Automated funnels are all the craze right now. I hear from hopeful entrepreneurs + business owners every single day who are ready to “automate their sales”. But many times I find:
Businesses who want automated sales aren’t ready to automate.
Why? Because they don’t have the right foundation in place to automate.
There are sooooooo many “gurus” out there peddling funnels as a magic unicorn for all your business problems.
Don’t get me wrong.
Funnels absolutely can do amazing things for your business. But you have to be ready for an automated funnel.
Successful funnels are built on a solid business foundation. Automated sales are for growing, expanding, scaling — not for starting up.
(Some business models + offers can’t be entirely automated. You have to actually talk to a human being. But that’s a topic for another day.)
I see too many fledgling businesses who try to jump straight to the automated sales part too soon.
Before they understand their tribe. Before having any proof that what they’re selling will actually SELL.
Having an automated funnel doesn’t mean you get to skip business development. Sales won’t just happen because you *have* a funnel.
Funnels amplify your reach. But they can’t fix everything. Like poor pricing. Or a broken business model. Or an offer that the market doesn’t want/need. Or a damaged reputation. Or a misaligned strategy.
Funnels aren’t a shortcut.
You still have to build a business with a solid foundation.
When you automate too soon, you’re disconnected.
You don’t understand your tribe. You don’t know what makes their eyes light up. You don’t know the sweet spot for your pricing. You don’t know if what you’re selling actually works.
You don’t know a lot of things.
That means you’re gonna waste buttloads of money + time on copy, funnel setup and ad spend — then get little to no sales.
If you don’t believe me, go take a virtual walkthrough “funnel” convos on Reddit. The most popular thread I come across is: “why isn’t my funnel working.”
It’s a huge problem because…
Funnels aren’t magic.
You still have to do the hard work. Talk to your tribe. Test ideas + make offers. Most importantly, have conversations + listen.
Build the foundation of your business first. And save yourself some time, money, and frustration.
How?
By getting on the phone with people, contributing to relevant Facebook groups, selling at trade shows… Do the leg work.
Yeah, it’s scary, I know. That’s why it’s so tempting to jump straight to automation. But it’s a lot less scary than investing $10K+ into a funnel that doesn’t generate any sales!
Funnels that succeed do so because the entrepreneurs truly understand their tribe. They’ve listened to pain points, frustrations, dreams, and hesitations. And they’ve tested offers + price points.
So if you wanna automate your sales, but you don’t have a solid foundation…
I encourage you to spend time with your tribe + start conversations (not a pitch). Focus on getting 1 client. Then another. Then another.
You’ll find out quickly if you’re on the right track or not.
Once you’re pretty confident in your knowledge of your tribe + in what you’re offering them, then you can automate. And you’re going to be a lot more successful!
On the other hand, if you’re not ready + you prefer to ignore all this well-meaning advice, be aware that you probably won’t see any ROI.
Some people prefer to learn the hard way.
