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What is a sales funnel?

In short

A sales funnel is the route a potential client travels from their first encounter with you to the purchase. At every step some drop out, which is why it has the shape of a funnel.

Also known as: salesfunnel, marketing funnel, funnel, conversion funnel, sales pipeline.

A sales funnel is the path from stranger to client. We prefer to call it the room: who comes in, who stays seated, and who walks out with a purchase?

Why a sales funnel matters

Without a view of your funnel, you don’t know where it leaks. You think you need more reach, when the problem might be people who sign up and never come. Or a call that never gets booked. Pouring more water into a leaky bucket doesn’t help.

How a sales funnel works

For an expert who sells through knowledge, the funnel looks like this. We call it the Sold-Out Recipe:

  1. Dough: a crystal-clear offer. What does someone buy at the end of the funnel?
  2. Rise: bring people in, with a webinar, masterclass, lead magnet, email, LinkedIn or ads.
  3. Oven: make sure registrants actually turn up and stay warm.
  4. Counter: make the offer and follow up until it’s a yes or a no.

Per step you count one number: sign-ups, viewers, conversations, clients. Where the number drops the hardest, that’s your leak.

Where it goes wrong

Most funnels are built from the top down. First ads, then a landing page, and the offer will come later. That’s baking without a recipe. You attract people who have nowhere to go.

The second classic leak is at the bottom: no follow-up. Someone is keen, asks for information, and then hears nothing for a week.

The OMB view

Build your funnel from the bottom up. Start with the offer and the follow-up, and only then with filling it. A full room is the start, not the finish. Don’t know where your funnel leaks? The leak test shows you in three minutes, step by step.

Explained by Rubin Koot, Online Marketing Bakery. Updated 13 October 2026.

In the Sold-Out Recipe

Sales funnel belongs to Rise: filling the room. This is how the recipe works. Together the four steps make up event marketing the way we do it: a full room that also buys.

Related terms

Further reading

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Questions

Questions about sales funnel.

What is the difference between a sales funnel and a marketing funnel?
In practice they're used interchangeably. Strictly speaking, the marketing funnel is about creating attention and interest, and the sales funnel is about the stretch from lead to client. For an expert it's one route: whoever doesn't get as far as a conversation delivers nothing.
What steps does a sales funnel consist of?
The classic breakdown is awareness, interest, consideration and purchase. At OMB we break it down by what you have to do: a clear offer, fill the room, make sure people turn up, and make the offer and follow up.
Do you need a sales funnel as a coach or consultant?
You already have one, even if you never call it that. Everyone who ever became a client travelled a route. The only question is whether you know where people drop off along that route.
What is a webinar funnel?
A sales funnel in which a webinar or masterclass is the central step. People sign up, watch, get an offer and are then followed up until a call or a purchase.

Your next event deserves a room that buys.

Book a one-hour baker's chat. We figure out where your room leaks. If it's not for you, we'll tell you.

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You talk directly to Rubin, the head baker.