A sales funnel is a journey a person takes from learning about your business to becoming a paying client.
If you already have paying clients, then you have some variation of a sales funnel already.
That is why the goal of this article is not to just create another sales funnel. But to create a sales funnel that:
Is highly profitable
Marketing requires large investments of both time and money. A profitable funnel is one that gives you biggest return on your investment.
Has high growth potential
Your sales funnel may be profitable, but it may not be viable if it can't reach a big population of your ideal clients. A highly profitable sales funnel should be very easy to distribute on a large scale.
Is scalable
Can you use it to attract hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands prospective clients? And if so, would you easily be able to handle all the leads if your business goes viral? A good sales funnel is pointless if you can only manage a handful of inquires every day.
The customer's journey
As mentioned, prospective clients move through your funnel on the way to becoming a paying client. A customer journey inside a sales funnel can be divided into these stages:
From visitor to a lead
A visitor is someone that just knows about your business. A lead is someone who not only knows about your business but has some skin in the game. A lead has invested time or money to learn more about your business by taking some action like scheduling an appointment, downloading an ebook, or buying an affordable product.
From lead to paying customer
A paying customer is someone that has bought your main offer. If you sell personal training, then this might be someone that has bought a few months of your service.
From a paying customer to a brand advocate.
The last stage in the journey is a brand advocate — or a loyal customer. This is a customer who has been with you for long time, got great results, and can't wait to talk about your business. This type of client is your walking, talking billboard. As you can imagine, the more brand advocates you can create, the better!
Why break a sales funnel into different stages?
Each stage requires different strategy. The process to convert a visitor to lead is different from the process to convert a lead into a paying customer.
Because of this, we divided the rest of this article into 3 different parts that cover the different stages with the strategy you need in each stage. The goal of each part is to move a person from one stage of funnel to the next. You can use your Trainerfu app to do just that. Let's see how.
Part 1: Convert visitors to leads
One of the biggest mistakes most fitness businesses make is that they ask too much too soon. If you are asking your followers on Instagram to signup for a 6-month package, you probably won't get many takers.
The reason it doesn't work very well is because your followers don't trust you enough to get them the results they want. And because they don't trust you, they are very skeptical in making a big investment in your business.
So what is the solution?
Don't ask for a big investment. Ask for a little one. Make your audience feel more comfortable committing to you on a smaller scale.
The best way to do this is by creating a low barrier offer for an affordable price. These low cost offers or freebies are often called lead magnets Here are some examples:
4-week weight loss challenge for $49
21-day fitness kickstart challenge for $21
As this is not your main money making program, you need to make sure that it is not a time sink for your business. Once you create this program, it should more or less run automatically and won't be individualized for each participant.
Even though these programs aren't personalized for every buyer, they still need to be packed with value. Such programs generally include:
A template workout plan
Content like recipe guides, sample meal plans, fitness tips etc.
Habit coaching
Private social group
And much more
You can include all of these components and fully automate your program in Trainerfu by creating a training package.
What is a training package?
In Trainerfu, a training package bundles all different component of a fitness program in a single product. A training package can include:
Registration page
Workout plan
Message sequences
Habit tracking
Payment
Private social group
And much more
You can then share this training package with a simple link on Instagram, Facebook, your website, email, or anywhere else you may have potential buyers.
A prospect simply clicks on the link to buy the packages. Once bought, they can then download the app to access the fitness program. All the workouts and content would be delivered to them inside their app at a set schedule. Creating a training package for leads is a great way to give people an idea of what it's like to work with you, so that you can ask for a larger investment down the road.
Now that you know what a training package is, let's see how you can create one.
How to create a training package in Trainerfu
Go to More > Packages & Payments.
Click on Add New Package.
Enter Title.
Title should be short and give a prospect a good idea of what is included in the program. For ex: 4-Weeks Fat Loss Challenge
Enter Description.
Your description should provide more information about the program. Here are few things you can include:What is included in the fitness program or challenge
Who it's for
Start date, duration
Links to disclaimer, waiver, etc
Testimonials from your past clients
-Optionally, you can include background image and video. These will show up on the fitness program registration page.
Once done with the basic info, click Next. This will take you to the Automation screen.
This is where you will put together all the different components of the program. Let's take it one section at a time.
Select Groups, Habits, Autoresponders.
A participant would automatically be added to the groups, habits, and autoresponders you selected here.
Few important tips:We recommend you create a separate group for the training package. As you will see later we can use this group to schedule messages inside this group.
Do all the participants need to stick to a few common healthy habits? If yes, then go to More > Habits and create these habits. Once created you can select them here.
Do you have a short course on nutrition, habits, or similar health topics that you want these groups members to subscribe to? Then create an autoresponder sequence by going to More > Autoresponder and then select it here.
Select Workout Plan Template.
Here you select the workout plan that you want to assign to participants of this fitness program. If you haven't done so already, you can create one by going to More > Plan Templates. Then, it will show up as an option for you to select here.
Select Primary Trainer.
Select a primary trainer that would be assigned to the participants. Any trainer can access any client in the app. But the primary trainer is the only one that will receive a notification when the client sends a message.
Click Next to go to the Payment screen.
Setup Payment.
Here you can select the payment details. As this program is designed to generate leads, it is recommended that you keep it as free or charge a low one-time fee.
Once done, click Next to go to the Target screen.
Select your Target.
As this is a lead magnet, you will select New Clients Only here.
Click Save and your challenge is ready.
As we mentioned earlier, once you create a training package, it will get its own unique signup link. You can now copy this link and share it everywhere (Instagram, Facebook, Ads, WhatsApp, email, your website).
Your prospective client simply needs to click on this link to register, pay, and start the program — and they can do it at any time! Easy, right?
Part 2: Convert leads to paying customers
Once your prospective clients take advantage of your lead magnet, your job isn't finished.
You have now have your lead's attention. This is the time to build trust and move them to the next stage — i.e. turn them into long term paying clients.
Here are a few tips to help you convert your leads using Trainerfu:
Schedule onboarding messages.
Onboarding is a process of helping participants get started, and it's how you make a strong first impression on potential clients. Here are few important messages that you should schedule inside the group you created in the previous section.Welcome Message
The first thing you need to do after someone signs up for your program is to send them a welcome message. This should make them feel at home and give a brief overview of what's to come.
Paperwork (PAR-Q, Waiver)
Do you want participants to complete paperwork before they start the challenge? If so, you can again automate this using scheduled messages.
To do that create a new scheduled message in the appropriate group.If you want participants to complete a form, create a Google form or Jot form and include the link to these forms in the scheduled messages.
If you want them to complete a PDF, include the PDF as an attachment with the message.
Engage on the news feed.
The Trainerfu news feed function is a great way to provide clients with a unique experience. As participants start doing their program, you will start to see their updates on the news feed. It is important that you engage and support them there. This will build trust and make them feel like there is an actual person working with them during the program. You can also use news feed to post valuable educational content from time to time.
Share success stories.
This is really important. The only way people will take the leap and become your paying clients is if they believe that you can make the difference. And what better way to show them that you have already done it in the past than by sharing success stories of your past clients.
You can share client success stories on the news feed or use the scheduled messaging feature to set it and forget it.
Give details about your paid program.
During your low barrier program don't forget to advertise your next level program. Whether it is personalized 1-on-1 training or a premium group challenge, provide your participants with all the details like what's included and how it's different and better than the program they are currently following.Tell them how your business is different than the competitors.
Find out who your competitor is. Your main competitors are the businesses a majority of your prospects will choose if you didn't exist. If it is a big box gym then show them how you are better and different than a big box gym.
It is best to schedule these messages in advance, so everything is taken care of even before you start the program. This saves you time and ensures that this important information is always included as you use the program again and again.
Setup a group call during the program to present your offer and answer questions.
Schedule a Zoom call before your challenge ends and prepare a great offer to present. Whether your offer is 1 on 1 training, a premium training package, or something else, entice your leads with a special discount or some freebies if they sign up on the call. Make sure to use the call to answer any questions your participants might have.
Part 3: Convert paying customers to brand ambassadors
You now have a framework to get a constant stream of paid clients for your business. Finally, let's go over a few important things you can do to go the extra mile and turn more of your customers into loyal brand ambassadors that are happy to spread the word about your training.
Consistently get your clients amazing results.
Make sure your clients of aware of the amazing results they are getting.
Collect social proof.
Regularly ask for referrals.
Creating a strong sales funnel helps you get more high paying clients. With Trainerfu, you can build out all the components of a great funnel and convert more leads in a sustainable and scalable way.