The Sales Motor newsletter · issue 02

Where your funnel breaks, and how to check it

Sebastian Tudor · Amsterdam

A funnel rarely breaks in a way you can see. The page still loads. The colours are fine. Nobody sends you an error. People just stop at one step, and you never hear from them.

This month I looked at a lot of coach pages, and rebuilt some of them. I also fixed my own funnel more than once. This issue is what I found, and a check you can do yourself in ten minutes.

The path, in five steps

Someone finds you and opens your page. They leave their email. They get your class or your video. They get a few emails. Then they book a call or they buy.

A funnel breaks between two of these steps. So you check the steps one by one, like a stranger would.

Step 1: the page they land on

The most common break is the button. On my own homepage, the button on my sign-up popup sat below the phone screen. People saw the fields and the text, but nothing to press. I only found it because I opened the page on my phone.

On other pages I checked, a "Book free discovery call" button had no link at all. Another booking link still pointed to the address of an old platform. And on one page the main button opened an email app instead of a calendar.

Then the money. On one site, a workshop cost €55 on one page and €88.88 on the next. On another, the same session took 2.5 hours on one page and 1.5 hours on the price page. Two other pages still sold an offer with a date that had already passed. A careful visitor stops at the first doubt about money.

Step 2: the signup

The form sends. But does the email arrive? If your list asks people to confirm, the ones who don't click get nothing. In my own funnel, people who haven't confirmed get one short nudge an hour later: "Can't find it? Reply to this email and I'll send it again."

Also check what the form asks. One page I rebuilt asked for a talk, then opened a billing form on another site, with address, phone and a price. Most people close that.

Step 3: the class or the video

If it's a webinar, check the times. Does the reminder go out? Does the replay arrive for the people who missed it? Is the class recorded, and does the page say so? Pretending a recording is live costs you trust.

Step 4: the emails

Tools change under you. On my own funnel, my platform deleted a live automation every time I saved the pricing page. Support called it intended behaviour. It took three tickets to get it fixed. Since then I test the signup after every change to that page.

Check one more thing: before each email, does your system ask if the person already bought? Mine does. Without that, a new client keeps getting "are you still thinking about it?" emails.

Step 5: the call or the checkout

Open your booking page on your phone. Can someone book in two taps? Open your checkout. Is the price the same one they saw on the page? My own pricing page opened on the monthly prices first, while I wanted people to see the yearly price first. I changed it so it opens on yearly.

The ten-minute check

Do this on your phone, not your laptop, with an email address you don't use for work.

1. Open your page from your LinkedIn profile, the way a stranger would. Press every button. Write down where each one goes.
2. Read every price and every date on every page. They should all match, and every date should still be ahead.
3. Sign up with the test email. Time how long the first email takes.
4. If there's a confirm step, don't click it. See what happens next.
5. Watch the first minute of your class or video from the email link.
6. Wait for the next email. Check that the links in it work.
7. Book a call or go to the checkout, and stop just before you pay.
8. Ask one friend to do the same, and tell you where they stopped.

Do it again after every change to a page, an email or a tool. My automation broke right after a change, not on a quiet day.

How I do it for coaches

I'm Sebastian Tudor, an engineer from Amsterdam. For 15 years I built machines that keep running when nobody stands next to them. Now I build the pages, emails and checkout for coaches and trainers with a course, workshop or event, in English, Dutch or Romanian.

I write every page and email, build it, test it and keep it running. The software is included. Fixes too, plus up to 30 minutes of changes a month and a review every three months. The Video plan is €1,390 a year, the Webinar plan €1,490 a year. Or monthly: €139 or €149 a month, plus €497 once for the setup.

Not sure yet? Send me your link and your next date at thesalesmotor.com. Within 48 hours I build the first page for free, in your own account. You keep it. No call.

Next issue: ClickFunnels or done-for-you, and when the tool alone is the better choice.

Which of the eight checks have you never done on your own funnel?

More: What a done-for-you funnel should include, and 5 questions to ask first · ClickFunnels or done-for-you: what coaches are really buying · All articles