Dave Woodward Discusses The Key Factors To ClickFunnels’ Success
ClickFunnels is one of the most promising SaaS companies in the world.
Since its launch in September 2014, this completely self-funded startup has grown to $100+ million in annual revenue.
Today Dave Woodward, the CEO of ClickFunnels, will shed light on the key factors behind the company’s success.
Want to know what enabled ClickFunnels to grow so explosively?
Continue reading…
#1 Building a Great Product
It all started when Todd Dickerson, the technical co-founder of ClickFunnels, saw that LeadPages had raised $5 million in venture capital.
He went to the marketing genius Russell Brunson, the other co-founder of ClickFunnels, and suggested the idea of building software that could do everything LeadPages did, just better.
They started brainstorming. At first, they were thinking about creating a landing page builder, but then they realized that they could offer much more. They could make software that allowed people to build an entire sales funnel.
“At the time, building a sales funnel was a tedious process that required substantial technical expertise.
This meant that for the average small to medium size business owner, sales funnels were out of reach.
That’s why what Todd and Russell created was revolutionary. ClickFunnels allowed a regular person to build their own sales funnels,” explains Dave.
#2 Market That Product Like Crazy
The ClickFunnels team knew that they had the best product on the market.
But they made the mistake of assuming that this was enough. Build it and they will come, right?
Well…
“It didn’t happen,” laughs Dave.
They quickly realized that if they wanted to grow the company, they needed to relentlessly promote their product.
So that’s what they did. Russell Brunson aimed to do 5-7 webinars per week. Sometimes he’d even do 2-3 webinars per day.
On top of that, he attended various live events, where he would get on stage and sell ClickFunnels.
“Whether it was a webinar or live event, Russell would typically close 20% – 30% of attendees, so it became a numbers game for us.
We knew that if we wanted an X number of users, we would need to do Y number of webinars and live events,” recalls Dave.
And it paid off.
One year after launch, ClickFunnels had 10,000+ users and was generating $10 million in annual revenue.
#3 Providing Educational Resources
Dave understands the importance of decreasing churn (customers who cancel or don’t renew a subscription).
“We have realized that for a SaaS company, one of the biggest issues that you have to deal with is churn, so we are always looking for ways to decrease it.
And the best way to decrease churn is to make sure that our customers have the greatest amount of success as fast as possible.”
That’s why ClickFunnels offer their users a ton of educational resources.
Some of that training is free, some of it is paid.
But it all has one purpose:
To empower their customers to succeed in business.
After all, when ClickFunnels users experience success, they are likely to continue using the platform. And why wouldn’t they? It’s making them money!
#4 Building an Engaged Community
Todd Dickerson and Russell Brunson didn’t just create sales funnel software. They also built a loyal, engaged, and supportive community.
Dave explains that this was intentional.
For example, when someone signs up for ClickFunnels free trial, they offer to send that person a free “Funnel Hacker” t-shirt.
“We want people to get involved” explains Dave.
He shares that the CEO he looks up to most is Steve Jobs.
“There are countless mobile phones out there, but there’s only one iPhone, right? Apple has a cult following.
And that’s what we wanted for ClickFunnels. We used to joke that our aim was to create a cult following. And we did!”
Dave emphasizes that the culture they have created was incredibly important to the company’s success.
#5 Focusing on Customer Success
“We are extremely passionate about helping small to medium size business owners realize their entrepreneurial dreams,” explains Dave.
This focus on customer success guides them in everything they do, from product development to educational endeavors to marketing.
They continue to ask themselves:
- How can we make the product even better?
- How can we empower our users to make the most out of it?
- How can we reach more entrepreneurs who could benefit from our software?
They don’t want to just provide the best software.
They also want to provide the best training, resources, and tools.
In other words, the ClickFunnels team aims to give their customers everything they need to succeed in business.
And it’s working. The company has created the Two Comma Club which gives out a 2CC Award to people who have generated over $1 million inside their ClickFunnels sales funnels.
737 people have received this award so far, 263 of them just last year.
It’s worth noting that in all likelihood even more people have crossed the seven-figure mark with the help of ClickFunnels software.
That’s because customers often use it to generate leads, but then close sales outside of it (in person, via email, via Skype, etc.).
So the number of people who have generated over $1 million using the platform is almost certainly higher than 737.
And this is why the ClickFunnels team finds meaning in their work. They aren’t just selling software, they are helping people change their lives.
“We really want our customers to succeed.
We want them to grow their businesses. We want them to make money. We want them to realize their dreams.
That is what gets us out of bed in the morning,” shares Dave.
Conclusion
It’s tempting to look for tips, tricks, and hacks.
But the truth is that there are no shortcuts to building a sustainable business.
You have to:
- Create a great product.
- Be relentless about marketing it.
- Build not just a customer base, but an engaged community.
Most importantly, you need to put the customer first, which means doing everything in your power to help them succeed.
That’s the way to go if you want to build a company that changes the world…
Or at least the lives of its founders, employees, and customers.
