Funnel #5 – Jared’s High-Ticket Qualification Net

So, you’ve got a high-ticket product. How the heck do you sell it?

Your first big problem is that no one ever dropped $5k after clicking on a Facebook ad, no matter how good it was. Bless you if you go for it to find out for yourself.

But your second is, even if a personal phone call is the best proven technique to close big customers, there’s no way you’ll get all of those people on the phone.

It would cost loads. And your throat spray overheads would be insane – you’ll end up sounding like Gilbert Gottfried chewing nails through a fan.

Your only hope is to construct a high-ticket sales funnel: start broad, and narrow down those prospects to the ones who have stuck with you to the end, in whom you’ve inspired loyalty, commitment and trust.

There was no blueprint for that funnel: until now.

This is the latest Convertri funnel analysis.

Our methodology is sound, our research honed over nearly half a dozen of these studies. Our brave Convertri guinea pigs plunge the depths of internet marketing so you don’t have to – following the funnel down, around and loop-de-loop to find out where it goes.

And at the end, we bring you back the map.

Our method, as always, is to click on the Facebook ads that catch our eye and make notes on where we go. Then we offer a breakdown, our personal opinion, and how you can use the funnel in your own business.

This week, we explore a funnel from Jared Goetz promoting the eHacks Passive Income Academy.

The Funnel

This is a funnel by Jared Goetz, who is – in his own words – “an e-commerce digital marketing veteran, most notably recognized for his daily Facebook ad spend of over $25,000.”

Gracious.

He’s also the founder and CEO of the eCom Hacks Academy, an online course and consulting firm based in West Palm, Florida.

His goal with this funnel is to get you to book a call with him, with a view to enrolling into the eCom Hacks Academy. Here is our in-house Picasso’s interpretation of his funnel:

Look at all those stages! Pages! And yes – that is a variable. This is one funnel that demands your attention.

Are you jazzed yet? I sure am. Let’s dive on in.

The Ad

His ad appeared on my feed, likely because I’ve clicked to register interest in other ecommerce and passive income opportunities.

(Gotta love that side hustle.)

At first glance, this doesn’t look like an ad, and that’s quite deliberate. It appears to be a post from a friend.

The video is a quick 2 minute handheld shot featuring Jared and his mom in a car. He paraphrases what he says in the text description, that his mom thought he was dealing, that he set up a Shopify store and can show you how to use his method. The ad is designed to grab the attention of readers and viewers alike, as the message is exactly the same, to maximise the potential reach.

Jared begins with a shock hook designed to stop you in your tracks as you scroll, and follows a classic AIDA pattern:

Attention: “my mom thought I was dealing”
Interest: “I had the 2nd fastest growing Shopify store in 2017”
Desire: “This model has changed my life for me and the people I’ve showed it to”
Action: “Find the case study here”

In the comments section, Jared responds personally to each and every interested person with a link to this case study. Sounds like a great lead magnet – so let’s click through.

Opt-in

Clicking the link takes us to this double opt-in page, where a bold headline front and centre announces the “Death of Dropshipping and the Rise of Dropsurfing”. A photo of Jared himself is the page background here and phrases in the headline have been used in his video and its text description: we know we’re in the right place.

Jared introduces urgency in the pre-headline, which also serves to inform us he runs an online course in ecommerce. Social proof comes immediately afterwards with huge – in every sense of the word – corporate logos, and this is all before the main headline.

All in all, this page looks impressive. We’re introduced to the main offer, and after we download the case study we’re “invited” to “apply”. The orange CTA stands out without stealing focus from the headline, and Jared adds that it’s been downloaded over 12,293 times: the hugeness of the number adds social proof (if 12k people use it, it must be good) and the specificity of the number adds to its credibility.

Clicking the CTA gives us a pop-up form, in which we enter our email and get invited to have the case study sent to Messenger. Our Facebook profile picture pops up below it – we’re still logged on from clicking on Jared’s ad – to make this even easier to imagine, and the progress bar indicates we’re almost there.

One last thing… the title of this double opt-in page is Get Jared’s Help. This won’t necessarily be noticed unless you glance at the title bar of your browser or add this page as a bookmark, but as both actions suggest you’re thinking twice about the conversion this is a great way to remind us of the biggest benefit to downloading this case study: the expertise of a man who’s made millions of dollars in just months on Shopify.

The Webinar

Wait. What?

Surprise! The case study is actually a webinar, which you click to join “in progress”. It’s not: it’s a recording, which starts when you click and you’re unable to pause, fast-forward or rewind.

It’s interesting to speculate why Jared’s created his case study as a webinar, not a PDF. A webinar sounds like a huge and personal time investment – which it is. A PDF obviously may also be, but equally has potential to be a cheap PLR knock-off. A webinar seems more valuable.

But from the outset, he’s not being entirely upfront about it. Jared uses a very subtle bait-and-switch approach by insinuating the case study can be read at our leisure. By the time we see the “join webinar in progress” indicator we may be thinking, “hang on a gosh dang minute here, where’s my PDF” – or something to that effect – but because we’ve already completed the microcommitment by clicking Submit, we’re more likely to start watching because hey, it’s happening now. And we can’t pause the freakin’ thing.

It may be slightly sneaky, but a lot of high-ticket marketing is, and in this case it does a good job of capturing attention.

Format aside, this case study does what it says on the tin: it tells us exactly how Jared built the “2nd fastest Shopify store of all time” (or just 2017).

The webinar is in a classic slideshow format, with a voiceover by Jared himself. His candid shots -Jared larking about with the Eiffel Tower, Jared on a camel – play into the brand he established with his Facebook ad: hyper-personal, relaxed, and “just another guy” who happens to be an ecommerce giant.

At the 2 minute mark, a CTA appears below the video. This feature presumes you must have been reasonably interested enough to watch at least 120 seconds of the video in order to progress to the next step. It’s a small qualifier which works nicely because it gives you a little time to concentrate on Jared’s introduction without feeling like you’re being “sold to”. If you believe you’re getting “free” value upfront, even if it’s just an introduction, you’re less likely to get distracted and open Facebook, for example, or peruse spicy memes on Pinterest and render the qualifier useless.

Lovely, but ultimately useless – just like your time spent on Pinterest. (Let’s stop kidding ourselves, that bunting is never going to get quilted.)

And look at that – we’re invited to Apply Now. The case study is over, and now it’s time to enrol in the eCom Hacks Academy.

The Survey

Ex-squeeze me?! Yes – in this funnel, not only do you get a fully-fledged recorded webinar, but a 4-page survey as well.

How’s that for value for free?

Jared’s camel has galloped off into the sunset, and here he is sans-steed with a fetching blue blazer over his tee. Fun time is over: now, it’s serious – but still relaxed – o’ clock.

Firstly, Jared asks us about our previous experience with ecommerce and what achieving success will mean for us. The text box answers are pre-populated with answers or prompts which let Jared steer the conversation without being pushy – and if we click that we have no experience, then next question changes to ask us why.

This personalisation will be great for conversions, as it makes it seem like Jared is ‘listening’. It customises the experience and holds our attention.

In the next set of questions, he asks us how much capital we can invest – keep a note of the answer I entered in the above screenshot (there was no option for ‘a lifetime supply of quilted bunting’) – and how we’d rate our knowledge of ecommerce.

He then asks us for contact details, and in the final step he wants to know if we’ll let them know if we can’t make the call. This final question is called Commitment.

This generates a very solid promise from us: this isn’t a call we can skip. It’s a strong mental bond, as we’ve made a promise here. And if we skip on it, we have to notify someone we haven’t met yet – we’ve not seen this Program Director, and we haven’t established a connection with him like we have Jared and his mom. We don’t even know if this guy’s cool with camels.

(Nothing happens if we click the No radio button – there isn’t a warning, or a pop up which advises us not to, which feels like a missed opportunity.)

But it’s on the next page that things get really interesting.

The Bridge

Remember what I told Jared I could invest?

Bingo – I had a grand total of $0 to spend on this ecommerce academy that could change my life. *sad trombone*

As it turns out, that was crucial to the next step of the funnel.

Too poor? You can taken to the Bridge – which sounds like a terrifying Star Trek-esque punishment, but this page is a little friendlier than getting ejected into the cold void of space. After all, Jared’s here – in video form.

He informs us that unfortunately, based on our answers, we won’t be accepted into Starfleet – sorry, the eCom Hacks Academy – and he tells us why. Our investment is too low. Capital is required for ads, initial expenses, etc.

It’s another qualifier, which serves to gently reject people who cannot afford Jared’s program of study. It works remarkably well as a personal greeting – he’s “taking the time” to talk to us as he’s done at the beginning, via video, so we don’t feel as cheated and the blow is softened.

As a note, the title of this page is “5b bridge”. Not as catchy as his other page titles.

But, the road doesn’t end here. There are other options – as Jared explains in the video, step one is to go the DIY route and sign up to Shopify to explore it for ourselves. Step two, join Jared’s Facebook group, where we’ll get some free hints and advice (and also have a greater chance of conversion by other members who presumably made the enrolment). Step 3 is the EH Product Finder, which will help us in our Shopify efforts. Both of these are affiliate links, which will provide Jared a bit of extra income.

In case we didn’t watch the video, Step 4 says our application wasn’t successful. It explains we need capital to start, and gets in a sly jab to anyone who tries to sell us otherwise. This is a neat little piece of copy that will keep us on Jared’s side: transparency and honesty rule supreme.

He provides a little hook by saying if we can scrape together $1k to start, we can schedule a call straightaway. So, let’s do so.

Booking Form

Clicking the schedule link on the Bridge of Failure page leads you to a booking page, which is also where you end up if your application is successful.

It’s here I want to note that the only answer your success depends upon is the amount you’re willing to invest in the eCom Hacks Academy. Changing that option was the only difference between failure and success. I even clicked that I refused to tell the Program Director if I wasn’t able to take the call – I was still redirected to this page.

Poor guy could still be waiting. I don’t know.

(This might be to do with my Britishness, but politeness > investment in my opinion. Anyway.)

Thank You

Our call is booked, and we can’t wait. Or, we’re planning to fob it off entirely.

(Try to ignore the solitary tear running down the Program Director’s cheek.)

After scheduling the call, we’re taken to this success page – which sets us up for the fun and relaxing time we’re about to have by being titled Homework.

Like the failure bridge, we’re given a step-by-step roadmap of what we need to accomplish next. Step one, we need to watch another video… er, this one entitled A Day in the Life of Jared Goetz.

Jared walks along a foamy beach, watches the sunrise, goes to the gym and cooks a healthy meal. There’s a dog, a Lamborghini, and enough slow motion lens flare to give Michael Bay a seizure. It looks nice.

Jared is further humanising his brand here – he’s inviting us into our life which, considering we need to be prepared to invest $1k+ to even see this page, works to build trust. This is a guy who’s living the dream, but it’s not all flashy celeb lifestyle. It’s about the humble things as well we get time – and space – to enjoy.

Step two is the option to jump the queue and make a direct call to set up our interview. (So, apparently we were only applying for an interview.) It reminds us this doesn’t mean we’re automatically accepted, but let’s us get things in motion.

Finally, there he is. That photo is of Jake – the same jake@12thbean.com whom we need to inform if we cannot make our scheduled call to interview.

He’s been knocked down from Program Director to Executive Assistant, within the space of two pages. Jake’s been having too many no-shows – he’s counting on us, his last shot. And, now we’ve seen his face, are we more likely to show up for our call?

Our survey says: no.

Sorry, Jake.

Final Thoughts

So we’ve ventured through Jared’s funnel, experienced all he had to show us and may well have been the final straw that broke the camel’s back in the derailment of a man’s career, ruining his life.

Not bad for a free case study.

Jared crammed as much as he possibly could into this funnel – we got a double opt-in, a webinar, a survey, and two more videos.

This is great for keeping us engaged: like his Facebook ad, it covers the whole spectrum to hook skim-readers and video-watchers, as well as everyone in between.

The point of this funnel, ultimately, is to introduce you to the awesome guy that is Jared and make you book a call with him. He accomplishes this by asking you to jump through enough hoops that you’re convinced this call is going to change your life, or at least give you some sweet passive income ideas.

After all, Jared might not just have the one offer here: most likely, he’ll have a variety of pitches ready, based on the income brackets you entered in that survey.

And while it wasn’t clear at the start what we’d be getting into, that’s basically the point – you start with something unthreateningly attractive (case study, presumably to consume at your leisure) and get walked through in baby steps to having one of Jared’s sales guys on the phone (and if you’re like me you HATE talking on the phone, so to get someone even thinking about it is no mean feat).

Do you know the metaphor about the frog in boiling water? Google it, because it’s the perfect metaphor for this funnel (except this funnel is vegan).

All in all, this is a really neat qualification funnel for what’s presumably a high-ticket product.

If I was being nitpicky, I’d suggest Jared clean up his page titles a little. Some work great as subtle supportive elements to his message, but ones like “5b bridge” at inconsistent. To me, that says it was once part of a bigger funnel and was left over – and no, hardly anyone would notice unless they bookmark it, but as Jared’s copy and branding has been consistent throughout it’s a shame to leave out even the smallest of details…

Okay, I’ve just been informed I’m being too nitpicky. I stand by it. Picking nits is a way of life, and you’re free to ignore any and all suggestions.

(It’ll just make my eye twitch.)

Here’s some key ideas from this funnel you can apply to your own funnel-building:

Humanise your brand and build trust by adding photos and videos of yourself that are consistent with your branding and your entry point (e.g. a relaxed feel, mirrored in your Facebook ad).
Don’t be afraid of narrowing your lead pool. With a high-ticket item, you only want the best leads getting on the phone. The qualification process may seem convoluted, but every step generates commitment.
Monetise the also-rans. Not everyone will be able to afford your offer, but that doesn’t mean you have to take a loss. Offer a cheaper alternative, like Jared does with affiliate links. Silver medals are still precious metals, after all.
Pay attention to metadata like page titles – you never know who’s going to see them.
Be clear with your message, what you’re offering and what prospects can expect next.
Take advantage of all the funnel elements available to you – webinar, surveys, videos – and experiment with them, even if they aren’t intuitive to your offer.

And lastly, be nice to Jake. He’s had a difficult time lately.

Like This Funnel?

Want to use a funnel like this yourself?

We’ve created a version in Convertri. It’s not exactly the same style, but it’s doing all the same things in all the same order, and we’ve added logo spots so you can easily brand it for your own company.

Click the link below to add it to your account:

https://app.convertri.com/import/3ef653ba-f895-11e8-bb43-0602f87a6cd8

Let us know how it works for you! If we can get enough data, we’ll report back on how well this funnel type works.