Sales Funnel Planning – How To Plan An Explosive Funnel

Last updated on October 18th, 2025 at 05:31 am

It’s probably safe to say that even a poorly-thought-out sales funnel is better than no sales funnel at all.

However, if you are serious about growing your online business, you do need to think things through.

So how can you plan an explosive sales funnel?

That’s exactly what we are going to discuss today…

Use the Value Ladder Sales Funnel

We believe that the best way to sell anything online is the Value Ladder sales funnel.

What is the Value Ladder Sales Funnel?

The Value Ladder sales funnel was created by our co-founder Russell Brunson – that’s what he used to take ClickFunnels from zero to $10M+ in annual revenue in just one year.

It has four stages:

1. Bait – You offer the potential customer a lead magnet in exchange for their email address.
2. Frontend – You offer the potential customer your least expensive and least valuable product or service.
3. Middle – You offer the customer a more expensive and more valuable product or service.
4. Backend – You offer the customer your most expensive and most valuable product or service.

Ideally, you also have a continuity program of some sort, meaning, a subscription product that generates recurring revenue.

Why is the Value Ladder Sales Funnel So Effective?

The reason why the Value Ladder sales funnel works so well is that it allows you to:

1. Start the relationship with that person by offering free value
2. Nurture that relationship by continuing to provide free value via email
3. Build trust by providing progressively more paid value at each stage

This is how human relationships work in general – you need to build trust before you ask for commitment. And the bigger the commitment, the more trust it requires.

Just like you wouldn’t ask someone to marry you on the first date, you shouldn’t ask a person who has just discovered your business today to buy your most expensive product. You haven’t built enough trust for that level of commitment yet. But the Value Ladder can help you get there eventually.

Here’s how Russell explains it:

Where Can You Learn More About the Value Ladder Sales Funnel?

Russell has written a best-selling book on using sales funnels to grow online businesses. And by “book”, we mean a real book, one that you can buy on Amazon.

Or you can get it for free on our DotCom Secrets website. All we ask is that you cover the shipping!

Get “DotCom Secrets” for FREE!

How to Plan Your Value Ladder Sales Funnel in 3 Easy Steps

We understand that the Value Ladder graph above might seem intimidating. What if you don’t have a lead magnet + three separate products + a continuity program??

Don’t worry, you can build a basic Value Ladder sales funnel with just the lead magnet, frontend offer, an upsell, and a downsell.

Step #1: Plan Your Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a freebie that you offer to potential customers in exchange for their email address.

It can be anything that they can either download to their device or access online:

• A report
• An eBook
• A webinar
• A video class
• An email course

…etc. 

What matters is that:

1. Your lead magnet offers a solution to a problem that the potential customer is struggling with.
2. That problem is either the same one or related to the problem that your frontend product addresses. 

You know how in supermarkets you sometimes see those stalls with free samples where you can try some food item and then buy it if you like it?

Well, ideally, your lead magnet should be a free sample of the value that the potential customer can expect from your frontend product. 

That way, not only it will serve as bait that gets people interested, it will also set up the stage for pitching your frontend product.

For Example:

Matthew Hussey, a world-renowned dating coach, has a lead magnet called “9 Magic Texts No Man Can Resist”. 

It’s a free guide that provides nine text message templates that women can copy-paste when texting guys they like.

Meanwhile, his frontend product,  “The Momentum Texts”, builds on that lead magnet by offering 67 more copy-paste text message scripts.

So if a woman finds the nine free text message scripts useful, she will likely be interested in checking out the paid scripts. See how there’s a seamless transition from the lead magnet to the paid product?

Step #2: Plan Your Frontend Offer

It’s important to understand that the purpose of the frontend product isn’t to make you loads of money, it’s to convert leads into paying customers. 

Consequently, you want to make it as easy as possible for the potential customer to buy it.

Here are some tips:

• Price your frontend product at $7 – This is the price point that isn’t low enough to make the person question the value of your product but also isn’t high enough to make them stop and think before buying it. 
• Make your frontend product valuable – There needs to be a steep increase in value when the person is transitioning from the lead magnet to the frontend product. It can’t be just a little more valuable, it needs to be way more valuable (e.g. Matthew Hussey goes from offering 9 free scripts to offering 67 paid scripts). 
• Offer a 30-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee – It might seem ridiculous given that it’s such an affordable product to begin with, but you want to completely remove financial risk.

The aim here is to create an irresistible frontend offer.

Here’s a helpful formula:

Low Price + High Value = Irresistible Offer

Note that your frontend product is particularly important because this is the first time that this person is handing over their hard-earned cash to you. It’s a leap of faith for them!

That’s why you need to exceed all expectations if you want them to be open to buying more products from you in the future.

Step #3: Plan Your Cross Sells, Upsells, and Downsells

You want to add cross sells, upsells, and downsells to your frontend offer because that will help you maximize your revenue. 

What is a Cross Sell?

A cross sell is an offer that is complementary to the offer that the potential customer has already accepted. 

For Example:

You know how if you buy a burger at McDonald’s, they ask you “Would you like fries with that?”

That’s a classic example of a cross sell – burgers and fries go well together, so if a person is buying a burger, they are likely to say yes to fries. 

If you already have a product line, figure out which product would complement your frontend product, then add it to your sales funnel as a cross sell. 

However, if all you have at the moment is your frontend offer, then don’t worry about cross selling for now.

What is an Upsell?

An upsell is an upgrade on the offer that the potential customer has already accepted. 

For Example:

You have probably heard of the infamous McDonald’s upsell “Would you like to supersize that?”. 

The fast-food chain doesn’t use this upsell anymore but it remains the classic upsell example. 

You want to find a way to offer people an upgraded version of your frontend product.

For Physical Products:

You can increase the product’s size, increase its quantity, offer a subscription deal, etc.

For Digital Products:

You can add different formats (e.g. an audiobook version), exclusive content (e.g. behind the scenes videos, interviews, AMAs), helpful resources (e.g. a 30-day meal plan), etc.

Upsells are one of the easiest ways to increase your revenue. When a person has already decided to buy your frontend product, they are more likely to be receptive to upgrading it. This is especially true if the upsell only costs a few bucks.

What is a Downsell?

A downsell is a downgrade on an offer that the potential customer has rejected. 

For Example:

If you go to a car dealership to buy a car, the salesperson will probably start by pitching you the most expensive one that they think you can afford. 

Then, if you reject that initial offer, they will show you a more affordable car in hopes that you will at least buy that one. 

You want to create a downsell for your frontend product. 

This is somewhat tricky since the initial offer is priced at $7, so you need to come up with something that you can sell for just a few bucks. Just don’t discount the frontend offer itself – a downsell needs to be a separate product!

Downgrading the format might be a helpful approach here. Say, if your frontend offer is a video course, you could offer a related ebook as a downsell. 

Remember, as we have discussed previously, the purpose of the frontend product is to convert leads into paying customers. 

So if a $3 downsell can help you do that, then creating one is worth the effort. 

Want Russell to Show You How to Build Your First Sales Funnel?

Let’s keep it real:

Building a sales funnel from scratch can seem like a daunting task.

That’s why we created our 5 Day Challenge where Russell walks you through it step-by-step.

You will learn how to:

• Generate unlimited leads
• Create your first lead magnet
• Build your first sales funnel
• Create a simple 6-email follow-up sequence
• And launch your funnel

…in just five days!

So don’t hesitate.

Join our 5 Day Challenge today. It’s completely free!