There is no single right funnel. There are a dozen ways to turn traffic into high ticket sales, and each one fits a different stage, offer and skill level.
Here are 14 models, how they work and when I would use them. One thing holds across all of them: follow up is the most important factor in every funnel.
Low ticket front end funnels
1. Self liquidating offer
Run ads to a cheap product, roughly $7 to $47. Spend $1,000, aim for a 3% conversion rate, and hope for about $500 in sales from about 20 customers. The front end does not need to profit. Email, text, a VSL, a Facebook group or SMS upsells buyers into high ticket. If two of those 20 buy a $5,000 offer, that is $10,000.
The trade off: it takes strong copy, funnel setup and automation skills. At scale, many advertisers skip the cheap offer and go straight to high ticket.
2. Book funnel
Sell a physical book for about $7, or free plus shipping, then upsell to a call through emails, webinars, texts, voicemails and setters dialing buyers. The goal is about 10% of buyers booking and buying a package of $5,000 or more. It is basically an SLO with a book as the entry product. I do not recommend it for most beginners.
High ticket call funnels
3. Waterfall funnel
This is the one I recommend for beginners selling high ticket. Ad, opt in page that collects name, email and phone, VSL, call booking.
The math: $1,000 in ads gets 100 leads at $10, 10 calls and 1 close. On a $5,000 package, that is about $4,000 profit.
A variation skips the opt in and sends the ad straight to the VSL. More people see the video, but you lose the email and phone data that powers your back end follow up. Retargeting can recover some of them. Only try it once the standard version works.
4. Reverse squeeze page
Ad to VSL or webinar to booking, with no opt in, and the video offers a freebie if the viewer books. I am skeptical. I think you lose more than you gain. Test it and let the data decide.
5. Webinar funnel
Webinar to call booking. A webinar is live or scheduled and allows interaction. A VSL is recorded and watchable anytime. I prefer VSLs because they are simpler, and fake “schedule your webinar” pages for content that is not live annoy me. Webinars can still work depending on the offer. Emails, texts, calls and voicemails to recover non bookers are essential.
6. No webinar funnel
Ad to VSL to call, with no promise or freebie. Just “book a call and we’ll see if it’s a fit.” The big decision is whether to collect info with an opt in or skip it for more clicks and less data.
Content driven funnels
7. Book a call funnel
Use long form content, especially YouTube, to build trust, and put booking links in the description. About two hours of content builds strong trust. With 20 to 25 minute videos, that is about four videos. With Instagram Reels, it is roughly 100. The long video does the job of the VSL.
8. Hub and spoke funnel
Every YouTube video links to one central hub video that pitches the offer. Iman Gadzi used this, though he seemed to stop. I do not use it. I link each video straight to where I want people to go. A hub video would open with something like “I’ve done $150M in sales,” then client results and three things my company does.
Group and event funnels
9. Challenge funnel
Traffic to opt in to thank you page to a group, often on Facebook, then daily emails and texts for three to five days with a pitch on the last day. The logic is trust: if you knew me for five days, then I made you an offer. The hard part is getting people to show up daily. Some drop off by day three. Results vary, and it needs advanced automation skills or outside help.
10. Community funnel
Same flow without the challenge. Inside the group, run a weekly schedule: Monday motivation, Tuesday lives, Wednesday value, and varied content after that. Follow up through DMs, texts and calls is critical. If you are not following up, it is not going to work.
11. Product launch funnel
Drip hype across four videos or posts and pitch on day four. Video 1 builds hype, videos 2 and 3 build anticipation, video 4 sells. It works best with something genuinely new, like a book. Hormozi’s book launches are the example.
Audience and partner funnels
12. No funnel model
Influencers post with a link in bio or a call to buy. 100 million impressions versus 1,000 is a very different sales number. This only works with a huge organic audience. Alex Hormozi combines a cult following with real business skill. Most influencers lack the business side, which is why partnerships can be lucrative.
13. Partnership or JV funnel
Run any standard funnel, like opt in to VSL to call, but drive traffic from a partner’s audience. Pay a large fee up front or a percentage of sales, typically 20% to 40%. I have spent $30M on Facebook ads over six years. Free partner traffic is worth a similar amount.
14. Invisible funnel
Sell entirely in DMs. Send a document with the offer, the features and either a payment link or a booking link. The copy in that doc has to be strong, or it will not sell. It is easy to start and suits experienced buyers who hate hype. But you capture no lead data, it takes more time, and giving buyers too much freedom tends to cut sales. I have not run it at scale and would not now, but it is a fair option for beginners.
The takeaway
- Follow up decides whether any funnel works.
- Collect names, emails and phone numbers so you can market on the back end.
- Force a clear next action instead of offering too many choices.
- Long form content builds trust faster than short form.
- Test everything and let the data decide.
If you are new to high ticket, start with a waterfall funnel with an opt in. Master that before you get fancy.
Want to know which part of your funnel is costing you the most? Take my free 90 Day Ceiling Plan. Answer 18 questions and get a written plan, built on your own numbers, that names the one thing holding you back and what to fix first.
