Why your funnel isn’t converting — and why it’s almost never a traffic or price problem

There’s a pattern I see all the time when working with established coaches.

They have amazing testimonials, a really clear offer that gets people results, and the expertise to back it up. But their funnels are only converting at 1-2%.

Now what I’m seeing in the industry is a lot of, “oh that’s normal, that’s what you can expect from a funnel going to cold traffic”, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

So instead of fixing the underlying problem, they just work on increasing traffic to the funnel. They layer tactic upon tactic on top in the hopes of making more sales. Bigger launches. More ad spend. More effort.

But that’s a recipe for burnout.

The problem: a market-messaging disconnect

After doing thousands of copy and funnel reviews for coaches, I noticed that most conversion problems were just messaging problems in disguise.

And when we fixed the underlying problem, everything started to convert better – the sales page, the emails, the funnel, everything. Without adding increasing the amount of traffic to the offer or dropping thier prices.

This messaging disconnect usually shows up in three ways:

1. The messaging is inconsistent
2. The messaging isn’t speaking to the right buyer
3. The messaging isn’t speaking to the real problem

Let me break down what each of these actually looks like.

Problem #1: The messaging is inconsistent

Here’s what this looks like: at the front of your funnel, you’re speaking to a beginner. Maybe that’s in your lead magnet, your webinar, or even in how you’re positioning your front-end offer — you’re solving a beginner problem.

Then, in the next part of the funnel, you shift. Now you’re talking to someone who’s a bit further along.

Then, in your email sequence, you swing back to beginner language again.

The messaging isn’t consistent. People get confused about whether this is actually for them or not. And that confusion is subconscious. They don’t consciously think “hmm, this messaging is all over the place.” They just don’t buy.

And this is a super tricky problem to diagnose because you can’t see “messaging inconsistency” in your analytics. All you know is that your conversion rates aren’t matching the effort you’re putting into your launches, your funnels, everything.

This is where it’s really helpful to get a messaging strategist to look at your funnel from top to bottom. When I do a messaging audit, these are some of the first things I look at: Is the messaging consistent throughout? Does the offer actually fit the type of person you’re talking to in the copy? And most importantly, is this funnel going to attract the right kind of person who will eventually buy your more premium offers further down the line?

Problem #2: The messaging isn’t speaking to the right buyer

This is a messaging mismatch between the level of client you want to attract and the one you’re actually speaking to.

This can look like using beginner language, but your price point says “this is for established entrepreneurs” — because beginners can only afford a certain price point when they’re not bringing in consistent clients.

Or you’re focused on solving beginner problems with your offer – make more money, get consistent clients, grow your email list. But you’re actually trying to attract more established business owners who are interested in scaling, hiring and managing a team, or struggling with work-life balance.

Whatever level of client you want to attract, you need to know exactly what they’re struggling with and then create your offers and content around those problems.

Problem #3: The messaging isn’t speaking to the problem THEY think they have

This one is really common. As the expert, you know your client has this specific problem that you can solve for them, but oftentimes, your solution isn’t the one they’re ready for yet.

Your buyer thinks the problem is X. But you’re talking about problem Y — something deeper, something they haven’t even realized is a problem yet.

Here’s an example using a weight loss coach: Sarah, the weight loss coach, knows the real reason her ideal client can’t lose weight is that they’re an emotional eater. So they structure their offers and content around mindset.

But 80% of Sarah’s ideal clients don’t actually even realise they have a mindset problem. They think they dont have enough time, or it’s their age, or its because they dont have the willpower to be consistent.

Since they don’t recognize mindset as their issue, they won’t buy. Because from where they’re standing, you’re not actually solving the problem they have.

This is why you need to meet them where they are. Speak to the problem they recognize first. That’s what gets them to buy. And once they’re in, you can actually solve the real underlying problem.

How to increase your conversions without more traffic

All these problems go away when you create message-market fit.

I’m not talking about going back to basics and filling out another ideal client avatar worksheet. You’re an established coach, you know your clients deeply, you’ve worked with them, and gotten them results.

The issue isn’t that you don’t understand your ideal client. It’s about taking what you know and then refining your positioning, your messaging, and your customer journey using that knowledge.

This isn’t starting from scratch; this is about making small tweaks that make a huge impact.

Knowing your clients and knowing how to use that knowledge to create cohesive marketing are two very different skill sets.

You can understand someone’s deepest struggles, their breakthrough moments, what happens after they work with you — and still struggle to translate that into funnels and copy that actually convert.

Because messaging is about so much more than just knowing your audience.

It’s about:

Strategic positioning

How you frame your offer in the marketplace to make it the obvious choice for your specific target audience.

1. Where does your offer sit in the market?

• Are you the premium option? The accessible option? The unconventional option?
• Are you positioning yourself as different from the “industry standard” approach?
• What are you positioning yourself against? (Like how you position against coaches who layer tactics on poor foundations)

2. Who is this for and who is it NOT for?

• Being specific about the level of client you serve (established vs. beginner)
• Defining the situation they’re in when they need this
• Making it clear who this won’t work for (filters)

3. What specific problem does this solve and why is your approach the right one?

• Not just “I help coaches with messaging” but “I fix the messaging foundations that coaches skip so their funnels actually convert”
• Your unique methodology or framework (like “copy conditioning”)
• Your stance or opinion on how this should be done differently

Buyer psychology

Understanding how people make purchasing decisions in the moment they’re deciding whether to buy.

Things like:

• What specific objections come up when they’re looking at your offer (price, timing, “is this really for me?”)
• What actually triggers them to take action vs. keep thinking about it
• What makes them trust a solution enough to invest
• How they justify the purchase to themselves (or a spouse/business partner)
• What fears or doubts stop them from buying, even when they know they need help

Market awareness

Knowing where someone is in their overall awareness of the problem and potential solutions. Are they problem aware, solution aware, or product aware? And does that affect the way you build out your funnel and write your copy?

Most established coaches miss this gap because they assume that because they know their ideal client, they automatically know how to market to them.

But there’s a difference between understanding someone as a client and knowing how to speak to them as a buyer. And that gap is what’s holding you back from moving past industry-standard conversion rates.

When you fix the messaging, your conversions increase without changing the offer or how many people are seeing it. You start attracting higher-quality clients who are easier to work with. Your entire funnel — your emails, your ads, your launches — all work harder because people see clearly that this offer is for them in their specific situation and solves their specific problem.

Why you need an outside perspective to fix this

Messaging problems are almost impossible to self-diagnose.

All you know is that industry-standard conversion rates are pretty shit, and you know your offer deserves better.

Here’s how an expert messaging strategist can help you:

Spot the gaps you’re close to see

If you’re still writing your own copy (or even if you’ve hired a copywriter who is more of an order-taker), you’re working from a place of total familiarity. You know what you mean. You know the context. You’ve seen the transformation your offer creates dozens of times.

So when you write something like “I help coaches scale their business,” it feels clear and specific to you. You know exactly what that means, how you do it differently, what the process looks like.

But to someone reading your sales page it’s vague AF.

Understand where your traffic is actually coming from and write accordingly

One of the biggest mistakes I see is coaches (and copywriters) not accounting for how warm their traffic actually is.

If you’re really present on Instagram and email, and most of your traffic is coming from your warm audience — people who already know you, trust you, and follow your content — you probably don’t need paragraphs of setup at the top of your sales page. You can get straight to the offer faster.

But if most of your traffic is coming from ads, or you’re driving cold traffic to your page, those people need more education and warming up before you hit them with what’s included and the price point.

Most coaches write their sales pages as if everyone landing on the page has the same level of familiarity with them. They don’t.

A messaging strategist looks at where your traffic is actually coming from, how warm they are, and what they already know about you — then structures the copy to match. That’s the difference between copy that converts and copy that confuses people or loses them halfway through.

Tell you where you could be bolder

Most established coaches don’t realize where their messaging is playing it too safe.

You might think you’re being clear about your positioning, but really you’re blending in with everyone else in your space. You’re not being opinionated enough about what you don’t like in your industry! You’re not taking a stance. That’s what makes you stand out.

You need someone outside your business to tell you where you could be more specific, more direct, more bold about what makes your approach different.

Identify the gold you don’t see

Most coaches have incredible stories, unique methodologies, and distinctive approaches that they completely undervalue.

You don’t recognize what’s valuable in your own experience because it feels normal to you. You think everyone knows this stuff or does it this way.

A messaging strategist pulls that out. They spot the stories that you’re sitting on (the ones that will instantly connect with your audience) and help you use them strategically in a way that actually makes a difference to your conversions.

Translate your expertise into buyer language

You know your methodology inside and out. You can teach it for hours. But getting it down on paper in a way that actually makes your audience lean in and want to buy is a completely different skill.

A messaging strategist bridges that gap. They take what you know and translate it into words that speak directly to buyers at the exact moment they’re making a purchasing decision.

I use what I call an “offer story” for this. There’s already a story playing in your audience’s head about why they’re stuck and why they haven’t been able to solve this problem yet. An offer story positions your offer as the solution to that story.

My job is to connect the story in their head with the story on your sales page. That’s when things click for people, and they buy.

Luckily, this is all fixable

You’re right to want more than industry-standard conversion rates when you have an amazing offer that gets results.

The gap between where you are and where you should be is market-message fit. But the good news is it’s completely fixable. And it doesn’t require rebuilding your entire funnel or changing your offer.

It requires a messaging strategist who’s done this thousands of times and knows exactly what patterns tank conversions for established coaches.

Someone who can diagnose the specific messaging gaps in your funnel, identify where your positioning is off, and fix the foundations so everything converts better.

Let’s fix your messaging

If you’re ready to stop accepting industry-standard conversion rates and start getting results that actually match the quality of your offer, let’s talk.

Book a call, and we’ll look at your funnel, identify where the messaging gaps are, and map out exactly what needs to change to get your conversions where they should be.