Catching up with ClickFunnels as it guides internet commerce

Want fries with that? If so, you’ve just used a funnel, a sales technique that made ClickFunnels one of the most successful companies in the U.S.

The five-year-old Eagle-based software company recently ranked 440 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately held small businesses in the U.S. with revenue of $94.6 million, more than 93,00 customers and a growth rate of 1,035%.

In fact, the company grew so quickly that it had to open a second office, in Boise. ClickFunnels now has 351 employees, with about 60 in Boise, including 34 developers.

So what is a funnel, anyway?

“Funnels” in the name refers to the sales funnel that helps a business owner generate a lead or sell something online, said Dave Woodward, chief revenue officer.

“The best way of looking at it is as a streamlined logical process to walk a buyer through a sale,” he explained.

He attributed the company’s success to its ease of use without having to glue pieces together.

One example of a funnel is the way Amazon tells shoppers that people who have bought one product will often buy a second product, or, in real time, when a person ordering at McDonald’s is asked whether they want fries and a soda as well.

“That’s typically how it works inside of ClickFunnels,” Woodward said. “It’s positioned in a way where they go step-by-step.”

When a customer buys a product, companies use ClickFunnels to help deliver the next logical thing the customer needs. A customer who buys a diet book could consequently get offered meal preparation, recipes or an exercise plan.

“It’s the next thing to accomplish their goal and their dream,” Woodward said.

How companies use funnels

ClickFunnels came about by developing funnels for its own products and then realizing there could be a market in the service. The hardest part was working with copywriters, design companies and graphic artists, Woodward said.

“It could take months to get your funnel up and running,” he said. “It got to the point where we were duplicating the same stuff every time, with different images and copy.”

After the company started developing its own funnels, “we realized everyone else wanted the same thing,” Woodward said.

ClickFunnels clients are often small businesses that market services, subscriptions and contents over the internet.

For example, Relationship Development of Boise uses the company’s services to run the organization, including getting web pages up quickly, said Stacey Martino, founder.

“It’s the engine behind our business to get all our pages in front of people,” she said.

The organization helps people improve relationships, typically romantic ones.

“We provide the tools and strategies to help transform any relationship they’re in and take it to the next level,” Martino said.

ClickFunnels helps the company find new clients.

“Most people don’t know this solution exists, and we were always looking for ways to meet more people,” she said. Her company now has clients in 65 countries and operates in the “multi-seven-figures,” she said.

Similarly, Natalie Hodson uses ClickFunnels to help her sell health and wellness ebooks.

“After I had my babies, I started a blog to keep me accountable with getting back in shape,” she said. “I had a lot of followers, but I wasn’t making a lot of money at it.”

Using ClickFunnels, Hodson’s most successful book — “Abs, Core, and Pelvic Floor” — made $1 million in four months and has served more than 100,000 women, she said. While she had tried other sites, ClickFunnels had a conversion rate about 400% better, she said.

ClickFunnels provides the software to support such companies, Woodward said. Clients can choose how much of the company’s platform and templates to support.

“Some people are using the platform just to generate a lead,” such as a dentist who wants to encourage someone to schedule an appointment by offering free cleaning or X-rays but uses texting or email to schedule the actual appointment, he said.