The 4-Step Organic Funnel Strategy for Booking Clients Every Week with Stephanie Hess

Raise your hand if you feel like getting your ideal clients on the phone feels like pulling teeth! 🙋‍♀️ It felt like that for my guest, too. Discovering that one strategy that works for you and creates a pipeline of potential clients for your business can take a lot of trial and error, but I want to shortcut that path for you.

In this episode, I’m chatting with Stephanie Hess – a Fortune 500 Beauty Director turned self-made entrepreneur, online business strategist and high-vibrational mentor to the thousands of women who follow her work online. Stephanie serves women through her private and group coaching programs, YouTube channel, membership site and through her daily content on Instagram and Pinterest.

In this episode, Stephanie is sharing the struggles she faced just one short year ago to get her ideal clients on a call and book her for private coaching. After attempting to bring in new leads through paid Facebook advertising and then getting her ads account shut down, she realized she had to figure out a different way to book clients. After some trial and error, she discovered a simple 4-step process that only takes 10 minutes a day and results in 5-10 discovery calls each week. She’s breaking it all down for us in this episode.

This episode is brought to you by ConvertKit.

What I love most about ConvertKit is that they are an all-in-one email marketing solution by providing everything you need to grow your list through their beautiful built-in landing pages and forms and to sell to your list through their easy-to-use visual automation funnel builders. If you want an easy way to grow your audience and sell your offers, ConvertKit has you covered. Head to amandagenther.com/convertkit to signup for a free trial and get access to my done-for-you visual automation, which includes a pre-designed landing page, thank you page and email welcome sequence.


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Transcript

spk_0:   0:03
welcome to the inspired for action podcast. I'm Amanda Genther, and I'm here to share inspiring stories of on light entrepreneurs who are killing it in their business and having fun at the same time. I want to prove that there's no one right way to market your business and sell your offers online. There's only the way that feels good for you, and that works for your audience. I'll be getting down and dirty with my fellow online entrepreneurs to share step by step stories of how they created, launched and sold their offers online. It's time to step out of fear into action. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited for today's interview. I have the amazing Stephanie Hus on here with me today. Stephanie, can you go and introduce yourself for those who are not familiar with you yet?

spk_1:   0:51
Absolutely. I miss Stephanie. I'm so, so excited to be here. Thank you, Amanda. I am a business coach. Thio Lovely female entrepreneurs. I kind of hate putting putting a label or a box checking the box, but that's what I do. I coach. I mentor and I support women on a mission.

spk_0:   1:12
Possum and today we're gonna be talking about something really cool and really like actionable that those of you who are listening right now, I want you to really take this in and see if this is something that you can apply to your business. So today, Stephanie and I are gonna be talking about a really cool funnel strategy that she kind of stumbled upon after previous attempts to bring in about 5 to 10 new leads every single week. And it only takes about 10 minutes a day. So that's what we're talking about. Steffy, can you first tell us what? What do you actually sell? How do you actually make money in your business right now?

spk_1:   1:52
Yeah, so I do private coaching with clients, and I also run. Kind of like a hybrid group online coaching course as well. So those are the 22 ways that I support my people.

spk_0:   2:04
Okay. Cool. And both of those, I mean, which one which offer we specifically talking about today that involves this funnel strategy. All offers cell of Okay, Awesome.

spk_1:   2:17
Yeah, which is why I love it, because it's really about getting getting women on the phone and serving them Thio, you know, two for me to be able to see what they really need and then making the best offer that that supports them the best. Perfect. So we're going to

spk_0:   2:33
dive into, like, how you actually like, you're gonna walk us through this puddle and how it works, so we can kind of just, like, envision it working for own business. But before we do that, let's just, like, take a few steps back. What did booking clients look like for you previously?

spk_1:   2:50
What Clients? It's a good question because oh, my gosh, girl, I was not booking anyone and this was such a painful, like, looking back, I really I really get how painful it was. And this was about a year where I was. I was really desire ing to be of greater service, and it was hard. I I wasn't getting the leads. I was spending money. I didn't have my credit card bills were going up and up and up as I was trying all of these paid strategies, and I'll just as a sidebar. I'm such a proponent of paid advertising, but it just didn't work for where I was, and I was I was gripped onto wanting so bad toe have these calls showing up in my calendar, and it just wasn't happening. I was spending more and more money, and I wasn't serving anyone,

spk_0:   3:44
okay? And what happened? I mean, you you told me before, you're like my avocado got shut down. Is that kind of like like that final breaking point that you ran into where you were, like Okay, this something's gonna change.

spk_1:   3:59
I will never forget that day. I got the alert that my count was disabled, and in that moment it felt like, Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do now? How am I gonna reach people? It I was in total panic mode, and it ended up being the biggest blessing that I ever could have had happened. So yeah, I

spk_0:   4:19
feel like that happens, right? Like I feel like in the moment you are just crushed and heartbroken. And you were like, rock bottom. What am I supposed to do now? And then you look back on it 2020 vision, and it's like, Oh, I'm so glad that that happened to me. Such a guest. What did you do after that? you're like, Okay. Well, I can't I can't do paid advertising. That's not gonna work. So what

spk_1:   4:44
did you do next? So after the, you know, the rolling around on the floor like I was a 12 year old having having these fits. Not sure what I was gonna D'oh! There was so many tears. I took some breaths and I really, really started to look at what I wanted. And I realized I had been so much in my head and and on the hunt and on the search, and I needed to get back into my heart. So I just really asked myself some questions, and I'm gonna I'm gonna share with the audience today. A. And these were such powerful questions, really simple ones, But it led me to the exact clarity and pass that I needed where I could connect with the women that I knew that I could could help in a big

spk_0:   5:35
way. Awesome. Okay, so let us hear. Um what are those? Those questions you said You said that you want to share those questions?

spk_1:   5:43
Yeah, So I'm gonna give my four step checklist is really how I've managed to generate the 5 to 10 leagues per week without spending a dime on ads or selling my soul t shiny objects on. I just want to stay that way if you're listening, because, let's face it, we hear all of these flashy headlines all the time, right? Like, do this thing Oh, or magic in your business. And I just want to say that I think you said it in one of your posts about wishing you had had focused on your mindset more in the beginning. And here's the truth, the strategy that I'm implementing now in my business that it's such a simple strategy. But I couldn't start doing it until I got my mind in the right place. And I just want to add that before we dive in, because I wish that I had people screaming even louder back when I was stuck in that place where I was waking up, not energized, not having calls booked all of the things, and I don't know if I would have heard them heard it back then, but just to fully grasp and understand that until you decide to get out of your own way, you will be your biggest obstacle so this strategy can absolutely work for anyone. Doesn't matter what you do, what you sell, who you sell it to, just kind of take it in and make it work for you would be my biggest, biggest piece of advice. I

spk_0:   7:08
love it. I'm so excited. All right, let's do this.

spk_1:   7:11
Amazing. So step number one and this business, this was kind of my rock. Bottom moment, right? So desire ing for it to be different. And this could be like, Oh, my gosh, I need a change now moment. Or it could be like, oh, things where things were working, but we're gonna have to change it up a little bit. So noticing that the desire has to be there and a little bit of set up ness doesn't hurt, right? Like I'm so fed up with hearing cricket. It's online. I'm so fed up with not being able to speak my real truth and to galvanize my audience. Um, I'm so fed up by launching courses that don't Phil, I'm so fed up with stumbling my way through the money conversation with clients. What is the thing that you want to be different? Like I said for me it was waking up and just not having calls, but my calendar. I was sick and tired of not having a pipeline and not knowing where my next lead would come from. I was sick and tired of spending those thousands of dollars on Facebook ads that I my budget really couldn't sit in support. So that's step number one. What is your desire for it to be different? What do you desire to be different? And

spk_0:   8:30
that just really gives you that, like clarity so that, you know, like whatever strategy that you're going to be implementing, like there's a purpose behind it? I think that's one of the biggest struggles that are like not even a struggle. But like the problems and the issues that people run into when they're trying to, like, implement, like that shiny new strategy is they see the end result that someone's getting in teaching. But they don't see like what happened before that lead that person to finally going okay like this is something has to change. I've got to make a shift in how I'm showing up in booking, you know, booking these discovery calls in connecting with my ideal customers. So I love that your step one really just involves, like, really getting clear on the why behind the strategy before you dive into, like, the nitty gritty details of the strategy.

spk_1:   9:16
Yeah, it is so important. And you just had me thinking of this is kind of like a bonus piece to this, and it's so important for us women. What? I found that in order for us to get behind a desire, we have to see how it how it supports others number one and how it supports the world. Yeah, right, Because until we get that, it's kind of like Opal. Am I selfish to put this out there? Am I, you know, like So if you're able to get so clear as to why the thing that you can do like no one else supports others and the world you will be well on your way and angered in that. Why? I love that so much. All right, Step two. Step two. So when the desire is there and you believe that it can be different for you, then you can get into the actual practical action taking part of it, right? But the caveat is this? Taking action is one thing, whereas taking inspired action is completely different. I would put that on a bumper sticker if I could inspired action. Right. So these are the two questions that I asked myself when I was kind of in that in that just complete breakdown. Where is my soulmate gal hanging out? So whatever, whoever you serve, it could be men, women, whoever Where are these soulmate people hanging out? And when I say soul mate, I just mean, like the client that comes to mind that you would love to work with. And maybe if you don't have any clients yet just but with who do you, who really excites you at the thought of supporting? Right, So that's number one. And the second piece to this is do I hang out where she hangs out? Does that place inspire me? And why that is so important is because I see all the time we were trying to force platforms to work with us and and use this question for both offline and all online, right? I'm gonna use it for him to continue down the online path because that's what we're talking about. But I see all the time clients there Earth are seeing others show up in one place like Instagram. Let's just say, or Pinterest or wherever. And they're feeling like they have to show up and hang out there, too, because everyone else is. But here's the thing. You, your authenticity, your energy will be completely, completely different on that platform if it doesn't feel inspiring to you to be on. So if you know just because I love Instagram and find a lot of my leads on instagram, that might not work for you. So it's really important to get clear as to where your people are. And do you love hanging out where they're hanging out? Because then it just makes for a much more authentic conversation. Yeah,

spk_0:   12:09
I think, um, actually just was listening to, like, not for the life of me. Remember what I was actually listening to us. I feel like I listen to so many podcasts and all kinds of things, but basically just someone just saying like, just pick a platform like picked the platform. That will be easy for you to show up on consistently because really you confined people, no matter what platform you're on. For the most part, most of us can find the people were looking for on that platform because likely where we like to show up is likely. Where are other people that we want to help? Are showing up as well, right? So just pick a platform and focus on it. And stop trying to, like, be on all the different platforms. Because then you're just like, spreading your message so thin and it's going toe lack that consistency. Unless you have, like, a big team built up underneath of you who's able to do that for you. But I think the most important thing is like just pick somewhere that you know, that you could be consistent on

spk_1:   13:06
such a good point. I love that you said that because if we look at it, we're often are ideal client, right? So it makes a lot of sense that if wherever she is, we probably have some fun there, too, and, yeah, I love that. Yeah.

spk_0:   13:22
All right. So that is step two. So basically, find your ideal client and choose a platform that you want to connect with them on. So what is step number three. No, a friend. I'm gonna interrupt this episode really quick to ask you an important question. Are you prioritizing list building in your business? So hear me out. Instagram and Facebook are great tools for connecting with your audience, but those social media platforms are rented land, which is why it is so important to get your audience off of those platforms and onto your email list where you can reach them whenever you want. And I want to introduce you to my favorite email marketing software that allows you to build your email list and connect with your audience whenever you want. It is convert kit. So I've been using Convert Can't Sense 2016 after hopping around from one platform to the next, and I feel like I finally found my home. The thing I love most about Convert Kit is that they truly do it all. They listen to their members, and they've created such a powerful platform four creators and coaches to grow an audience and connect with their subscribers from pre built landing pages and thank you pages to full on sales funnels. It's thes central hub for all of your list building because I love converted so much, I've created a done for you. Visual automation, which is convert, gets fancy term for marketing funnel basically, and I'm giving you access to it for free. So if you are just getting started and what they done for you funnel template that you can literally pop straight into your converted account, then listen up. This visual automation includes every step you need to start collecting e mails and selling your offers. Inside the visual automation you'll find in landing page to start collecting leads from a lead magnet that you're promoting and then also a new subscriber welcome sequence that on boards and nurtures your new subscribers towards becoming customers. Everything is already done for you, the Lady Paige. Thank you, Paige and all of the e mails I tell you exactly what to include on your landing page and what to send in each of those e mails. So to get access to this free visual automation, just go to Amanda. Gunther dot com forward slash convert kit. But it's C o N v e r T k i t. And if you're not a current convert kit user, no worries. So they have a brand new free plan that allows you to build unlimited landing pages so that you can start growing your list without spending a single dime. So it's a great way to test the waters before diving all it. So whether you are a convert kit user or not, you can get access to this done for you visual automation again. All you have to do is go to Amanda gunther dot com forward slash convert kit. All right, let's get back to the episode. So what is Step number three? No

spk_1:   16:24
step three. What would be an easy yes for her right now? So what would be an easy yes for this ideal client in a way that aligns with your core business objective? Whether it's growing your list, getting people on the phone, here's where and with this here's where we're always leading with service, right? So what could I offer to her? To him, To my ideal person that will actually cause her to open her D M. Zoran box toe actually read my offer and breathe a sigh of relief because contrary to what most people are doing, trying to get something from you right. You're trying to give something to her to have. So this is really about playing the game of giving over getting, and this alone is gonna put you 10 steps ahead of people that are doing what you d'oh. And you're also going to to be so much more trustworthy and likable. So getting over, getting serving over spanning. Right. So just to give an example of how I did this, I really took the time to think about whenever I'm creating something. I always asked the question, and I'm just gonna call her out. What would Adele need or want? Now, Adele is a past client who I loved working with. She's my perfect avatar. And so my primary objective is getting people on the phone to serve that right. This is where I know that I could be of highest service. So knowing this and asking the question Well, what does a delve you're want right now? Well, I know that she wants connection. She wants support and high level feedback on her business. And I know that she's busy and doesn't have a lot of time. So in getting really clear on that, I came up with the idea of a 20 minute that I call it biz activator audits. This is the offer that I make two people. And, you know, this is where I get Thio to serve them in a really big way. And I am now offering this to all the prospects that I speak with if it makes sense for them and they absolutely love the calls And because I served them so deeply 50 to 75% of the time, the calls turn into a second call, which is a breakthrough session or a discovery call with me.

spk_0:   18:50
I love that. So with that, what did you call it? What was your specific name for it?

spk_1:   18:55
It's a 20 minute biz activator on it.

spk_0:   18:58
Okay, Awesome. How are you positioning that call? How are you, like, say, someone messages you and it's like basically telling you that they need help with, you know, expires E. And you're talking to them and just building that relationship. And then how do you actually been position that call to them? To make it an easy yes for them to get on the phone with you.

spk_1:   19:20
I leave with service. It is a gift to them. It is. So what I usually say is, hey, I have something really special I would love to offer you. I'm looking Thio interview, you know, exceptional female entrepreneurs who are playing a really big game. And I would love to invite you to have a the 15 to 20 minute call with me. I'm gonna ask you some powerful questions about your business, and it is truly in service to you. At the end of the call, I'll let you know if you like to go deeper, how we can book a second call, which is a 60 minute complimentary breakthrough session. If that's something that would serve you right now, and the feedback that I get is overwhelmingly positive because I think people are just so used to being spammed and sold in such a like, you know, a masculine type of way. This is really truly rooted in service,

spk_0:   20:13
right? Rather than just saying Well, here's how I work with people. Here's how much it costs. It's let's get on the phone. And of course, this is gonna be so you really have to understand, Like what you're selling like, What is that actual offer that you're selling in the end, because sometimes it's very clear whether or not someone needs to work with you or not. Right. If you're selling the service and someone needs a website, well, if your website designer you can do that right, but you have to make sure that they were the right person. So, like offering these these sort of discovery calls with them, it really puts them in a place to not only get to know you, but you get to know them. And it's not just they're deciding if they want to hire you but you. Also, it's putting you in the driver's seat to decide. Do you want to work with them as well? So yes, I think those discovery calls air so powerful for both sides.

spk_1:   21:02
Absolutely. It's such a powerful way to qualify the leads, and you're not spending a ton of time cause it's 15 to 20 minutes. But for them you're adding so much value, your helping them to get clarity, and you're also you're conducting market research At the same time, I send a structure my questions in a way that really helped me to understand my ideal people even more so you're able to kind of do a lot in this 20 minute time lock, which I love, because we're all busy, right?

spk_0:   21:31
I do love that, because it's Yeah, you kind of think you're kind of like I don't know, you kind of think about these calls is being I have to sell. My service is, but really, even if they don't end up booking, it just gives you more information about who your ideal customer is, what they're struggling with right now. And then that helps you do. Then turn around and you're on Instagram turn around and do a training on instagram That pinpoints exactly what that person that just got off the discovery call with you was struggling with so that you can then turn around, teach it and attract more of those people to yo, so love that so much. All right, so step for, then

spk_1:   22:10
step for create your hell. Yes, offer. And this can be another free or complementary service that you kind of add in as your quote unquote up cellar upgrade. Right. And so this is where I offer the breakthrough session. If it wasn't aligned fit on our 20 minutes session, and it feels really good to make that invitation. I have something that I can make really, really easily available for them to go even deeper with me and ascend up my value latter, my value letter. So what could that be for you and your business? And that's the key, right? It's your business, your rules. And yeah, I love to always be thinking about putting myself in her shoes. What would be the next best step for her now? And it just in a noble manner. Well, of course, it's to get on a discovery call and take Herbert into the process. And at the end of that process, we could work together. Maybe we don't. You know, I sent her back into the world upgraded just because just because of our conversation, I

spk_0:   23:21
love that so much. And you're you're connecting with those people regardless. And even if someone doesn't purchase you, of course you want you want to have a 100% close right on those calls, right? But even if someone doesn't decide to work with you right, then it doesn't mean that they're never gonna work with you, right? Like you. You continue nurturing them. You continue building that relationship with them. Maybe they don't know you enough. Maybe they're not in that right That right head space to understand the value that you provide as well. Like I know I've been in that situation so many times where, you know, like, two years ago, like the problem I had wasn't even on my radar. I didn't even know that I needed to hire this type of person. And then, like, present day, I'm like, Oh, if I would've just hired that person two years ago, like, you know, But you don't even know that you have that problem or that you need that sort of help. So it's not just ah, not right now. It's just not right now. So the never said not right now. So I absolutely love that. Anything else that you want to answer that

spk_1:   24:19
well, that just sparked Assad. And that's so true. And I have women that do you say I can't tell you how valuable this was. Thank you. Now isn't the time for me to work with a coach, but I know that I'll be looking for that at in about 3 to 4 months. I would love to circle back to this then, so I just put them on. My love him up list is what I title it. Just a plain old spreadsheet and I check back in with them in those 3 to 4 months. So yeah, it's it's It's a really powerful way, regardless, if there is, you know, conversion every time. But it's such a great way Thio to just continue to nurture people, which I think is often a really big missing part of what we d'oh and it's so important. So yeah, it could be scalable. And you can when you're at the position to bring on team members, they can take over this process for you. So there's so much that you can do with it.

spk_0:   25:17
I love that. So this is the strategy that you already have in place, and it's really kind of on autopilot now. Can you talk to us about what it actually looks like on a daily basis, like, what are those steps that you're doing? One of those actions that you're taking on a daily basis to result in like those 5 to 10 calls per week

spk_1:   25:35
Yeah. So what works really well for me is I lock time on my calendar every morning? I find that if I do, if I make my outreach is first thing, that's the best way for me to do it or else it doesn't get done. So in the morning I block 15 minutes, sometimes less. And that's where I really check in with people. And I prefer to do this on Instagram, and I'm just I'm looking at women that I've engaged with already. I'm checking their profiles out to see if there someone I'm inspired to reach out to, and then I send them a d. M. I love what Diaz can do as faras just engagement and building relationships. I think they're really underutilized. So that's where I choose to show up and hang out. And yeah, that's what I do. We just start. It's like a girlfriend Conversation. Hey, I have this thing. I would love to offer it to you. If it serves, you hear the details

spk_0:   26:34
awesome. And then you are sending them thio a booking link. I'm assuming for them to choose the time to work with you or to talk to you

spk_1:   26:42
No. I've found that it's best that we just figure out a time and date together right then and there inside. But yeah, you can absolutely throw in your link and have them schedule themselves.

spk_0:   26:54
Okay. Cool. And then, like, nitty gritty stuff, are you? How are you actually conducting these calls? Are you doing them on Zoom? Are you doing them on the phone? How are you actually doing those calls?

spk_1:   27:04
They tend to be phone calls. If their international will do an instagram video chat, they tend to be just a just a good old fashioned of her phone calls. So

spk_0:   27:16
weird. Like, I feel like I never see that anywhere. So we're I love that so much. Okay, so this is super helpful. And I think that this will give people a really good idea of just, like how simple can really be too create like a warm audience of people that wanna work with you. Like you don't have to go be spending lots of money on Facebook ads. I think the most important thing is to create a non organic funnel first before you go and spend money on ads. And then once you've created a really solid system that you have to like, get people on the phone with you. Then it's okay to go explore other ways to, like, build your audience. But I love that you are really just like putting in that 10 to 15 minutes every morning, talking to your people, loving up on them, building those relationships. And then when the time is right, then we invite them to, like, take that next step with us.

spk_1:   28:10
Absolutely. I just I just wanted to say I'm so my heart is full to share this. I'm not. This is the first time I've shared it anywhere. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to share it here first with your audience. Because, Amanda, I wish that I mean, I honestly spent an entire year, and I just I would love to help anyone avoid wasting the time, not wasting the time, But you know what I mean? Like the energy struggling meatless nights, the money, you already have your special gift. It's already it's already inside. All you need to do is start connecting with the people that you are just so excited to to serve and support.

spk_0:   28:50
Yeah, and that can feel really hard sometimes like I can feel really hard, like you're just like talking and nobody is listening or you're just like, where are these people? So it feels like once you finally figure it out, it's like, Okay, you know, this works that it's really it really? Is that simple to do? It's really just about showing up where your ideal customers already are and just coming from a place of service and then making sure that you're not just stopping there, making sure that you do take that step toe left them no and make them aware that you can help, because I think that a lot of people tend to shy away from that as well. Even if they do have those relationships and they know that they can help people, they tend to shy away from actually putting themselves out there and risking the know, risking them, the other person saying, No, that's not for me or no, I don't want to get on a call with you or whatever, but you have to put yourself out there and you have to put you have to make them aware that you can actually help them or they're never gonna, you know, become a kind your so totally yes, love that. All right, Stephanie, thank you so much for sharing this entire system with my audience here. Where can people find you online?

spk_1:   29:59
Yes, So I am. Stephanie has coaching everywhere. I love hanging out on instagram. So you come by and say hi. And I think we'll also link the 20 minute biz activator Audit is a don't notes if if it's something you just want to kind of come and experience for yourself. Totally. Book one and yeah, we'll meet you there.

spk_0:   30:18
Awesome. You can kind of see the whole the whole process for your with your own eyes. So I love that. All right. Thank you so much, Stephanie. Thank you, Amanda. Hey, I just wanted to say thank you really quick for sticking around and listening all the way till the end if you need them. We've got all the links for this episode in the show notes, which you confined over at Amanda gunther dot com, forward slash podcast. And if you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show so that you get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. And if you're an Apple user, I'd really appreciate it if you took a few seconds to leave a quick rating or review your reviews. How iTunes that this is a podcast worth listening to, which can help me and my guests reach more people and in turn, help more online businesses. So that's it for today. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode, but until then, it's time to get back to work and take some action.