What Is a Sales Funnel?
A funnel builder's field guide.

What is a sales funnel?

Here's the plain definition first. Then I'll show you how I actually think about funnels when I build one for a client.

Every business already has a funnel, whether they built one or not. Someone sees your truck, searches your name, lands on your site, reads a page, calls, gets a quote, and either books or disappears. That's a funnel. Most of the time it's an accidental one, full of holes nobody has measured.

When people hire me to build a funnel, what they're really asking for is to take that accidental path and design it. Decide who comes in, what they see first, what single action they should take, what happens right after, and what follows up when they don't act. Then measure each step so we know exactly where people drop off.

What "funnel" actually means

Outside marketing, a funnel is a cone that's wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. You pour a lot in and a focused stream comes out. In sales the picture is the same. A thousand people might see an ad, a hundred click, thirty fill in a form, ten book a call, and three buy. Every step narrows the group.

1. 1,000 see itAd, post, search result
2. 100 clickThey land on your page
3. 30 opt inForm, quiz or booking
4. 10 talk to youCall, demo or visit
5. 3 buyCustomers

These numbers are an illustration, not a promise. Real rates depend on your offer, price, market and traffic. But the shape is always true, and it's the reason funnels are so useful: when you can see the shape, you can see where to fix it.

Why the narrowing is a good thing

People panic when they see that most visitors don't buy. They shouldn't. A funnel isn't supposed to convert everyone. It's supposed to filter. The person who isn't a fit should leave quickly and cheaply, and the person who is a fit should feel the path get easier with every step.

The three things every funnel needs

1. Traffic: a reliable source of the right people (ads, Google, social, referrals, email).
2. A conversion point: a page that asks for one clear action, like booking, buying or opting in.
3. Follow-up: what happens after they act, or after they don't (emails, texts, retargeting, a sales call).

If any one of those is missing, it isn't really a funnel. A beautiful landing page with no traffic is a poster in an empty room. Traffic with no follow-up is money leaking out the bottom. Follow-up with no clear offer is just spam.

Sales funnel vs marketing funnel vs website vs landing page

These words get thrown around like they mean the same thing. They don't, and mixing them up is how businesses end up paying for the wrong project.

Sales funnel vs marketing funnel

In big companies, marketing owns the top (getting attention, building trust, collecting leads) and sales owns the bottom (calls, demos, closing). That's where the two names come from. In a small business, it's usually one person or one team, so I treat it as one connected path. The marketing funnel fills the sales funnel. If you only fix one half, you just move the bottleneck.

Where a website fits

Your website is still important. It's where people go to check you're real after they see your ad or get your email. But a website tries to serve everyone: job seekers, existing customers, curious browsers, buyers. A funnel serves one person with one problem. That focus is why funnels usually convert better for paid traffic.

So which one do you need?

• Just starting and nobody knows you: a solid website first, so you look real.
• Running ads or a specific promotion: a landing page or funnel for that campaign.
• Selling something with a considered decision (high price, consultation, application): a full funnel with follow-up.
• Already busy but leaking leads: fix the follow-up part of the funnel before anything else.

The stages of a sales funnel

Every framework names the stages a little differently. Here's the version I use with clients, because it maps directly to pages, messages and numbers.

1. Awareness"Oh, this exists."
2. Interest"Tell me more."
3. Decision"Is this the right choice?"
4. Action"Okay, let's do it."
5. Retention"I'd do that again."

1. Awareness

The person has a problem, or doesn't even know they have one yet. They see an ad, a post, a search result, a friend's recommendation. Your only job here is to be noticed by the right person and earn a click. Clear hooks win. Clever wordplay usually loses.

What I build for this stage: ad creative briefs, short-form hooks, SEO articles like this one, and a landing page headline that matches the ad exactly.

2. Interest

They clicked. Now they're asking, "Is this for me?" This is where most pages lose people, because they talk about the business instead of the visitor's problem. The page should name the problem, show you understand it, and offer a small, low-risk next step.

What I build: opt-in pages, quizzes, calculators, free guides, short videos, and anything that lets a visitor raise their hand without committing to a sale.

3. Decision

Now they're comparing. You against your competitor, against doing nothing, against doing it themselves. They want proof, pricing clarity, and answers to their objections. This is where case studies, real reviews, guarantees and FAQ sections earn their keep.

4. Action

They're ready. Don't make it hard. A short form, a clear booking calendar, a checkout with as few fields as possible, and a confirmation page that tells them exactly what happens next. Every extra click here costs real money.

5. Retention

The most ignored stage, and often the most profitable. A customer who already trusts you is far cheaper to sell to than a stranger. Onboarding emails, review requests, referral offers, maintenance reminders and upgrades all live here.

Matching content to each stage

Funnel frameworks: AIDA, TOFU/MOFU/BOFU and the flywheel

You'll hear these acronyms a lot. They're all describing the same journey from slightly different angles. Here's what each one is good for.

AIDA: the oldest one, still useful

AIDA has been around for over a century. I use it mostly at the page level. A good landing page grabs attention with the headline, builds interest with the problem, creates desire with the outcome and proof, and asks for action with one clear button. If a page feels flat, I usually find one of those four letters missing.

• Attention: a headline that names the visitor's situation in their own words.
• Interest: a few lines that show you understand the problem better than they expected.
• Desire: the outcome, the proof, and what life looks like after.
• Action: one button, one next step, no competing choices.

TOFU, MOFU, BOFU: planning content

This one is better for planning what to make. Top-of-funnel content is for people who are just discovering the problem (like a guide titled "What is a sales funnel?"). Middle-of-funnel content helps people compare options ("ClickFunnels vs GoHighLevel"). Bottom-of-funnel content is for people ready to buy ("Hire a funnel builder", pricing pages, case studies).

The flywheel

The flywheel says a funnel ends with a customer, then throws them away, which is wasteful. Instead, picture a wheel: you attract, engage and delight customers, and their reviews and referrals spin the wheel faster. I like this model because it forces you to design the retention stage on purpose.

Types of sales funnels (and when to use each)

There's no single "best" funnel. The right one depends on your price, how much trust you need, and how quickly people can decide.

Lead magnet funnel

You trade something genuinely useful (a checklist, guide, template, discount) for an email address, then follow up. Works best when the freebie solves a small part of the bigger problem your paid offer solves. A generic "newsletter signup" is not a lead magnet.

Quiz funnel

My personal favourite for service businesses. Three to six easy questions, then a personalised result. Quizzes feel like help, not a sales pitch, and every answer tells you something about the lead. My roofing demo uses one to sort homeowners by urgency.

Booking funnel

Ad, a focused page, a calendar, and reminders. Simple and effective for dentists, contractors, consultants and clinics. The biggest wins here are usually in the reminders, because no-shows quietly kill booking funnels.

Webinar and video funnels

For higher prices, people need more time with you before they buy. A webinar or video lets you teach, show proof and handle objections at scale. These funnels need strong follow-up because many registrants won't show up live.

Tripwire and ecommerce funnels

A small, easy first purchase turns a browser into a buyer, which changes how they see you. Then an upsell or bundle raises the order value. Online stores live and die by the cart and checkout steps.

Application funnel

For premium offers where you want fewer, better leads. Asking people to apply flips the dynamic: they're now selling themselves to you. Use it only if you genuinely have limited capacity, otherwise it feels like a gimmick.

Is your business ready for a funnel?

Funnels amplify what's already there. If the offer is weak, a funnel just helps more people find out faster. Here's my readiness check before I take a project.

My five-question readiness check

1. Can you explain what you sell, who it's for and the result in one sentence?
2. Has at least a handful of real customers bought it and been happy?
3. Do you know roughly what a customer is worth to you over time?
4. If leads doubled next month, could you actually serve them?
5. Will someone check the numbers every week and act on them?

If you answered no to the first two, a funnel is premature. You need conversations, not automation. Talk to twenty potential customers, sell it by hand, and listen to the words they use. Those words become your headlines later.

If you answered no to question three, that's fixable in an afternoon. Take your average sale, multiply by how many times a typical customer buys, and you have a rough customer value. That number tells you how much you can afford to spend getting one customer.

The numbers you need before building

Mapping your funnel before you build

I never open a page builder first. I open a blank page and draw boxes and arrows. That map saves weeks of rebuilding later.

Start with one customer, not everyone

Pick your best customer type. Not "homeowners", but "homeowners in older houses who just noticed a leak after a storm." Write down what they're worried about, what they search, what they'd be embarrassed to ask, and what makes them pick up the phone. The funnel is built for that one person.

Map the journey in boxes

1. Traffic sourceWhere do they come from?
2. First pageWhat do they see in 3 seconds?
3. Conversion stepForm, quiz, booking, checkout
4. Thank-you pageWhat happens next, clearly
5. Follow-upEmails, texts, calls, retargeting

For each box, I write three things: the goal of that step, the message the visitor sees, and the number I'll measure. If I can't write a measurable number for a step, the step is either unnecessary or not designed yet.

Draw the "no" paths too

Most people only map the happy path. But most leads say no, or not now. What happens when someone fills the quiz but doesn't book? When they book but don't show? When they get a quote and go quiet? Those branches are where the money hides.

• Opted in but didn't book: a 3 to 5 email or text sequence with an easier next step.
• Booked but didn't show: same-day reminder, then a reschedule link.
• Got a quote, no reply: a check-in after a few days, then an answer to the most common objection.
• Bought: onboarding, a review request, and a referral ask at the right moment.

Wireframe the pages

Once the map makes sense, I sketch each page as grey boxes: headline, proof, form, FAQ. No colours, no photos. It keeps the conversation on structure and message. Clients often find the real problem in this stage, like realising their offer has three prices and nobody understands which to pick.

The offer: what actually gets people to say yes

Design matters. Copy matters. But the offer matters most. I've seen ugly pages with great offers beat beautiful pages with weak ones every time.

The parts of a strong offer

• The outcome: what changes for them, in plain words ("a dry roof before the next storm").
• The vehicle: what you actually do or deliver to get them there.
• The proof: why they should believe you can do it.
• The price and how it's framed (per month, per project, compared to the cost of the problem).
• The risk reversal: guarantee, free inspection, cancel anytime, no-obligation quote.
• The reason to act now: genuine limits like schedule slots or seasonal timing, never fake timers.

Make it specific

"Professional cleaning services" is a category, not an offer. "A top-to-bottom deep clean of a 3-bedroom home in one visit, with a re-clean free if we miss anything" is an offer. Specific offers are easier to believe, easier to compare and easier to say yes to.

Lower the first step

If your main offer is a big decision, give people a smaller first yes. A free roof check. A 15-minute call. A sample pack. A paid trial week. The small yes builds trust so the big yes feels natural.

Honest urgency only

Fake countdown timers and "only 2 spots left" when there are fifty spots are tempting, and people can tell. They also break consumer protection rules in many countries. Real reasons are better: you only book four installs a week, the price changes next season, the cohort starts on a fixed date.

How to create a sales funnel, step by step

This is the process I follow on client projects, condensed. You can use it yourself, or use it to judge whoever you hire.

1. Pick one customer and one offer. One. You can add more funnels later.
2. Write down the numbers: sale value, close rate, capacity, budget.
3. Map the funnel in boxes, including the "no" paths.
4. Write the copy before designing: headline, problem, outcome, proof, offer, FAQ, button text.
5. Wireframe each page in grey boxes and check the order makes sense.
6. Design and build the pages, mobile first.
7. Build the conversion step: form, quiz, calendar or checkout. Fewer fields wins.
8. Write the thank-you page so people know exactly what happens next.
9. Set up follow-up: confirmation, reminders, nurture sequence, internal alert to you.
10. Install tracking: page views, form submits, bookings, purchases, with clear event names.
11. Test as a real customer on a phone: every button, every email, every link.
12. Launch with a small, controlled budget or a single traffic source.
13. Review after a week or two: find the biggest drop-off and fix that first.

How long does it take?

A simple booking or lead magnet funnel can be designed, built and tested in one to two weeks when the offer and copy are clear. A full funnel with a quiz, multiple follow-up branches and CRM integration takes longer. The slow part is almost never the building. It's getting the offer and message right.

Your first funnel should be boring

Resist the urge to build a 12-step masterpiece. One page, one form, one confirmation, three follow-up messages. Get it working and measured. Then add the quiz, the upsell, the retargeting. Complexity you add later is cheap. Complexity you add first is expensive to debug.

Traffic sources and message match

A funnel without traffic is a shop with the lights off. But not all traffic is equal, and the page needs to match where people came from.

Hot traffic vs cold traffic

Someone who searched "emergency plumber near me" is hot. They want to call now. Give them a phone number and a short form, nothing else. Someone who saw a video while scrolling is cold. They weren't looking for you. They need a gentler first step, like a quiz or a useful freebie.

Sending cold traffic to a "book a call now" page is the most common funnel mistake I see. The conversion rate looks awful, the business blames the ads, and the real issue is that the ask was too big for how warm the visitor was.

Message match in practice

• The ad says "Free roof inspection in 48 hours". The headline says the same, not "Welcome to ABC Roofing".
• The ad shows a photo of a storm-damaged roof. The page shows a similar photo near the top.
• The ad targets one city. The page names that city.
• The ad promises a price. The page shows that price without making people hunt.

Don't forget SEO as a funnel source

Organic search is slow to start but keeps paying. A helpful guide (like this one) brings in people at the Awareness stage. If the guide links to a relevant free tool or a booking page, it becomes the top of a funnel that doesn't charge you per click.

Opt-in and lead capture pages that convert

The opt-in page is where a visitor turns into a lead. It's usually the most important page in the whole funnel, and the most over-designed.

The anatomy I use

1. Headline that matches the ad and names the outcome.
2. One or two lines explaining exactly what they get and how fast.
3. The form, visible without scrolling on a phone.
4. A button that says what happens ("Get my free quote"), not "Submit".
5. A short trust line under the button: no spam, response time, privacy.
6. Proof further down: reviews, logos, photos of real work, guarantees.
7. FAQ answering the three questions that stop people filling it in.

How many form fields?

As few as you need to take the next step, and no fewer. Every field adds effort. But a field that qualifies the lead (like ZIP code for a local business, or budget for a premium service) can save you from wasting time on leads you can't serve. I usually start with name, phone or email, and one qualifying question.

Multi-step forms

Breaking a long form into two or three short steps, starting with an easy question, often feels lighter than one big form. Once someone answers the first question, they're more likely to finish. I use this a lot for loans, insurance, and quotes.

Quiz and booking funnels

These are the two funnel types I build most for service businesses. Here's how they work, using my own live demo.

Why quizzes work

People like being asked about themselves. A quiz feels like getting advice, not being sold to. And each answer segments the lead, so your follow-up can be specific: the homeowner with an active leak gets a same-day call, the one planning next year gets a gentle email series.

• Keep it to 3 to 6 questions. Every extra question loses people.
• Make the first question the easiest and most interesting.
• Use big tappable buttons, not dropdowns.
• Show progress ("Question 2 of 3").
• Ask for contact details just before the result, and explain why.
• Make the result genuinely useful, even if they don't buy.

Booking funnels

A booking funnel removes the back-and-forth of "when are you free?" The visitor picks a slot, gets a confirmation, and gets reminders. The page before the calendar should answer: what happens on this call or visit, how long it takes, what it costs, and who they'll talk to.

Fighting no-shows

1. Instant confirmation email and text with the time in their timezone.
2. A reminder the day before with a one-click reschedule link.
3. A reminder about an hour before.
4. If they miss it, an automatic friendly "want to rebook?" message.

Sales pages, order forms and upsells

When the funnel ends in a purchase rather than a call, the sales page and checkout do the work a salesperson would normally do.

What a long sales page needs

1. The promise: headline and subheadline focused on the outcome.
2. The problem: show you understand their situation in detail.
3. The solution: your offer, introduced as the way out.
4. What's included: clear list, ideally with visuals.
5. Proof: real results, reviews, case studies, credentials.
6. Price and comparison: what it costs vs the cost of the problem or alternatives.
7. Guarantee and risk reversal.
8. FAQ handling every objection you've heard on sales calls.
9. Repeated call to action at natural decision points.

Long pages work for considered purchases because buyers have many questions. Short pages work for simple, cheap or impulse purchases. The rule isn't "long beats short". It's "answer every question this buyer has, and nothing more".

Checkout friction

• Guest checkout. Forcing account creation loses buyers.
• Show the total, including shipping and taxes, early.
• Offer the payment methods your market actually uses (cards, wallets, local options).
• Keep trust signals near the pay button: secure payment, refund policy, support contact.
• Don't send people away from the checkout with extra links.

Upsells, order bumps and downsells

Funnel tools and builders compared

People ask me "which funnel software is best?" constantly. Honest answer: the one that fits your stack and that someone on your team will actually maintain.

How I choose

1. What does the business already use for CRM, email and payments? Don't fight the stack.
2. Who will edit pages after launch? If it's the owner, pick something they can use.
3. Does the funnel need interactive tools (quizzes, calculators, estimators)? Custom builds handle these best.
4. How important is speed and unique design? Templates are fast, but competitors use the same ones.

All of the demos on my site, including the roofing funnel, are custom-built. That's how I can put live calculators, quizzes and pricing builders into pages and keep them fast on phones. For clients already invested in GoHighLevel or similar, I often design and build the front-end pages and connect them to their existing CRM.

Email and SMS follow-up sequences

Most leads don't buy on the first visit. Follow-up is where the funnel earns back what you spent getting them there.

The sequences almost every funnel needs

Speed matters more than polish

For service businesses, the first person to respond often wins the job. An instant text that says "Thanks Sarah, this is Mike from Ridgeline, I'll call you within 15 minutes" beats a beautiful email sent the next morning. I always set up an internal alert so the owner knows the moment a hot lead arrives.

A simple 5-message nurture

1. Right away: deliver what they asked for and say what happens next.
2. Day 1: a short story or example of someone like them you helped.
3. Day 3: answer the most common objection (usually price or timing).
4. Day 5: show proof, like a before-and-after, review or case study.
5. Day 7: a direct, friendly invitation to book or buy, with an easy reply option.

Respect the rules

Get clear permission, especially for text messages, make unsubscribing easy, and follow the rules where your customers live (they differ between the US, Europe and Asia). It's the right thing to do and it protects your sending reputation.

Tracking: pixels, events, UTMs and CRM tags

If you can't see what's happening at each step, you're guessing. This is the "under the hood" part most people never see, and the part I care about most.

The events I set up on every funnel

UTM tags: knowing where leads came from

UTMs are little labels added to the end of a link, like ?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=storm-inspection. Your analytics and CRM can read them, so you know which ad, email or post a lead came from. Without them, everything shows up as "direct" and you can't tell what's working.

CRM tags and stages

Inside your CRM, every lead should carry tags (what they asked for, quiz answers, source) and sit in a stage (new, contacted, booked, quoted, won, lost). That's what lets follow-up be specific and lets you calculate real cost per customer, not just cost per lead.

Privacy and consent

Tracking must respect privacy laws and cookie consent rules in your visitors' regions. Collect what you need, explain it in your privacy policy, and give people choices where the law requires it.

Funnel math: conversion rates, cost per lead and analysis

You don't need to love spreadsheets. You need about five numbers and the habit of checking them.

The five numbers

These figures are made up to show the maths, not benchmarks. What matters is your cost per customer compared to what a customer is worth. If a customer is worth $1,000 over time and costs $100 to get, you have a healthy funnel worth scaling. If they cost $900, you have a problem to fix before spending more.

Reading the drop-offs

• Lots of impressions, few clicks: the ad or hook is the problem.
• Lots of clicks, few leads: the landing page or offer doesn't match the ad.
• Lots of form starts, few submits: the form is too long or confusing.
• Lots of leads, few bookings: follow-up is slow or the lead quality is low.
• Lots of bookings, few sales: the sales conversation or price needs work.

Testing and fixing a leaky funnel

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) sounds technical. In practice it's careful observation, sensible guesses, and changing one thing at a time.

My leak-fixing checklist

1. Does the headline match the ad or link they clicked?
2. Can you understand the offer in five seconds on a phone?
3. Is the main button visible without scrolling?
4. Does the page load quickly on mobile data?
5. Is there anything competing with the main action (menus, extra links, pop-ups)?
6. Are the top three objections answered on the page?
7. Is there real proof, close to the button?
8. Does the form ask only what's needed?
9. Does the thank-you page say what happens next?
10. Does follow-up arrive within minutes?

When to A/B test (and when not to)

A/B testing means showing two versions to different visitors and seeing which wins. It's great with lots of traffic. With small traffic, tests take months and the results are mostly noise. For most small businesses I recommend fixing obvious problems first, then testing big ideas (a different offer, a different headline angle) rather than button colours.

High-impact things to test

• The offer itself (free inspection vs discount vs guarantee).
• The headline angle (problem-focused vs outcome-focused).
• Form vs quiz as the conversion step.
• One-step vs two-step form.
• Adding a calculator or estimator.
• Price shown vs "get a quote".

Sales funnel examples by industry

Here's how I'd shape a funnel for different kinds of businesses, with demos from my portfolio so you can click through the front end of each.

Local services (HVAC, plumbing, roofing, cleaning)

Path: Google or Meta ad → service landing page with a short quote form or estimator → instant text and call → on-site visit → quote follow-up → review request. Speed to lead is everything.

B2B sales funnel

B2B purchases involve several people and longer timelines. Path: LinkedIn or search → useful guide or webinar → email nurture → demo or consultation request → proposal → follow-up. Case studies and clear pricing ranges do a lot of the selling before the first call.

SaaS funnel

Path: landing page → free trial or freemium sign-up → onboarding emails guiding people to the "aha" moment → upgrade prompt → retention. The funnel continues inside the product.

Ecommerce funnel

Path: ad or search → product or collection page → cart with order bump → checkout → post-purchase upsell → abandoned cart and replenishment emails.

Coaching and wellness

Path: social content or ads → quiz or free discovery call → program page → booking → onboarding. Trust is the product, so personality and specifics matter.

Real estate and finance

Path: ad or search → calculator or property search → saved search or rate check → agent or advisor call. Calculators turn browsers into leads because people want their number.

Non-profits

Path: story-led content → donation page with suggested amounts and a visible goal → thank-you and impact updates → monthly giving ask. Retention matters more than anywhere.

Funnel mistakes, costs and how to choose a funnel builder

To finish, the mistakes I see most, what drives the cost of a funnel, and how to choose someone to build yours (even if it's not me).

The 10 funnel mistakes I see most

1. Sending paid traffic to the homepage.
2. An offer that's vague or identical to every competitor.
3. Asking cold traffic for a big commitment.
4. Headline that doesn't match the ad.
5. Too many choices and links on the conversion page.
6. Forms that ask for everything up front.
7. No follow-up, or follow-up that arrives a day later.
8. No reminders on bookings.
9. No tracking, so nobody knows which step leaks.
10. Changing everything at once, then not knowing what worked.

What a sales funnel costs

Costs vary widely by scope, so I'd rather explain what drives the price than throw out a number that won't fit your project. The main factors are below. Ask any builder (me included) for a written scope that lists each piece.

Separately, budget for running costs: software subscriptions (CRM, email, SMS, hosting) and traffic (ad spend, or time for content and SEO).

How to choose a funnel builder

• Ask to click through funnels they've built, not just see screenshots.
• Ask how they'll track each step and what numbers they'll report.
• Ask what happens after the lead submits. If they only talk about pages, they're a page designer, not a funnel builder.
• Check they write (or seriously edit) copy, not just design.
• Make sure you'll own your pages, domain and data.
• Look for someone who asks about your offer and customers before talking about tools.

My funnel launch checklist

• One customer and one offer, described in one sentence
• Funnel mapped on paper, including the "no" paths
• Headline matches the ad or link that sends traffic
• Main button visible without scrolling on a phone
• Form asks only for what's needed, with clear button text
• Thank-you page explains exactly what happens next
• Instant confirmation message to the lead
• Instant alert to you or your team
• Reminders set up for bookings
• Nurture sequence for leads who don't act
• UTM tags on every traffic link
• Events tracked for each step, up to the sale
• Tested end to end on a real phone
• Privacy policy and consent in place
• A weekly time set aside to review the numbers

Funnel terms in plain English

A/B test

Showing two versions of a page or message to different visitors to see which performs better.

Abandoned cart

When a shopper adds items but leaves before paying; often followed up by email.

AIDA

Attention, Interest, Desire, Action: a classic model for persuasive copy.

Automation

A message or action that runs on its own when a trigger happens.

Average order value

Total revenue divided by number of orders.

BOFU

Bottom of funnel: content and offers for people ready to buy.

Bounce rate

Share of visitors who leave without doing anything else.

Call to action (CTA)

The button or line telling visitors what to do next.

Close rate

Share of leads who become customers.

Cold traffic

People who don't know you yet.

Conversion

When a visitor takes the action you want.

Conversion rate

Conversions divided by visitors, as a percentage.

Cost per lead (CPL)

What you spend to get one lead.

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

What you spend to get one customer.

CRM

Customer relationship management software that stores leads, stages and history.

CRO

Conversion rate optimisation: improving the share of visitors who convert.

Cross-sell

Offering a related product alongside the one being bought.

Customer lifetime value

Total a customer is worth to you over the whole relationship.

Downsell

A smaller, cheaper offer shown after someone declines a bigger one.

Drop-off

The share of people who leave between two funnel steps.

Event

A tracked action, like a form submit or purchase.

Flywheel

A model where happy customers drive new ones through referrals and reviews.

Funnel map

A diagram of every step, page and message in a funnel.

Hot traffic

People who already know or are actively searching for you.

Landing page

A single page with one goal, often the entry to a funnel.

Lead

Someone who has shared contact details or shown buying interest.

Lead magnet

A free, useful item offered in exchange for contact details.

Message match

Keeping the page's promise and wording consistent with the ad or link clicked.

MOFU

Middle of funnel: content for people comparing options.

Nurture sequence

A series of messages that build trust over time.

Opt-in

When someone agrees to give details or receive messages.

Order bump

A small add-on offered on the checkout page.

Pipeline

The stages leads move through on the way to a sale.

Pixel

A snippet of code that reports visitor actions to an ad platform.

Qualified lead

A lead who fits your ideal customer and is likely to buy.

Quiz funnel

A funnel that uses a few questions to personalise the result and offer.

Retargeting

Showing ads to people who visited before but didn't act.

Risk reversal

Guarantees or terms that reduce the buyer's risk.

Speed to lead

How fast you respond to a new lead.

Thank-you page

The page shown after a conversion, explaining what happens next.

TOFU

Top of funnel: content for people just discovering a problem.

Tripwire

A low-priced first offer that turns a browser into a buyer.

Upsell

An upgrade or bigger offer shown during or after purchase.

UTM

Tags added to a link to record the source, medium and campaign.

VSL

Video sales letter: a video that presents an offer, usually followed by checkout.

Frequently asked questions