece is missing in the middle relationship building intimacy connection, it's kind of like dating, and I use the dating analogy a lot, because it really paints the picture of it. So imagine, you're at a family wedding, I'm not going to use the online dating analogy, I'm going to use a family wedding and you're at this wedding. And you guys are like mingling, and you notice this cute guy or girl across the dance floor. And you really want to go up and talk to them and maybe ask them to dance. And you walk up to them. And the first thing you say to them is like, hey, you know, do you want to get married basically? Or like, Would you like to go on a date with me after this wedding. And the guy or the girl puts up their finger and they're like, points to their wedding ring and they're married. Right? You would never do that you would never do that. That's awkward, but it's also like you just wouldn't ever do it. Well, the same is with your content, your funnel content, right? Imagine, if you were to just say to someone, hey, I want you to be in my program, I want you to sign up for what I have. And they're like, I don't even really need what you have. 

For example, I was recently just pitched in my DMs on Instagram. And I think this is a prime example of a broken funnel. I was pitched on how to grow a six figure photography business. I'm a messaging strategist and conversion copywriter and my content on social on Instagram. Nowhere does it say I'm a photographer. However, I used to be a photographer, but it doesn't say anywhere that I'm a photographer. Nowhere in my content. Does it talk about me owning a photography, business or anything. And that's a prime example of a broken funnel, right? That's a prime example of walking up to somebody across the dance floor at a family wedding and basically asking them if they want to go on a date after this and they they're like I'm married, my wife or my husband or my spouse or partner wouldn't really liked that too much. You know, it's like you've got to create that introduction, which is amazing. But it doesn't just go from introduction to now let's get married. Right it's like Hey, my name is Catherine. And I was wondering if you want to go on a date after that's like jumping from connection, or, Hey, this is who I am awareness, I call it awareness content to Hey, do you? Do you want to work with me? You know, you've missed that whole big chunk in the middle of identifying, number one, is this person, even a legit fit for me? 

You know, like, how do I even know I'm gonna like them, I just, I'm looking at them across the room, and they're attractive. And so I'm attracted to them. That's what your audience is feeling when they come into your world. This person is attractive, and not from a look perspective. But they're attracted to who you are, they're attracted to what you're doing. They're liking the stuff that you're putting out, but they don't know for certain if what you if you're the person that's going to really help them, they're just drawn to you, right? They're drawn to you naturally. And then you have to cultivate a reason for them to choose you ultimately, right. And so you have to identify the bits between that awareness that, okay, I'm attracted, like, how do I get people to be attracted to me, which is what happens, right? We put out a lead magnet, we host a masterclass. And we create this awareness for it. And people opt in, and they're like, Yeah, this is awesome, this person sounds amazing. And then they go through that funnel, and it's like, awareness, and then buy my thing. And they're like, Wow, I don't even really know if I like you, or if I have a connection with you. 

And a few episodes ago, I broke down the different types of buyers, right, and I broke down how some strategies and language and words will work better for others, you know. And so that is why ultimately your funnel isn't converting, right. Either you have an offer, that you're communicating that offer in a way that is not positioning it as a thing that they want, or they need, you're not creating that demand in between the awareness piece of just getting to know you to actually wanting to buy your thing. And you have to remember, your audience is being hit all the time online, especially online with what they could buy for their business or whatever. It's much more amplified in the online space than it would be if you had a local business, right. Like we had a local business, there was five other businesses locally where we were. Some people would say there was a lot of competition, and others would say that there's not really right, because when you think about the population, there's about 300,000, where I live, and then surrounding areas or smaller towns around where we are, I mean, we weren't really competing, the the biggest competition would be liquor stores, but we were we had the price point there, right. And so it was, so we weren't fighting the noise that the online space can feel right when someone's being hit daily with by my weight loss thing, or by my healing, or by my business coaching or by my copywriting, right, there's a lot of other people talking, and then they have a lot more to sort of choose from in the online space SEO space. And I don't say that to discourage you or create scarcity within you. 

But when you can build out that funnel, and take your customers along that customer buying journey, in a way from awareness to connection to building that trust, to creating that demand for what you have to then pitching the offer. That is where things will transform in your funnel. But if it's not going to be the style or delivery, it's not going to be you changing your niche or anything like that, especially if you have a proven offer. So this is more specifically if you have a proven offer, like something that has sold and you validated it, I can guarantee you, you can scale it. It's just a matter of getting that funnel to convert and to bring and to bring those people along that journey with you. I always think of the online dating too. I'll go back to sort of a date dating analogy, right? Like, you know, if you're DMing somebody I was working with helping a relationship coach right copy a few years ago, and she had this beautiful sequence of communication that she took her people through because one of the biggest complaints was is like I end up on these dates with duds. You know, like I go on a date and they're complete dud and she was like, Well, you shouldn't even be going on dates until you've gone through this whole communication funnel that I've created. And that way you're screening and qualifying people right out of the gate. And that is also the benefit of having a really high converting funnel because what I also hear a lot in the online spaces is like I'm getting a lot of people coming in To my world, but the wrong people. And the reason why the wrong people they feel like the wrong clients is because they're picking you based on attraction. And that's it. Right. So if you think about it from the, from the dating perspective, you're on the online app, and you're swiping on people based on their looks mostly, and maybe some of the high level criteria that they have there, they have an education, and have a job. And this is their age, and all of that, but it's very surface level or superficial. And that's what the front end of your funnel is. So people are swiping on you based on attraction, and then they get to the sales. 

And maybe because you're super passionate, you have a good offer, right? Like you have this great offer. And so they're buying and then they get into your program, and you realize they're they're not either the best fit for your program, or they might be difficult clients or whatever it might be. And then you're like, what's going on, I'm getting all of these people that are misaligned for me and misaligned for what I have to offer. And that's because that whole big chunk in the middle is also missing. Because this particular relationship coach would take you from swiping right to identify what profiles to even swipe on. But then she would take people through based on this, her method and model of like, quickly identifying whether or not this person would be a good fit for you. Well, your funnel is the same way, your funnel, the middle of that funnel is designed to repel the people that you don't want to necessarily attract. And to really start to get granular with that qualification throughout it. So they're like, this isn't for me, you know, this isn't the right fit for me or I don't really like what that person stands for. But when you're just doing it from that surface level of first on just attraction marketing, so to speak, that like flashy thing that's grabbing someone's attention with that problem, awareness, pointing out the the problem they have or agitating their pain so to speak, you're creating a spark within them just merely on attraction. And the same is with online dating, right? It's like, the pain point is, is that we, we want to be in relationship with other people. And we want to find our partner and our person. And so what do most people do, they go on online dating apps, and they start by just swiping on whoever looks good. And then they go on these dates, and they're like, well, the person is a total dud, or they have a really, you know, their personality and my personality just don't jive. And that's because they've skipped the whole in between of really kind of getting to know somebody, and you can do that. And this is what this relationship coach did, she taught them how to do that before you ever landed on a date with somebody. 

And the date was just the last step before like committing to like actually dating somebody, right. And that's what I call the bottom end of your funnel, right is by the time they get to the bottom end and ready to purchase, they feel a connection with you, they know what you have to offer something that's going to, you know, be of a solution for them. They trust that you are the person that can help them do that. And they've cultivated a bit of a relationship. And it doesn't mean that you have to sit there and go back and forth with people in the DMS to like really become friends with them. That's not what I'm saying is like you can tell pretty quickly on if you if you're moving people through that customer buying journey you can tell pretty quickly on like, who you resonate with and who you don't resonate with or who you you know, want to engage with and who you don't want to engage with. And so that's the number one reason why your funnel isn't working. Don't burn it down, especially if you have a validated offer. And it's your your funnel has performed like you've had people come through maybe a lead magnet and then book calls with you and buy from you. Or you've sent emails up to your email list. And they've bought from they're booked calls with you don't burn the entire funnel down and start from scratch where you're, you know, making up a whole new offer or you're targeting a whole new audience or you're changing a whole delivery of it, unless what you're doing isn't in alignment with who you are. There would be that exception, right? But if you're changing everything because you don't feel like it's converting the way that you want or your friends own more than not. My guess would be is that that journey piece of everything, moving people from attraction to connection to conversion, needs refining and tweaking and that's why funnels when you first put this out, and I see this happen a lot is we create the funnel and I did it. So in the first two years of business just as an example. 

I launched I put together an entire launch I had the masterclass and at the beginning of the two week window runway so to speak to get people to sign up for the masterclass. I wasn't hitting the numbers that people told me I needed to hit in order to have the funnel convert. And so I I scratched the entire thing I completely did not launch. So that was the first launch. The second launch, I drove a ton of people through it held the masterclass. And then on the back end, it didn't convert. And I ended up having to reach out to my audience and see if people want to come in at a really low beta price. And I ended up getting four people, which was amazing. So in the end did convert but it didn't convert, like the masterclass didn't convert the way that I wanted it to. And then I went and launched another time, and I had a ton of people come through this time, and I had people throughout the launch, tell me that like, you know, their price points of things they could afford. And I got in my head, and I was like, well, they're not going to be able to afford a group coaching program. So midway through a launch, I changed my model to a membership. Nobody bought the membership, everybody wanted to work with me one to one, which was higher ticket than the group coaching program, and substantially higher ticket than the membership. And that's what they wanted to work with me. And on the back end of that I had two high ticket 121 client side with me to coach them privately. So it's so easy to get like tangled up energetically, mentally while you're going through these launches. And to think that burning things down or scrapping things, or starting all over again, is the answer. When in reality, your content and your copy is the thing that's likely needing to be optimized, right? Nine times out of 10. It's the content and copy that needs to be optimized. And most people don't give it an opportunity to do that their funnel doesn't convert after one launch the way that they wanted to. And they scrap it and start over. And I did that for two years. I did that for two years, I'm gonna I want to save you from making those same mistakes. And if you're making those same mistakes right now, just stop making them because that's what I've done. That's what I did for two years. 

And then I was like, wait a minute, the customer buying journey that I created in the product world was just a lot more accelerated? And how can I redo this in the online world and still have, you know, the mentality that yes, I can move people through a customer buying journey pretty quickly. But it might take a little bit longer in the online space. Because I'm selling a service, something that people are investing in, they're investing in my offer, but they're also investing in me. And it's not as tangible, right? Services are not as tangible as a product, people get to walk away with a physical bottles of wine. So they're paying for something physical, they walk away with, whereas services, it's like, well, what am I getting? You know, I'm investing 2k 5k $500, whatever it might be. And it's like, but what am I getting? What are the results that I'm gonna get. And it just takes a lot more trust to be built and connection to be built. They're now saying that it's going to take even more, we've got so many online coaches, and course creators and consultants flooding the market. And I don't think the markets necessarily going anywhere, people always get worried like, is it too saturated? I think if you have a really solid offer, you deliver on what you promise, and you're connecting and speaking to an audience that you know, you can support and serve, and you go and deliver that. I think that you will be needed and wanted more in the online space than ever before. Because we see so many people pop up these offers, and they don't deliver on what they promise, and they're not being of the best service to their people. And they're just trying to make a quick buck. And people have been burned and when audiences have been burned, and markets have been burned in some capacity or feel like they've invested in something that didn't really give them the return, they lose trust in themselves more than anything, right. 

And so if you have your trust broken, you've invested and you didn't see the return, you stop trusting your decision making process. And therefore that trust needs to be cultivated even more. And the best way you can do that. I'm just going to give you like a nugget of a tip there is your story, the more you can share your story, and not your rags to riches because some people really don't have a rags to riches. But you can see how I've shared my story. Just even tidbits of it right now on this podcast, right? So somebody who has a brick and mortar or who went into the online space can be like, Oh, I totally resonate with that. Like, that's what I've done. This person knows me they can they can help me because they've gone through it. You know, it doesn't have to be the rags to riches it can all also be the very nuanced freakin mistakes that we make. Just because we don't know any better. You know, just because we we have come from two different worlds so to speak, and we're trying to figure it out, and without hiring a coach to help us but even that you can hire a coach and still have an experience where you're like, I didn't really get what I needed out of it, like I said, then then your trust is sort of broken, but not necessarily trust in them, but trust in yourself to make those decisions. And so like I said, I hope this is an episode that has you looking at your funnel in a different way, and not feeling like you have to burn the frickin thing down every time. That's the thing I want to leave you with, because I've done it. And I've wanted and I burned a lot of things down to be honest over the last four years in the online space, started programs, retired programs. And I've learned a lot from that experience. And I've learned a lot from helping so many online course creators now not only in a coaching capacity, but also writing for them right when I get into their business, and I'm able to build out their funnels for them, I can see exactly where the funnel has kinks, right when it comes to moving people through that customer journey. 

And so I've now taken all of that and created my own process from it, it's been a long time coming, because it's something that I've intuitively known when I'm looking at other people's businesses of being able to see that like, you know, bird's eye view of like, no, it's actually this, you're taking people from attraction to basically buy my thing, and they have no idea whether or not they can trust you. And whether or not you are actually the guide that can lead them. And that's another big thing that before we wrap up here is that you can get a lot of people that sign up for what you have to offer. And I don't know if you've ever found this with your programs, but you'll have people in it that maybe are not getting the results that you had anticipated, or you hoped. And if your heart centered, that matters to you in a lot of ways, but this is where that whole buying journey is so important because and it doesn't necessarily guarantee people are going to get better results. But it kind of does. Because when people can connect to your story, and they're ultimately like meant to be in your world and you are meant to help them. That relationship in mentorship is so much better, right when they can come into your world, not just from like this shiny object syndrome, right? Again, we go back to relationships, how many people have you dated, maybe swiped on or dated where you thought from on paper, they looked really frickin good. And then you get on dates with them, and you realize they're duds, you know, or you've gone on a few dates with somebody and they seem amazing and genuine, all these sorts of things. And all of a sudden, they turn out to be a complete dud, or they ghost you or something right. That is, again, dating is such a beautiful analogy when it comes to like building those relationships from awareness connection to conversion, because you can tell pretty quickly on once you get into somebody's world, whether or not they can be the person that's going to help you or whether there's somebody you want to do business with or do a relationship with, right? 

People can make themselves look really frickin good on paper. And then when you meet them in reality, or meet them in the real world. And I think story more than anything is a really good insight because the more you share your story, there's that humaneness that's there, and there's that connection that comes through it. And then there's this relatability to like this person's really going to get me they're going to understand me. And that is where trust is 100% built right? Or, you know, they'll understand me, but they'll also like see me for who I am and I can be myself and I can bring whatever I need to bring to the table forward, I have that capacity to do that I can open up you know, that is where so much amazingness can happen in that coaching relationship. So without further ado, I am going to leave you with that if your funnel isn't converting the way that you hoped. Don't burn it to the ground. Take a look at that customer buying journey. Take a look and see am I just hitting hard with my content on everything my audience is doing wrong and then I'm trying to sell the shit out of what I do and I've completely missed that whole getting to know each other and whether or not on a mutual level we would be a good partnership. You know have I left out some really key pieces here of of my own story of clients stories of you know, testimonials but not just money testimonials. Yeah. Like, if you're in the business world this like, look, this person made 10k on this person made 50k on vanilla. That's surface level. That is surface level. It's like swiping on somebody because they're good looking. Right? It's flashy. 

It's, it's only the tip of the iceberg when somebody makes 50k. Or you show like, oh, I made 50k. This week, like, is that 50k in sales? Is it 50k in revenue? Is it you know, like, is it cash in the bank today? Or is it is it overpayment plans for the next 12 months, like, there's so much more depth there that has to happen, and the depth is in the in between? Right, so show the flashing numbers, celebrate the results that your people have on that surface level, but then you have to create the depth and intimacy. Otherwise, you're going to get people that buy, just because you promised them the 50k. And when they don't get the 50k, they're going to be pissed off at you. If you don't create that depth, and that connection and intimacy, It's same as relationship, I swiped on you, you have an education, you have a job, and you're good looking. And now I'm finding out that like, You're married with somebody with a whole other family somewhere, or you have a couple other girlfriends or you're an asshole, you know, I mean, again, it's there's so much comparison there. So take a look at that content, take a look at that funnel. And if you want support on this, I have an amazing brand new offer that I'm launching in January, you can reach out to me shoot me a DM on Instagram at creatively owned, or you can shoot me an email Kathryn at creatively owned.com. And I'd love to have a conversation with you to hear and see what you're doing and to see if I would be able to support you in that. But essentially, I would be helping you create highly converting content and energetically align content so that your funnel converts, we're going to optimize harmonize it so that it converts and do it in a way that's fully aligned with who you are. So if you feel like your funnel isn't converting, and you're like, I don't want to burn it to the ground or Catherine please stop me from burning it to the ground. 

Shoot me a DM let's have a conversation. I'd love to prevent you from doing that. And I'd love to help you have more beautiful people come into your orbit and buy from you so that you're no longer speaking to the void or feeling like your friend zoned, or any of that. Now on to next week's episode, we are going to be breaking down the different types of funnels that you could be building in your business and how to know which one is the in most alignment with you, as somebody who has, I feel like tried them all challenge launches webinars, I've helped clients build out three-part Life series, I have the most amazing quiz funnel on the interwebs. So if you haven't taken that quiz, I highly recommend that you do. It's going to help you identify what your elevated edge is. So if you're someone who feels like you're constantly drawing a blank or you don't really know what makes you different, this quiz is for you. And it's the most thorough frickin quiz on the internet. It's not just like a one pager where you're, you know, you get an archetype you're like, that's cool, but how does this apply to my frickin business? This is like the most in-depth quiz. It breaks down like what platforms to be on you know what your pros and your cons are. It's so thorough y'all take it I highly recommend it. It's so phenomenon really help you identify what makes you different, but it's also going to give you permission to just do things your own way, and to stop following what everybody else tells you you need to do to be successful, which is why I really cannot wait to record this episode for you on to help you identify the type of funnel to build because you can do a variety of different things. You don't have to just do a challenge.

You don't have to just do a masterclass there are ways in which you can attract leads into your business that go through that journey with you and ultimately want to buy what it is you have to offer so be sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss when that episode drops. Cheers