The Best 5 Lead Gen Marketing Funnels for Service Businesses
It takes guts to start a service business.
When you’re just starting out, it can feel like you’re endlessly struggling to find client leads.
Trust me, I know from experience.
I started AutoGrow as a regular professional service business hoping to generate quality leads.
But it wasn’t until I had a solid marketing funnel in place that I started to see real growth.
Because even if you apply a relentless hustle it doesn’t really guarantee you stable cash flow.
What you really need is an effective sales funnel that manufactures leads.
And to help you generate more consistent leads for your service business, I put together these examples of different types of lead gen funnels you can model.
In this article, I’ll show you:
- The key ingredients that make a lead gen sales funnel work.
- The mind-blowing results achieved by successful companies (and that you can model and surpass).
- And the best practices you can follow to have a stable, growing service business that saves you time while drawing in a predictable flow of new prospects.
These 5 types of lead generation funnels can help you get started.
Now let’s cut to the chase and review the 1st example...
Lead Gen Funnel for Service Business #1: Guitar Mastery Method’s Survey Funnel That Generated More Than 5,000 Leads in Less Than a Week
What Is It & What Sort of Results Did It Get?
With a survey funnel, you quiz the people who sign up to your email list.
You typically ask them what their biggest challenges are and give them 1 to 5 options to choose from.
And depending on their responses, you can put those surveyed people in a specific email follow-up bucket.
This will let you follow up with them and nurture the relationship via a sequence of emails until turning them into customers.
You see, email marketing has the highest return on investment for small businesses according to Campaign Monitor.
As the data shows, email marketing not only serves as a way to convert leads but to generate sales.
And going back to your survey funnel, it also lets you send to each bucket of your audience personalized content that’s more relevant to their interests (based on their answers).
In fact, according to MailChimp, email campaigns see 14.31% higher open rates when they’re sent to segmented email campaigns.
And it’s exactly what we actually do at AutoGrow.
When someone signs up to our email list, we survey people on what their biggest marketing challenge is.
And based on their answers, we send them customized content via our newsletters.
We have too many answers to choose from right now and we’re actually looking to reduce them.
But let me talk more about Guitar Mastery Method now.
When Charlie Wallace, the founder of the company sought to learn more about his audience, he decided to create a survey funnel.
His company, which provides online guitar lessons worldwide, had a huge audience with varying needs.
Some were beginners who wanted to learn guitar from scratch, while others were more seasoned and wanted to grasp complicated concepts.
So he decided to create a 5-question quiz as part of his survey funnel.
As a result, his company generated over 10,000 leads in less than a month.
Key Ingredients of This Lead Gen Funnel
Here’s Guitar Mastery Method’s funnel in action.
1. Homepage
The prospective customer must first click on the CTA button on the homepage to answer the survey.
2. Survey Page
Prospects are then redirected to the page that contains the survey.
There, they are asked to fill out a brief survey.
Some service businesses may have a dedicated page to show the survey results. But this is optional, though.
3. Opt-In Form
After filling out this survey, Charlie then rates the quiz-taker’s performance and tells them how they can improve their music skills if they sign up for his custom videos.
And to opt in to watch the free video, people are required to add their email address.
The questions were not complicated, so it doesn’t take a user too much time to take the quiz.
Best Practices for Your Funnel
If you’re part of the 61% of marketers who say generating traffic and leads is their top challenge…
...then you better follow these best practices when building your survey funnel:
- Limit your questions. Ask no more than 3 questions to avoid fatiguing your prospective customer.
- Arrange customers in up to 5 buckets. Then, send them content that’s most relevant to who they are and what their needs are.
Lead Gen Funnel for Productized Service Business #2: AutoGrow’s On-Demand Demo Video Sales Funnel
What Is It?
A lot of people who visit your website are very protective of their time and don’t want to get on a call with you.
This is because they are afraid you will try to sell them something (which you will).
And having an on-demand demo video in your funnel strategy alleviates some of that risk.
In this video you explain your service and how it works. These videos should last between 2 to 20 minutes.
Research by Wyzowl actually shows that 83% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads.
And not only that, demo videos also increase the conversion rate because people often prefer watching a demo video to get the information they need faster.
As a matter of fact, 90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions. And 64% of customers say that seeing a video makes them more likely to buy according to Forbes.
After watching a demo video, prospects can decide if a call makes sense or not.
Key Ingredients of This Lead Gen Funnel
The key stages of a lead gen funnel listed below are essential ingredients we always include in the funnels we create for our clients.
Check out the SaaS sales funnel we created for a former client.
I’ll explain some of those key ingredients to you below .
1. Homepage
Take a look at our homepage where we advertise our on-demand demo video through a “Get Demo” CTA button in our hero section and a text link in our nav bar.
After clicking on any of those CTAs, a 2-step opt-in form must be filled out in order to get to the video page.
2. 2-Step Opt-In Form
This is the 2-step opt-in form prospects must fill out to watch the demo video.
We do this so people need to add their contact info and we can have a way to reach out to them later to nurture the relationship.
3. Watch Demo Video Landing Page
Then, people are redirected to our dedicated landing page where they can opt in to watch the video right away.
And if people scroll down, there’s a detailed section where the key benefits of watching the video are outlined.
And we have a CTA button too so prospects can sign up for any of our packages when they’re ready.
Or they can talk to one of our digital marketing strategists if they need further information.
Best Practices for Your Funnel
When you create a demo video for your funnel, keep these best practices in mind:
- Keep your demo video simple. Make it short and sweet.
- Add an opt-in form to capture prospects’ contact information.
- Make your videos easy to digest so people can consume them quickly and easily.
- Include CTA buttons in the demo video and landing page to guide people to take action
- Include social proof in the form of logos, testimonials, statistics, quotes, and/or case study stats in your video. This will help people trust your brand and give them peace of mind if they buy from you.
Lead Gen Funnel for Productized Service Business #3: SEOak’s Get Access to Pricing Sales Funnel
What Is It?
As a productized service business, the #1 concern for your customers is whether or not they can afford your services.
This is the reason why, in some cases, service businesses should offer people instant access to pricing or an instant quote.
Your prospective customers understand that you want to meet their needs, but sometimes putting the pricing upfront is a risk that could potentially turn them away.
It’s common for service business owners, though, not to advertise their pricing too soon in their funnels.
But my recommendation is for you to create a landing page that describes your service and answers some common questions about it.
Take a look at our pricing page…
It clearly states our 4 pricing packages with the main features of each. Additionally, we include an extensive FAQ section to help us sell.
You could also try placing your price anchoring on a dedicated landing page that people will see after they have learned a bit more about what you are offering.
You always want your prospects to see pricing in the context of value. Not simply in the context of “Oh, this is expensive/cheap.”
Then, you could add a contact form or an opt-in to collect their contact information and redirect them to the pricing page.
If your customers are price-sensitive, you can add a demo video on the pricing page before your prices.
This is a preface to showing people your pricing and you’re focusing more on the value customers will get for their money.
Key Ingredients of This Lead Gen Funnel
Let’s review SEOak’s pricing funnel.
This company provides professional SEO services for small businesses. And it focuses on helping them solve their leads, sales, and revenues problems.
1. Homepage
Right on SEOak’s homepage, there’s a contact form at the bottom of the page that takes a prospective customer to a landing page with a detailed FAQ section.
There’s also a section where prospects are asked which type of business they have.
2. Contact Form
From there, people must fill out a form to be contacted for pricing information.
3. Thank You Page
Once SEOak has prospects’ email addresses, they reach out to prospective customers with the pricing information.
And finally, people are redirected to a plain thank you page.
In my opinion, this funnel creates some friction because people really don’t get to know the pricing of their services soon in the process. They have to wait to be contacted.
Best Practices for Your Funnel
Here are my recommended best practices for a “get access to pricing” funnel:
- Use a 2-step opt-in. With this, people may not immediately see the form on the page. Instead, they click a CTA button that may say “get an instant pricing quote” or “see our pricing packages.” Then they’re brought to a form they can fill out.
- Ask for minimum information. You at least need the person’s email’s address but anything else is optional.
Lead Gen Funnel for Coaching Service Business #4: Basecamp’s Free Trial Sales Funnel
What Is It?
Basecamp helps you manage all your company’s projects, work, and communications in one place. They continually test new designs and their copy focuses a lot on the problems they can solve for their customers.
Basecamp also feels very personal. They emphasize social proof and they also present it in a unique way.
Key Ingredients of This Lead Gen Funnel
Here the most important stages that make this free trial funnel unique.
1. Homepage
In addition to the social proof added on their homepage, they show their product “in action” to make it more appealing. 
And there’s a clear CTA button that invites people to sign up for their free trial.
They’re clearly promoting how it’s free to sign up, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love free stuff?
2. Free Trial
Basecamp is free to try.
And after clicking on the “Give Basecamp a Try” button on the homepage, prospects are redirected to the pricing page where they can see the monthly price
For visitors’ peace of mind, you don’t have to fill in your credit card information initially when you sign up. They keep their pricing info super simple and clear.
All they have to do is fill out the opt-in form below.
Best Practices for Your Funnel
- Add social proof. See how Basecamp’s design has plenty of testimonials? This gives people peace of mind before deciding on trying your services.
- Use simple and casual language. Every company wants to show their customers how their unique product or services solves their problems. To communicate how your product or service does that, avoid using corporate language and speak directly to customers on a very natural, real level.
Lead Gen Funnel for Service Business #5: Keap’s Live Webinar Funnel
What Is It?
The idea behind a webinar is to add scarcity because it’s a live event that people may miss out on.
And the only way people should have access to it is if they RSVP.
Consider also offering a short-term replay of the webinar for up to 48 hours. This gives you an opportunity to sell subscribers on the replay even after the webinar has ended. And even if they didn’t attend.
Your live webinar funnel should consist of 3 main pages: your opt-in page, your webinar watch page, and your checkout/booking page.
In the case of a productized service like Keap (they used to be called Infusionsoft), you can also offer your customers a free consultation at the end of the webinar.
We’ve talked about this productized service before. And marketers like the CEO and founder of MainstreetROI.com, Phil Frost has even considered Keap as his favorite sales funnel tool.
Let’s check out the webinar funnel that Keap created in the past.
Key Ingredients of This Lead Gen Funnel
This funnel is pretty simple and it’s very similar to some funnels we’ve created for past clients.
1. Opt-In Page
When people opted in to Infusionsoft’s email list, they were redirected to an opt-in page.
For your own webinar opt-in page, be sure to write a clear and catchy headline, state the date for the event, and include a clearly visible CTA button.
This best practice will help you get more opt-ins for your webinar.
See how Infusionsoft clearly states when the webinar will take place and has a bright green CTA button for people to register?
Try to copy those same tactics on your own page.
2. Webinar Watch Page
Once Infusionsoft’s prospects opted in for the webinar, they were then redirected to the webinar watch page.
Here Keap stated (and you should do so too) all information related to where and when the live webinar was going to take place.
3. Checkout/Booking Page
When hosting your webinar, make sure you present a special offer during the event.
This could be a bonus, a discounted or limited-time offer, or a free trial of your service.
This will give a little push to attendees to make the purchase at the end of the webinar.
Some customers may be ready to buy, so you can direct them right to your checkout/booking page.
And if you don’t have a checkout/booking page in place, you can also send prospects to your pricing page instead.
Best Practices for Your Funnel
Here are my best practices for you to follow when hosting your own live webinar:
- Use a countdown timer to add scarcity. People are more worried about what they’ll miss out on rather than what they’ll gain. So your opt-in rates here should increase if you say that your webinar will be available for a limited time only.
- Clearly show the date. Your webinar’s date should be highly visible and clear. Otherwise, people won’t know when to attend and likely won’t opt in for it. And for more clarity, avoid using complicated language like “The webinar will take place in 2 weeks.” It’s better to add the exact date in the form of month, day, and time.
- Make the CTA visible and above the fold on your watch page to prevent anyone from missing out. Don’t let your prospects struggle to find the button in your page. Make it stand out with high-contrasting colors and make sure it looks clickable (rounded corners help too).
- Follow up with people who opt in to attend the webinar. Make sure you reach out to people to remind them to attend the event. And once the webinar ends, make sure to reach out to attendees again to thank them for attending and offer an on-demand replay of the webinar.
Conclusion
When it comes to sales funnels, it’s not about just building any kind of funnel for your business.
It’s about crafting a lead generation funnel that attracts qualified leads.
Here are the 5 lead generation funnel types for service businesses that you can model:
- #1: Lead Gen Survey Sales Funnel
- #2: Lead Gen On-Demand Demo Video Sales Funnel
- #3: Lead Gen Pricing Sales Funnel
- #4: Lead Gen Free Trial Sales Funnel
- #5: Lead Gen Live Webinar Sales Funnel
If you want to automate your lead generation for your service business or you’re not getting the kind of results you want, take these funnels as a starting point. Then, model them and apply what you learned into your own funnel.
And if you need help or want to save time, you should consider hiring AutoGrow to do it for you.
Now tell me something, which of these lead generation funnels do you think would work best for your service business? Why?
Let me know in the comments below.
Keep AutoGrowin’, stay focused,
