Building Sales Funnels

Lead gen isn't just paid ads and spamming cold DMs. That's just one part of 3 unique layers: This is by far the best pipeline I've ever used for generating leads.  You build it once, and it keeps working even after you've moved on. All of this follows the SERVE Method approach to selling: S - Show Up Consistently: People trust what they see often. E - Educate Your Audience: Give away insight, frameworks and shortcuts. R - Reinforce With Proof: Use clear case studies, outcomes and testimonials. V - Validate Their Problems: Make it clear you understand their pain. E - Extend The Offer: Invite them into a solution when they are ready. It's about selling at the right time, with the right offer. The system below is the one I used to scale Searchable to $85 million,  Not to mention 3 other businesses to 8-figures. Here’s exactly how it works ↓ 📣 ATTRACT Around 3% of your audience is ready to buy at any given time. Your only job is to be the most visible, credible option. Personal Brand and Content:  ↳ Rotate 5 post types: awareness, personal story, education, conversion, and how-we-do-it Search Visibility: ↳ SEO is still the foundation. Pair it with AEO and GEO so your brand appears where your customers are looking. (Searchable tracks exactly where you show up in AI answers and optimises from there: https://lnkd.in/epgXyFmi) Outbound and Partnerships: ↳ Focus on warm intros, direct outreach, and affiliates. 🔥 NURTURE Your feed should be where people come to learn for free.  Don't start pitching in your content until you've built real trust. Lead Magnets: ↳ Give away a resource people would happily pay for Email Sequences: ↳ Build separate sequences for hot, warm and cold leads.  (70% value, 30% soft pitch) Segmentation: ↳ Group your audience by behaviour and tailor what each group receives. 💰 CONVERT The warm-up is done, and only interested buyers remain.  Your job now is to make it easy to say yes. Sell at the Right Moment: ↳ Make a direct offer when the buyer is ready, with the relevant package. Lead with Proof: ↳ If a buyer can't click and confirm the result, the case study doesn't work Make the Next Step Obvious: ↳ One clear CTA, a fast path to book or buy ↳ Prompt a follow-up while intent is still high Throughout the pipeline, make sure to track these weekly: ✅ Conversion rate ✅ Response time ✅ Lead-to-customer ratio ✅ Cost per lead ✅ Reach and impressions Done correctly, this is the last lead gen system you'll ever need to learn. Build it in order, and each stage will compound on the one before. ♻️ Repost to help other founders build the ultimate lead gen system.  Follow Chris Donnelly for more on building and scaling businesses. -- And for more on building and scaling efficient businesses... 📌 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eUTCQTWb I send practical frameworks and breakdowns just like this every Sunday ! 

Zero-spend lead generation isn't a myth - it's a strategic playbook top-performing companies are mastering right now. The most successful businesses aren't throwing money at paid ads. They're building sustainable pipelines. They're generating qualified leads organically. Here are 4 zero-cost tactics that consistently deliver results: 1️⃣ STRATEGIC DM DRIP SEQUENCES Stop sending generic connection messages. Most businesses blast 100+ DMs daily with 0.1% response rate. Create a 5-message sequence that delivers value FIRST: → Follow up with case studies → Present a clear next step → Engage with their content → Offer specific solutions → Share relevant insights Response rates jump to 15-20% consistently. 2️⃣ PROFILE CTA OPTIMIZATION Company profiles are prime real estate. Yet most leave them static for months. High-performing teams: → Update CTAs weekly → Track click-through rates → Optimize based on data → Test different value propositions Result: 3X more inbound inquiries. 3️⃣ CONTENT SYNDICATION MASTERY Stop posting once and moving on. Content deserves multiple lives. Strategic content teams: → Repurpose across 5+ platforms → Double down on what works → Customize for each channel → Track engagement metrics Reach amplification: 400% minimum. 4️⃣ STRATEGIC COMMENTING Forget generic "Great post" comments. They add zero value and generate zero leads. Instead: → Add unique insights → Share relevant experience → Ask thought-provoking questions → Connect with other commenters Engagement rates jump from 2% to 25%. Same time investment. Zero ad spend. 10X THE RESULTS. Companies are just ONE strategic system away from transforming their lead generation game. What's the most underrated organic lead gen tactic you've seen real results from? Comment down below 👇 #Leadgeneration #b2bleadgen #founderinsights #leadgenstrategy #growthhacks

You don’t need more leads. You need fewer dropped balls. Plenty of businesses are filling the funnel. But too many are leaking deals right after. The top of the funnel gets the attention—ads, forms, clicks. But once the lead comes in? That’s where things often fall apart. → No follow-up for days → CRM updates that never happen → Leads assigned to the wrong rep → Internal handoffs lost in Slack threads → Manual follow-ups that fall through the cracks And just like that, a warm lead goes cold. This is where automation—and AI—can actually help. Not by generating more leads, but by making sure the right steps happen every single time after a lead comes in. → Auto-route and prioritize new leads → Trigger timely, personalized follow-ups → Assign ownership and set the next action in your CRM → Nurture cold leads with AI-generated touchpoints → Keep your team in sync without extra reminders It’s not about doing more. It’s about never missing the things that already work. If your pipeline is full but deals aren’t closing, it’s not a volume problem. It’s a systems problem. — 🔔 Follow Nathan Weill for automation insights (without the fluff). #LeadConversion #AutomationStrategy #AIInBusiness #RevenueOps #CRMOptimization

How do we get clients? Many people are interested in consulting or starting a services firm, but landing clients keeps them from doing it. Here’s one part of V Squared’s sales funnel. I speak at events like Data Day Texas. High-quality events create leads, and 6 companies approached us to give talks and seminars. The event was an excellent top of the sales funnel. 80% of our talks and seminars convert into AI product, strategy, or advisory clients. Data Day Texas will lead to nearly a million in revenue for V Squared over the next 12-18 months. There’s a critical piece required to build that sales funnel. Obviously, step 1 is to have an engaging presentation that events and conferences believe will bring people in, but step 2 is the secret sauce. I don’t pitch anything during my talks. Trying to get someone to buy expensive products or services based on a conference talk is a stretch, so I have entry products for them to buy instead. My book and newsletter are the least expensive entry products. Half of my newsletter subscribers take a course, and 1 in 20 subscribers lead to a consulting engagement. I don’t have reliable book metrics…yet. Presentations, seminars, and workshops are another entry product. It’s a way for Director and VP-level leaders to introduce me to C-level executives and the board. There’s a more organic flow from watching a presentation to buying a book, subscribing to a newsletter, or asking the speaker to present at your business. Building a sales funnel that aligns with how customers buy makes filling a client pipeline much easier. Think about starter products and find low-cost ways to start the conversation vs. cold emails and DMs.

What if you salespeople had 3 to 5 conversations a day with people who could buy? But they don’t. What are they doing instead? The goal is to get them more conversations with buyers. It's getting tougher and doing what you’ve always done most likely isn’t working. Most companies with a complex sale rely on a combination of outbound tactics along with trade shows but those aren’t producing conversations like they used to. If you had enough inbound to keep the funnel full it would be amazing. But most of you don’t. Cold outreach is not the only answer. There is a combination of lead gen methods you can use that will work and if your marketing team is doing demand gen at the same time, even better. ✔️ Host or show up at the right events. Besides the trade shows, think targeted roundtables, dinners, or LinkedIn Lives. These will generate leads you can follow up with. What you do at these events determines whether prospects will continue the conversation, which is crucial for finding out if there is an opportunity. ✔️ Make referral selling a priority because intros close more deals than any cold DM ever will. Build and nurture your network in a way that people see you as a giver, willing to help. Make introductions for your network, they are sure to reciprocate. ✔️ Build content that attracts your ideal persona and then engage in a conversion with them. When they comment on your content and you comment back you are starting a conversation. ✔️ Partnerships work great for many. These can be a formal channel or informal arrangements. Find others who sell to the same target audience but don’t compete. Start the conversation about how you can help each other. ✔️ Account-based outreach for sales. Instead of a one to many approach that marketing uses, sales should use a one to one approach with each persona in each company using industry insights and information from research. Highly custom, well written messages can get a higher response rate and when coupled with person level intent data, LinkedIn comments, calls and voicemail they can get an even higher response rate. It’s not a volume activity, it is done on a highly targeted list and only about 5 to 10 companies at a time. ✔️Use Contact Marketing when the stakes are high and the deal size warrants it. For more on that follow Stu Heinecke and read his book, How to Get a Meeting with Anyone. On October 2, I’ll walk through these high-impact, real-world strategies you can use right now. Jennifer Pinter✨ is our host and this Pavilion event is sponsored by Rhombus. —  👩💼 Who Should Attend: CEOs, Sales & Marketing Leaders, Account Executives 📅 Date: Thursday, October 2 ⏰ Time: Arrive at 4:30 p.m. we start with networking 🍸 Venue/Sponsor: Rhombus, 1610 R St #350, Sacramento, CA 95811 Let's support salespeople in having more conversations with those who can buy. Can’t make it or aren’t in the area, try one of the above and let me know how it goes!

Do you have sticky leads which refuse to move? The secret to a seamless customer journey lies in understanding and mastering your sales funnel. When I first started as a Sales coach, I realised many of the people I mentored struggled to understand the Sales funnel. Sure they could draw a diagram and describe the stages, but to be an effective tool, the Sales Funnel needs to be understood on a deeper level. Each stage has a different goal, and needs you to have different conversations and strategies. I usually understand things better when I have an analogy to something I love - and there’s nothing I love more than Bollywood! So let’s Imagine your sales funnel as a Bollywood blockbuster in the making! Each stage of your funnel is like the phases a film goes through, from the first teaser to the grand release. Let's break it down. Top of the Funnel (TOFU)  🎯 Goal - Capture attention and generate interest. If product is like the next big Bollywood hit, at this stage, you're releasing teasers and trailers to create a buzz. Spread awareness with eye-catching content that intrigues your audience, just like how movie trailers attract viewers. 💬 Types of Conversations  🔸 Share exciting stories and facts that resonate with your audience's needs. 🔸 Ask open-ended questions to engage them. 🔸 Provide educational content to build interest. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)  🎯 Goal - Build trust and deepen interest. Think of this stage as promotional tours and early reviews. The stars are giving interviews, and critics are sharing their thoughts. Provide valuable content—detailed articles, behind-the-scenes looks, and testimonials. 💬 Types of Conversations: 🔸 Discuss specific challenges and how your solutions address them. 🔸 Share case studies, white papers, e-books and exclusive resources  🔸 Offer free trials, demos, or detailed guides. Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)  🎯 Goal - Encourage decision-making and conversion. This is the grand release. Your audience is ready to buy their tickets and watch the movie. Make a strong final push with compelling offers and clear value propositions. 💬 Types of Conversations: 🔸Personalised demos and consultations 🔸 Talk about ease of Implementation 🔸 Offer Training and User support  🔸 Highlight the unique benefits and ROI of your offering. 🔸 Create urgency with limited-time offers or exclusive deals. 🔸 Send a comparison to highlight your unique advantages  🔸 Address remaining objections or concerns Just like a Bollywood blockbuster, each stage of the sales funnel is crucial in drawing in your audience and converting them into loyal customers. This week, we'll be diving deeper into each stage of the sales funnel. Stay tuned for unique insights that will make your sales process as captivating as the next #Bollywood superhit! #sales #salesfunnel #salestraining #salescoach #womeninsales #India

Four layers of AI for sales. Here's how to actually set up each one: (start at the top, work your way down) ✦ Layer 1: Outreach & Lead Gen Install Claude, get the $20 plan, pick Opus 4.8 with Extended Thinking. Connect your CRM, Gmail and LinkedIn through Connectors so it can see your world. Then stop typing one-line prompts. Feed it the job: "Research [prospect] at [company], pull recent news and posts, give me 3 angles to open a call. Ask me anything you need first." It comes back like an analyst handed you a brief. Emails, pitch decks, lead lists, same idea. Give it the inputs, it does the typing. This layer alone saves you the first hour of every morning. ✦ Layer 2: The Co-Pilot Setup Build a folder it can live in. Inside it: about-me, templates, accounts, outputs. Write about-me: what you sell, who you sell to, how you talk. Write a no-go list: the phrases you'd never put in an email. Ban them. Set your standing rules once. Brand voice. Discount floors. Where files land. Now it drafts proposals as real docs, updates CRM fields from your email threads, and preps you before every call: "Here's the history with this account, here's what changed since you last spoke." You stopped prompting. You're delegating. ✦ Layer 3: Skills & Cadences Pick your most repeated task. Discovery prep, follow-up sequences, whatever eats your week. Have it build a Skill around that exact process. It interviews you, you answer like you're training a new hire, it writes the playbook down. Test it, sharpen it, save it. Now it runs that sequence the same way every time, without you re-explaining. Plug in your stack: Salesforce, Sales Nav, Outreach, Gong, HubSpot. Point it at your pipeline sheet and it forecasts, cleans the data, builds the model. Schedule the dull stuff: Monday pipeline briefing, competitor tracking, stalled-deal alerts. ✦ Layer 4: Full-Cycle Turn on Computer and Browser use. Now it works your screen, not just the chat box. Hand it the whole loop: "Every morning, pull open deals, flag the ones gone quiet, draft the next touch for each." Batch outreach to thousands of targeted accounts. Score and qualify leads before a human ever picks up. Run deep research on target accounts overnight. Connect your internal data and let it answer from your real numbers. At this point you're not the one doing the work. You're the one deciding what gets done. —— Layer 1 is a faster assistant. Layer 4 is a sales engine running while you're in meetings. The difference isn't budget or tech skills. It's knowing the other three layers are there. Pick the next one up.

🚨Meta Ads Lead Generation is not as simple as it looks. I recently audited an IVF clinic’s meta ads account. IVF leads are costly. But what really hurts is calling people who were never ready. On the dashboard, everything looked fine. Plenty of leads. Decent CPL. But when I spoke to the counsellors, the reality was different. Most leads were just exploring, not planning treatment. So we changed one thing first: We stopped chasing volume and started filtering for intent. What we did (very simply): • Rebuilt lead forms to ask the right questions • Qualified leads using real IVF signals like age, TTC duration, past treatments • Built audiences from people who actually booked consultations • Changed creatives from discounts to trust, care, and reassurance • Took weekly feedback from counsellors and fed it back into Meta What happened next (in 90 days): → CPL dropped by 34% → Lead-to-MQL conversion improved by 46% → MQL to SQL moved from 19% to 37% → Consultation bookings went up by 39% → Cost per booked consultation fell by 41% Big takeaway for me: IVF marketing isn’t about hacks or aggressive optimisation. It’s about empathy, clarity, and meeting people at the right moment. #HealthcareMarketing #MetaAds #LeadGeneration #PerformanceMarketing #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy

Most sales teams don’t need “more AI.” They need their existing workflows to stop leaking time. Claude Skills is the first AI layer I’ve seen that actually fits how RevOps works day to day. Not hype. Just another, very fast, sales ops analyst. What it is (RevOps lens): Custom “skills” you configure once in Claude. Then your reps and managers reuse them to run the same workflows in seconds instead of hours. Concrete RevOps-friendly use cases: 1) Lead research at scale – Use Apify to pull LinkedIn + social data – Claude qualifies and tags leads based on your ICP logic 2) Pipeline hygiene – Connect your CRM (e.g., Attio) – Auto-flag stale opps, missing next steps, bad stages 3) Call prep and follow-through – Pull Fireflies transcripts – Claude drafts recap, action items, and next-step email 4) Automated follow-ups – Connect Gmail – Generate and send tailored follow-ups based on notes and call outcomes Basic setup flow: – Open Claude Desktop – Click “Browse Connections (+)” – Add: Apify, Fireflies, your CRM, Gmail – Describe the workflow in plain language – Save it as a reusable Skill for the team Guardrails I’d put in place: – Human-in-the-loop on all outbound emails – Clear field mapping with CRM to avoid dirty data – Keep Skills narrowly scoped to one job each As someone who’s led RevOps for 15+ years, I see this less as a shiny toy and more as a new standard for how we design sales processes. If you could automate just one painful sales workflow this quarter with Claude Skills, which would you start with? #RevOps #SalesOps #RevenueOperations #SalesAutomation #GTM #SalesProductivity #ClaudeAI #AIinSales

This is Ravi Abuvala. His funnels have generated $25,000,000+. And he’s built over 2,200+ marketing systems to help his clients scale. But here’s the best part… He recently shared a 40-minute masterclass breaking down his best sales funnel secrets to: • Generate more leads • Book more sales calls • And increase your conversion rates Here are the 9 tactics I found most helpful: 1/ Relevant Lead Magnets Most businesses send all traffic to one opt-in. Instead, Ravi creates content-specific lead magnets that match what his audience just consumed. By increasing the relevance of your lead magnet, you can increase the likelihood people actually opt-in. 2/ Strategic Call-Outs Generic headlines = generic results. Instead, name exactly who you want to attract at the top of your landing pages. This is one of the lowest hanging upgrades you can make to increase your lead quality. 3/ Optimize your funnels for simplicity & congruence Your funnel should be so simple a third-grader could follow it. Use clean design, lots of white space, and basic language. Consistency in messaging from opt-in to sales page is crucial as well. 4/ Monthly Webinars Your warm audience has seen your offer 20-30 times. But they might need an extra “push” to take the next step. Hosting a monthly webinar is a great way to do that at scale. Ravi consistently sees 400+ new leads per webinar using this approach. 5/ Book-A-Call Sequence Send 3-5 emails within 48 hours of someone joining your list. 30% of Ravi’s bookings come from these initial emails. And don’t worry about "sending too many emails." High intent prospects will stay :) 6/ Targeted Social Proof Avoid “generic” testimonials. Instead, match your testimonials to each of your core client/customer archetypes. Then, place these social proof elements across all your touchpoints: Ads, emails, sales pages, and booking pages. 7/ Appointment Setters According to Ravi, 90% of leads will never self-book a call. Which is why hiring an appointment setter to follow-up with leads can double or triple your business. A $5k investment can quickly turn into $100k in new deals. 8/ Pre-Call Sequence This is an area most businesses neglect—but it’s actually key to increase: • Show-up rates • One-call conversion rates Your goal is to nurture people & remove any uncertainties that might keep people from showing up or buying your offer… Before the sales call has even taken place. 9/ Red Zone Requests Another easy way to close more deals? Have your sales team flag nearly closed calls so you can send them a “founder video.” Sending 2-4 of these personal messages can give you a significant revenue boost with relatively low effort. And that’s it! If you read this far, I hope you find at least one golden nugget. And if that’s the case, please drop a comment and let me know what it was - I’d love to hear it! P.S. If you want to check out the video, look for the link in the comments - I highly recommend it.