Building Sales Funnels

🗺️ AirBnB Customer Journey Blueprint, a wonderful practical example of how to visualize the entire customer experience for 2 personas, across 8 touch points, with user policies, UI screens and all interactions with the customer service — all on one single page. AirBnB Customer Journey (Google Drive): https://lnkd.in/eKsTjrp4 Spotify Customer Journey (High-res): https://lnkd.in/eX3NBWbJ Now, unlike AirBnB, your product might not need a mapping against user policies. However, it might need other lanes that would be more relevant for your team. E.g. include relevant findings and recommendations from UX research. List key actions needed for next stage. Add relevant UX metrics and unsuccessful touchpoints. That last bit is often missing. Yet customer journeys are often non-linear, with unpredictable entry points, and integrations way beyond the final stage of a customer journey map. It’s in those moments when things leave a perfect path that a product’s UX is actually stress tested. So consider mapping unsuccessful touchpoints as well — failures, error messages, conflicts, incompatibilities, warnings, connectivity issues, eventual lock-outs and frequent log-outs, authentication issues, outages and urgent support inquiries. Even further than that: each team could be able to zoom into specific touch points and attach links to quotes, photos, videos, prototypes, design system docs and Figma files. Perhaps even highlight the desired future state. Technical challenges and pain points. Those unsuccessful states. Now, that would be a remarkable reference to use in the beginning of every design sprint. Such mappings are often overlooked, but they can be very impactful. Not only is it a very tangible way to visualize UX, but it’s also easy to understand, remember and relate to daily — potentially for all teams in the entire organization. And that's something only few artefacts can do. Useful resources: Free Template: Customer Journey Mapping, by Taras Bakusevych https://lnkd.in/e-emkh5A Free Template: End-To-End User Experience Map (Figma), by Justin Tan https://lnkd.in/eir9jg7J Customer Journey Map Template (Figma), by Ed Biden https://lnkd.in/evaUP4kz Free Figma/Miro User Journey Maps Templates https://lnkd.in/etSB7VqB User Journey Maps vs. Service Blueprints (+ Templates) https://lnkd.in/e-JSYtwW UX Mapping Methods (+ Miro/Figma Templates) https://lnkd.in/en3Vje4t #ux #design

If I started a solar company today, it wouldn’t have solar in the name. I'd sell home energy consumption monitoring or smart home equipment and let solar sell itself. Here's why. Getting in the door is 80% of the battle. Lead with solar, and 9 out of 10 homeowners shut you down. Door closed. If I were rebuilding from scratch, here's exactly what I'd do: Step 1: Lead with energy monitoring, smart home integrations, and whole-home electrification, not solar. - Install an Emporia home energy monitor for $300-500 - Show them real-time data on where their money is going - HVAC running 24/7, water heater bleeding energy, phantom loads they didn't know existed Now you're not a solar salesman. You're the guy who showed them they're throwing $200/month out the window Step 2: Identify what's bleeding money, then show them solar powers the fix. Once the monitor is installed, walk them through the data. "Your HVAC is 60% of your bill. A heat pump cuts this in half. With solar, you're heating and cooling for free." "Your water heater is costing you $80/month. A heat pump water heater powered by solar drops that to basically zero." You're solving real problems they can see. Solar makes each solution free to operate. Step 3: Let them ask about solar (because now they want it). - Once they see how much money they're losing and how solar fixes everything, the conversation happens naturally - "So if I upgrade to a heat pump, add solar, and get a smart panel, what does that save me?" - You didn't pitch solar. They asked for it. That's the difference between getting shut down and getting invited to the kitchen table. Step 4: Build the whole-home solution with solar as the centerpiece. Now you're not just selling panels. You're building a complete energy solution. Induction stove, heat pump HVAC, heat pump water heater, battery backup - all powered by solar, all working when the grid doesn't. Solar-only project: $30k. Whole-home electrification with solar at the center: $60k-80k. You just doubled revenue per customer. The customer isn't thinking "expensive." They're thinking "my bill goes to zero, my home runs on sunshine, and I'm never affected by another blackout." Step 5: Eventually, rebrand as a whole-home energy company. - Don't call it "[City] Solar". Call it "[City] Home Energy". - You're not competing with other solar installers anymore - You're the expert who makes homes cheaper to run, more comfortable, and more valuable - You're creating a new category where solar is the obvious solution to every energy problem The product that gets you in the door matters more than the product you're trying to sell. The installers who survive the next 2 years won't be the ones with the best solar pitch, but those who figured out how to get invited into the house in the first place. Want to talk about solar? Start by showing them where their money is going. — If you were starting a solar company from scratch today, what would your first step be?

Spending over 23% of your day on LinkedIn as a founder or coach but still stuck with less than 10% conversions. Your services and products are not being recognized and sold even on one of the biggest B2B platforms. Based on my recent client experiences, I have included 5 strategies to resolve your issues below. Lead gen on LinkedIn is more like going to the gym. → As in a gym, you don't jump onto 20 kg dumbbells for your workout; similarly, when you think of lead gen it's not about $5,000 clients on day 1. → As in a gym, you focus on building a habit of walking there; similarly, you should build a habit of talking to ICPs. Once you are onto this stage: 1) Write what appeals to your targeted ICPs. → Educational Storytelling → Value-based lead magnet → Before and after case study → Client case study with proofs → Emotional trigger-based content 2) Connect with ICPs without selling in the 1st text → Talk about their personality → Talk about something they are good at → Talk about what's wrong + how you can fix → Talk of their contribution + how to take forward → Talk how they have impacted your life positively 3) Connect with a set of ICPs through comments → Create a list of 50 people in an Excel sheet → Comment on 25 on alternative days → Write genuine words → After 4-5 days of mutual conversation → Send a connection request with an intent 4) Create a strong lead magnet for your ICPs → Find people who fit your ICP list → Send them a connection request. → Ask about a problem they are facing. → Showcase how your lead magnet can be fixed. → If they agree, send it to them and take it on. 5) Leverage the potential of reactions & comments. → Open profile of a big creator who fits your ICP. → Open recent posts & find reactions + comments. → Filter them out; they are the most active ones. → Send customized connection requests regularly. → And you’ve a list of active ICPs to contact daily. When you build a habit, you find new ways to strengthen, exactly how you go to the gym, and build a habit of better posture and mobility. Focus on building habits with better actions; you'll be surprised to witness the results. P.S. If you want to dive deeper into lead gen and become the top 1% in the industry through content, DM me.

Testing and piloting AI for sales and marketing can be frustrating. That’s why Jomar Ebalida and I came up with the practical AI roadmap for marketing and GTM ops pros. This roadmap helps you figure out where to start, what to focus on, and how to scale AI initiatives in a way that’s grounded in operational reality. It’s structured in 3 phases: PREP: Evaluate your organization’s current state across data, tools, team skills, and funnel performance. PILOT: Select and test AI use cases based on your actual readiness data. (Diagram shows samples) Avoid guessing by letting the assessment drive decisions. ACTIVATE: Scale the pilots that show promise and embed them into core processes. Here are select projects worth walking through: 🔹 AI Readiness Assessment This project includes evaluating data quality, the state of your CRM, the maturity of your tech stack, and your team’s readiness to work with AI tools. It also includes a bowtie funnel analysis to help identify where your customer journey is breaking down. The outcome is a clear picture of which AI use cases are both valuable and feasible for your team to pursue. 🔹 AI SDR Agent: Outreach and Prospecting This agent is designed to support outbound sales by identifying high-potential accounts, generating personalized outreach messages, and helping SDRs scale without sacrificing relevance. It can help teams boost pipeline without overloading headcount. 🔹 AI QA and Compliance: Brand, Legal, Regulatory This workstream ensures that every piece of AI-generated content or decision logic meets the necessary internal standards. It supports brand consistency, regulatory requirements, and risk mitigation. This process should run in parallel with pilots and activations to ensure safe implementation. 🔹 AI Agents for Ops: QA Checks, Routing, and Campaign Setup This includes AI agents built to handle operational tasks such as verifying UTM links, auto-routing requests, or creating campaign templates. These agents are ideal for improving workflow speed while reducing manual errors and team bottlenecks. At the foundation of all of this is change management. Each phase of the roadmap includes a focus on enablement, training, adoption, metrics, and governance. Tools don’t generate value unless people are set up to use them properly. Which parts resonate with you? What would you change or add? PS: To learn more & access templates, subscribe for free to The Marketing Operations Leader Newsletter on Substack https://lnkd.in/g_3YC7BZ and to Jomar's newsletter at bowtiefunnel(dot)com. #marketing #martech #marketingoperations #ai #gtm

In 27 months, we grew Retention.com from $1M-$13M ARR with only 1 salesperson (me) doing 1,000's of sales calls. Here are my 10 biggest pieces of advice for any startup who wants to book and close more sales calls: 1. Ask for 15 mins, but book 30 When booking a meeting outbound, you have a better shot at getting a meeting by asking for 15 mins than 30. You may have piqued their interest but with a busy schedule, they are going to weigh learning about your business vs their time. Ask for 15 but send a meeting invite for 30.  If they can’t do the full 30, they will let you know, but from my experience, this rarely happens. 2. Tell your story People remember a story more than a product  Figure out your short story that you can tell prior to getting into the product pitch. How does your story connect to your business / product? 3. 5X5 Pitch Keep your product deck for your initial call to 5 slides / 5 minutes and make sure you answer any of the common questions you get from prospects. You can always book a follow up call to share more detail once you hook their interest. 4. Always Be Pitching Take control of the call and the sales cycle. You will only learn what does and doesn’t work by actually pitching.  5. Tell a customer story Again, people remember stories more than they do stats. Tell a story of a customer before implementing your product and the business outcome after implementing it. Don’t just talk numbers. Talk about how people felt, what they said, etc. 6. Create Urgency Attach an incentive if the deal is done by the end of the week or month.  (Example: 20% more credits or a 15% discount)  This also sets you up well for follow up as it now makes them feel like you are on their team to try and help them get the deal in for their benefit. 7. Land and expand We all want to close the big ACV deals, but the truth is most buyers don’t want to make a big commitment without seeing how your product works. Find a way to get them on for a small $ amount, with the plan to expand if the product meets their expectations. 8. Opt-Out Period Reduce buyer friction by offering a 90 day opt out period if you are trying to close 12 month agreements. It shows confidence that your product will drive the results you say it will. 9. Deck Recap Create a 1-2 pager highlighting the most important parts of your sales deck that you can send via email after every call (even if they don’t ask for it). The prospect won’t remember all details from the call, so this gives them something to look back on and will help sell internally if other stakeholders are involved. 10. Video for FAQs Create short form talking head video answering all FAQs. This will add value in your follow up, show you listened to the questions they had and that you care about making sure they understand the answers. It also helps internally as others will likely have the same questions as the person on the phone. Have questions about how to book/close more calls? AMA anything 👇

7 lead generation mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn. LinkedIn remains a goldmine for lead generation. Especially in the B2B landscape. However, even professionals can fall into common traps. Here are 7 crucial missteps to avoid: → Premature Prospecting: Prioritize relationship building and establishing thought leadership before directly pitching services. Demonstrate value first. → Superficial Engagement: Move beyond self-promotion. Actively engage with industry content, participate in discussions, and offer insightful commentary to cultivate trust. → Broad Targeting: Don't be generic! Customize your content and interactions to resonate with your ideal client profile for targeted lead generation. → Underutilizing Your Network: Leverage existing connections for warm introductions and referrals. Activate your network for mutually beneficial opportunities. → Spammy Outreach: Ditch generic connection requests and overly promotional messages. Use personalized invitations and value-driven communication for genuine connections.   → Undervaluing Social Selling: Go beyond basic content. Build trust and showcase your expertise through thought leadership content that establishes you as an industry authority. → Neglecting Post-Engagement: Don't let leads go dormant. Nurture relationships with personalized follow-up messages and continued engagement. You need the mix of the right strategy with the right content to convert leads. Looking to generate leads through LinkedIn? DM me Mona Agrawal and I will help you out! #leadgeneration

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

Your customer journey map is missing the 8 touchpoints that matter most. You've optimised your ads, polished your landing pages, and A/B tested your emails to death. But whilst you've been obsessing over the obvious touchpoints, your customers have been forming opinions about your brand in places you've completely overlooked. These hidden moments of truth determine whether customers stick around or silently disappear. The good news? Your competitors are probably ignoring them too. 1. Pre-awareness Influences • What it is: Social conversations & word-of-mouth before formal brand discovery • Why it's missed: Difficult to track & attribute • Optimisation tip: Create shareable content specifically designed for peer-to-peer sharing • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2. Post-Purchase Onboarding • What it is: The critical first 24-48 hours after purchase when buyers seek validation • Why it's missed: Teams focus on acquisition, not retention • Optimisation tip: Create "success accelerator" emails with usage instructions • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3. Product Documentation • What it is: Help guides, FAQs, & support materials • Why it's missed: Often delegated to technical teams without marketing input • Optimisation tip: Inject brand personality into help documentation • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐ 4. Customer Support Interactions • What it is: The conversations with service teams that shape perception • Why it's missed: Viewed as cost center, not marketing opportunity • Optimisation tip: Create scripts that highlight complementary products/features • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5. Digital "Dead Ends" • What it is: 404 pages, out-of-stock notifications, & other negative pathways • Why it's missed: Seen as technical errors, not opportunities • Optimisation tip: Transform dead ends into discovery points with recommendations • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐ 6. Transaction Confirmations • What it is: Receipts, shipping notifications, & order confirmations • Why it's missed: Treated as operational communications only • Optimisation tip: Include personalised next-best action recommendations • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 7. Post-Usage Check-ins • What it is: The period after customer has used your product for intended purpose • Why it's missed: Customer journey maps often end at purchase or initial use • Optimisation tip: Create timely follow-ups based on typical usage patterns • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 8. Community Participation • What it is: Customer-to-customer interactions in forums & social spaces • Why it's missed: Difficult to scale & often understaffed • Optimisation tip: Identify & empower customer advocates within communities • Impact potential: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Your marketing doesn't end where your analytics dashboard stops tracking. The brands that will win tomorrow are already investing in these invisible touchpoints today. Which one will you optimise first? ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to share with your network.  ⚡ Want more content like this? Hit follow Maya Moufarek.

More Ad Spend ≠ More Sales Scaling is a trap that no one talks about. Most marketers think scaling is simple: Increase ad spend → Get more customers → Grow revenue. But that’s not how it works. In fact, blindly increasing budget is one of the fastest ways to kill your ad performance. Here’s why: 1. Rising CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) – More budget means entering higher-cost auctions and reaching less-qualified audiences. If your targeting, creatives, and funnel aren’t optimized, you’re just paying more for worse results. 2. Creative Fatigue – Scaling too fast with the same ad creatives leads to audience burnout. People stop engaging, CTR drops, and suddenly, your winning ad becomes a money pit. 3. Lack of Offer Optimization – If your offer doesn’t convert at a small scale, spending more won’t fix it. It's the classic problem of a poor product/service cannot be fixed with great performance marketing strategy. 4. Misleading ROAS Metrics – A campaign might look profitable at ₹ 10000/day but break down at ₹50000/day due to diminishing returns. If you’re not tracking LTV and profitability, you could be scaling unprofitably. So what should you do instead? 1. Test Before You Scale – Validate your offer, audience, and creatives before increasing spend. 2. Scale in Stages – Increase budget incrementally while monitoring CAC and conversion rates. 3. Optimize Your Funnel First – If your website, checkout process, or backend conversion flow isn’t solid, no amount of ad spend will save you. Scaling isn’t just about spending more. It’s about spending smarter. Have you seen this happen before?