9 Sales Funnel Types Explained — and How to Pick the One That Fits Where You Are
Squeeze pages, summits, challenges, webinars, VSLs — there are 9 funnel types and most people pick the wrong one for their stage. Here's the cheat sheet.
Every time a new client comes to me asking which funnel they should build, I ask them one question first: how much money are you trying to charge?
Because here's the truth — most people pick the wrong funnel for their stage. The ClickFunnels team just published a deep breakdown of the 9 main funnel types, and I want to walk you through them with my own take on when each one actually makes sense.
For context: I'm a Gold Certified Funnel Builder, and I've sold over $100K in funnels to people just like you starting out. So I've seen which ones work at which stages — and which ones are flat-out wasted effort if you're not ready.
The 9 funnel types
1. Squeeze Page Funnel — Single page that collects emails for a free resource. The starting point for anyone with no email list yet.
2. Survey Funnel — Routes prospects to customized pages based on their answers. Best when you serve multiple customer segments and need to qualify.
3. Summit Funnel — Virtual event with 15-30 expert interviews. Effective for fast list-building in competitive markets — and the partnerships you build along the way are honestly worth more than the leads.
4. Book Funnel / Free-Plus-Shipping — Physical product where the customer just pays shipping. Ideal for info product creators and coaches who want a real buyer list.
5. Cart Funnel — Ecommerce-focused with upsells. Designed for physical product businesses.
6. Challenge Funnel — A 5-30 day engagement program. Builds trust before a higher-ticket pitch. This one is criminally underused.
7. Webinar Funnel — A 45-90 minute presentation selling something in the $200-$2,000 range. ClickFunnels' primary revenue driver — and not by accident.
8. Video Sales Letter (VSL) — A long-form video with a buy button. Works for $47-$497 products that need demonstration.
9. Application Funnel — Qualification process for $3,000+ offers. Positions the prospect as an applicant, not a buyer.
How to actually pick one
The ClickFunnels article gives a clean rule of thumb that maps the funnel to your offer's price point. Here's how I'd apply it:
- No email list yet? Start with a squeeze page. Get 100 people on a list. Then sell something.
- List exists, no buyers yet? Run a low-ticket funnel — book funnel or free-plus-shipping. The goal is converting subscribers into buyers, not maximizing revenue.
- Selling under $200? Book funnel or cart funnel.
- Selling $200-$2,000? Webinar or VSL. This is the sweet spot for most coaches and consultants.
- Selling $3,000+? Application funnel. Don't try to close a $3,000 sale on a webinar — let people raise their hand and qualify.
What I'd add from my own experience
A few things the article doesn't fully spell out that I've learned the hard way:
Squeeze pages are the most underrated funnel. People skip past them because they feel "too simple." That's exactly why they convert. One field. One offer. One outcome. If I were starting over, I'd build the squeeze page on day one and not worry about anything else for two weeks. (My take: skip the website entirely — build a strategic funnel instead. A funnel sends people somewhere with a job. A website sends them everywhere with no job.)
Webinar funnels are misunderstood. The mistake everyone makes is treating the webinar like a sales pitch. The good ones are 80% teaching, 20% offer. If your webinar is missing the teaching layer, your conversions are going to be brutal — and you'll blame the funnel when the real issue is the content.
Application funnels work because they flip the dynamic. Instead of you chasing the buyer, the buyer applies for the right to work with you. If you're charging premium prices, this is non-negotiable.
Where to actually build these
I use ClickFunnels for every one of these — full disclosure, I'm a ClickFunnels ambassador. Reason I use it isn't loyalty: it's the same platform I can deploy any of these 9 funnel types in without rebuilding my stack. The webinar funnel I run today uses the same tools as the squeeze page I built two years ago.
If you're stuck choosing a funnel type because the platform you're on only supports two of them — that's the bigger problem. Solve that first.
The Bottom Line
Most people pick a funnel type before they've thought about their price point or stage. That's why most funnels fail. Match the funnel to the offer, build the smallest version first, and iterate. If you're under $200, start with a squeeze and book funnel combo. If you're over $3,000, build the application funnel today. Everything else is a distraction.