Hey there. I’m so excited that you’re joining me for the inaugural episode of the Journey to Fans podcast. If we’ve never met, I’m Desola Davis and I’m a customer journey designer. I help online owners design delightful sales experiences that connect them with their raving fan base and turn one-time customers into repeat buyers.
Most of the owners I help are maxed-out service providers who are using online programs to expand their impact so that they can make more time for what matters most to them.
When I first entered the online business world, I bought everything out there as many people do. I invested almost $10,000 into online learning with no real returns on my investment.
What Makes a Sales Funnel Successful?
The Sales Funnel's Destination
There’s a lot of education out there about how to design the right sales funnel. Most of it centers around doing whatever it takes to get someone to pay you.
But there’s nothing out there talking about something like how to make sure the business problem is actually solved, which is the whole reason that customers are paying you, to begin with.
It boggles my mind when people create sales funnels and the only destination is the sale. It’s never about actually solving the customer’s problem for the customer. We assume that whoever purchased the product automatically knows how to use it.
You Need to Make Sales to Build Your Business
There’s a lot of education out there about how to design the right sales funnel. Most of it centers around doing whatever it takes to get someone to pay you.
But there’s nothing out there talking about something like how to make sure the business problem is actually solved, which is the whole reason that customers are paying you, to begin with.
It boggles my mind when people create sales funnels and the only destination is the sale. It’s never about actually solving the customer’s problem for the customer. We assume that whoever purchased the product automatically knows how to use it.
We're Thinking About Sales Funnels The Wrong Way
But many business owners believe that in order to make sales, all you need to do is create or imitate a highly converting sales funnel that you can feed leads into and that will spit out customers for you.
The more customers you get spit out on the other side, the more successful your sales funnel is.
And that paradigm and belief system is largely inadequate. Here’s why:
1. It isn't attached to the reason you started your business.
Let me start with this question: why did you go into business in the first place?
I can guarantee that no one’s waking up one day to say “all I want to do is build high converting sales funnels”.
Don’t get me wrong, building a sales funnel is definitely necessary. But it isn’t the reason you decided to pursue this passion you have.
My guess is you probably saw a problem that existed in your community and you knew you could solve the problem with your skillset. So you built a business to be a solution for people struggling with that problem.
I’ll let you in on a secret:
The impact of a business isn't determined by how many sales funnels it builds, but by its continuous ability to solve problems.
The value of the problem solved is directly related to the value the business brings.
2. It reduces the value of a problem solved to a singular transaction
Ever see one of those videos on Instagram stories during someone’s launch that includes sales notifications representing the people who are joining?
Sure, it’s a great visual to display success. But in the context of what we’re talking about today, it’s a false finish line for a successful sales funnel or your ultimate goal for making sales.
Every transaction that hits your inbox represents a person that has placed their faith in you to solve their problem. I’m not trying to get existential here, but I think that there needs to be a kind of grounding that happens every time someone says, “Yes, I want to work with you.”
They’re voting with their most valuable resource–their money–as well as their time. And they’re saying that you’re the best investment of their money and their time in order to solve their problem.
Whenever we’re talking about sales funnels and what they can do, all we’re talking about is doing whatever you can to get them to the sale. We aren’t thinking about the person who invested in a solution to their problem.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s amazing to inspire people who look up to you with your wins. Inspire them to reach for those goals, but also show them how to set up a business that supports as many sales notifications their sales funnel delivers with the same level of excellence.
3. It removes your responsibility as an owner to deliver on what you promised.
I hate to be the wet blanket here, I feel like this is supposed to be a great, uplifting episode, but I really want to set a North Star here as we begin this conversation to getting more fans, as we begin this journey to fans to understand what it means to be responsible for a raving fan base.
Again, don’t get me wrong. It’s cool to celebrate wins. It’s great when you hit your first five-figure launch and when you make your first six figures in your business.
But there’s so much more work than the enjoyment involved. And that’s why even in the entrepreneurial journey, you spend more time encouraging yourself to just keep going and not close up shop than you do actually celebrating with your friends or on Instagram or wherever you do it.
If you want to remain an owner for the long haul, you need to focus on the discipline and not the destination.
And that means committing to sharing about your product, even when you think you’ve said it a hundred billion times.
It means showing up and delivering to your clients even when you don’t feel like it.
It means showing up with your best, even when there’s no one around to give you credit, even when no one is around to applaud.
The True Marker of a Successful Sale
For your sales funnel to be successful, your product has to facilitate your new customer’s transformation. That means in English, your course or program needs to actually work for them. And you won’t know that until well after the sales notification hits your email.
So what do we look to build instead of this automated, complex, “set it and forget it” sales funnel? Well, how about we build a delightful, problem-centric, authentic customer journey?
What is a Customer Journey?
A customer journey starts when the potential customer realizes that you understand their problem and it ends when their problem is solved, not at the sale.
Your role as the creator, the coach, the expert, is to guide your customer through each stage of the journey by presenting solutions that serve what they need the most at that stage.
Having a clear customer journey always keeps the main goal in view, which is creating a lasting transformation for a customer with a problem. You no longer have to feel like you’re being sleazy or bothering people when you share about your solutions because you’ve got their problem in mind and you’re confident that you can solve it.
A customer journey attracts the people who need what you have to offer the most. People who need what I call your “secret sauce”. Once you start attracting people who value your secret sauce as much as you do, it’s a very easy conversation to talk to them about how you solve their problem.
You don’t have to explain why your secret sauce is valuable. You don’t have to explain why your product is valuable just so they agree to enter your funnel. You show them how you can serve them. You provide solutions that answer their questions along the way. You turn a stranger into a new customer that you are prepared to serve, which is the most important thing
The most important thing here is the transformation.
Your Business Deserves Better Than Cookie Cutter Sales Funnels
If there’s one thing I want you to remember from this episode, it’s that a cookie-cutter, “steal my strategy” sales funnel isn’t going to cut it for your business.
If your goal is to build a loyal raving fan base, if your goal is to scale your impact, if your goal is to continue to be relevant for the long haul, you need an authentic, problem-focused customer journey to do it.
If you want to find out more about all the elements of the customer journey, download my Positioning Advantage Workbook. It’s the first step to turning strangers into your dream clients. Talk soon.