ADI Akademie · Prospective-student funnel

The Nurture Funnel: Design, Mechanics & Case Study

4 Aug 2026 · Explainer for the ADI team. The technical build specification sits in the runbook brevo/ADI_Brevo_Automations_Runbook.html; the German edition of this document is nurture-funnel.de.html. Sources for all external figures at the end; the people in the case study are invented.

At a glance

1 · The whole picture

Four entry doors at the top, two email tracks in the middle, a clean ending at the bottom. Colours: long-term track · post-consultation track · seminar funnel · grey = no nurture mails.

ADI funnel overview Four entries lead into the study pipeline or the seminar funnel; two nurture tracks; an application stops the mails. Phone / emailentered by hand Website formwith scoring Books a slotCal.com Seminar purchaseWooCommerce Not ready yetstage: interest expressed Consultation bookedappointment mails only Seminar pipelineseparate deal funnel Long-term nurture5 mails over 6 months Consultation heldadvisor moves the deal After the seminarupsell · 7 mails books a slot ADI News listno automation Post-consult nurture5 mails up to the cohort Application submittednurture stops at once Enrolled / cancelledeverything stops

The entry doors in detail

DoorWhat happensWhere the person lands
Website form (also as a shared link)n8n scores the answers (industry, work experience, prior qualification, motivation) server-side and instantlyQualified → the booking widget appears right away · not ready yet → long-term track
Slot booked directly (Cal.com)Booking confirmation, deal moves to „Termin geplant“Quiet zone until the consultation
Phone / emailAn advisor creates the person and the deal by handTreated identically: the funnel reacts to the deal, wherever it came from
Seminar or webinar purchase (WooCommerce)Its own seminar funnel; the upsell track starts after attendanceBridge back: the upsell promotes the consultation
Direct application (side entrance)Anyone applying without a consultation enters straight at „Bewerbung eingereicht“Receives no nurture mails. This is why the funnel reacts to the stage change, not to the stage itself
Soft entries (newsletter, whitepaper)Contact only, no dealThey stay on the mailing list; only one of the real doors leads into the funnel

2 · The funnel in numbers: where leads are lost

Every level is a conversion step. On the right: why leads drop out there and which lever from section 7 addresses it. First number per level: today (benchmark) · second number: with the conversion layer · calculated per 100 qualified enquiries.

Funnel in numbers Funnel from 100 qualified enquiries down to enrolment, with drop-out reasons and levers per level. Qualified enquiries 100 −40 % never book → lever 1 wins them back Consultation booked 60 → 70 30–50 % no-shows → levers 2 + 3 Showed up 40 → 56 20 % apply (demo-to-close band) Application 8 → 11 ~75 % admitted Enrolled 6 → 8
More is lost between enquiry and consultation than on all the other levels combined. That is why the three most important levers act before the consultation.

3 · The principle: Pipedrive is the brain, Brevo the arm

Which track, which mail, when it ends: the deal stage in Pipedrive decides all of it. A daily n8n process (the „dispatcher“) reads every open study deal each morning, checks three things per deal and then sends through Brevo:

  1. Which track? Stage „Interesse geäußert“ (interest expressed) → long-term track · stage „Beratungstermin hat stattgefunden“ (consultation held) → post-consultation track · anything from „Bewerbung eingereicht“ (application submitted) onward → no mails.
  2. Is a mail due? Days since the stage change against the cadence plan; the closing mails hang on the date of the next intake.
  3. May we send? No send on a marketing objection or unsubscribe · no send if the advisor worked the deal within the last 7 days · never two nurture mails within 7 days.
For the team this means: the only steering lever is moving the deal, a move from the daily routine. Dragging it backwards stops the track just as reliably as winning or losing it. Leads captured by phone also have a deal; the same applies to them.

The journey as a swimlane: one lane per role

The advisor has to act at two points, no more. And during the consultation phase the system stays silent.

Journey swimlane Three lanes (lead, system, study advisor) across five phases from interest to application. INTEREST BOOKING CONSULTATION DECISION APPLICATION The lead The system n8n + Brevo Study advisor fills in the formor phones picks a slot,getsreminders talks toADI clears budgetand employer applies scores the lead,opens a deal,HOT mailsday 0 · 2 · 5 confirmation,T−24 h · T−1 h,no-showrecovery silent(quiet zone) N2/N3 mails,click alerts,employer kit stops allnurture mails calls hot leads(task) — runs the meeting,moves the dealforward calls on a signal,keeps in touch admission andonboarding

4 · The decision logic as a flowchart

The system decides every diamond on its own. Orange: the two rescue loops that do not exist today.

Decision logic Flowchart with four decision diamonds: qualified, books a slot, shows up, applies, including the HOT track and no-show recovery as return loops. Enquiry arrives Qualified? no Long-term track 5 mails over 6 months books later yes Books a slot? no HOT track mail now · day 2 · day 5 + call task books after all yes Quiet zone reminders T−24 h · T−1 h Shows up? no No-show recovery day 1 · day 3 then a call task rebooks yes Post-consult track 5 mails up to the cohort Hot signal click → call task Applies? not yet: track continues yes Nurture stops admissions process takes over

5 · The two tracks and their cadence

Post-consultation track

Starts when the advisor drags the deal to „Beratungstermin hat stattgefunden“. Contractual base cadence per the project handbook: day 3 · week 2 · month 1 · month 3 · month 6. Our proposal tightens the front (while the conversation is still warm) and pins the closer to the intake date:

consultation held
→
day 2*
Thanks + next steps
N1
→
day 10
Programme in detail
N2
→
day 25
Funding & questions
N3
→
day 60
Alumni voices
N4
→
cohort −6 wks
Secure your place
N5
→
END

* N1 is dropped when the advisor follows up personally; their mail beats any automated one (question 1 below).

Long-term track (not ready yet)

interest expressed
→
day 1
Let's stay in touch
LT1
→
month 1
Industry insights
LT2
→
month 2
Programme in focus
LT3
→
month 4
Alumni & events
LT4
→
cohort
Does it fit now?
LT5
→
mailing list

If the person books a consultation along the way, the post-consultation track takes over; only ever one runs. After LT5 the person stays on the ADI News list.

6 · The post-consultation track in detail: one answer per reason

After the consultation, prospects differ less in interest than in what blocks them. Five reasons cover almost every case. A single track for all five answers none of them properly.

Blocker, today's answer, the new answer Five typical blockers after the consultation. Today all five receive the same five mails; in the new design each blocker gets its own answer. THE BLOCKER TODAY NEW the same five mails for all five cases Ready to apply Checklist, deadline, then a call offer Employer has to approve it A case they can hand to their employer Funding open Funding routes, instalments and the option of starting with a single module Timing: later A place held in the next intake Unsure which programme A comparison and a lecture to try out The consultation reveals the reason. Today that information goes unused.

One dropdown does the routing

After the consultation the advisor sets one field on the deal, at the same moment they move the deal forward anyway. One click, six options. That is all the system needs to pick the right track.

If the field stays empty, the standard track from section 5 runs unchanged. The field speeds the funnel up; it is not a precondition for it.
Outcome of the consultationDay 2Day 7 to 10Day 14 to 21
Ready to applyChecklist and the concrete deadline„Any question still open?“Offer a call back
Employer has to approveA PDF case: benefit, funding, education leave, invoicing to the company„How did the conversation go? Shall I join?“Plan B if refused: single module, self-funding, funding schemes
Funding openFunding routes and instalmentsStart with one module, cost spread outThe employer contribution angle
Timing: later„We are holding your place in intake X“then quiet, the cohort loop takes over
Unsure which programmeDiplom, REE and SBM comparedSit in on a lecture or come to ADI TalksA graduate who started from the same place
Not interestednewsletter only, no nurture track

Reach: the difference that actually matters

A study decision often takes a year or longer, and ADI starts intakes only a few times a year. Today's five mails all sit before the first intake.

Reach today and new across 18 months Today all five mails fall in the first four months and nothing follows. The new track accompanies the lead across several intakes. intake intake intake today no further mail after this point new reason track before the intake before the intake before the intake Timeline of 18 months. Every dot is one mail.

When nothing moves for six weeks

Then the ask gets smaller instead of going silent. Every rung is an offer ADI runs anyway, so one more attendee costs close to nothing. And anyone who books a seminar moves into the seminar funnel, which feeds consultations back.

Descending offer ladder After the declined degree come four smaller offers with falling commitment: a single module, a seminar, guest attendance, ADI Talks. Degree just declined One module Step-by-Step Seminar in their own topic Guest seat one lecture ADI Talks free of charge Commitment falls, the contact stays.

The cohort loop: the funnel never ends

Anyone who has not booked by then does not drop out; they wait for the next intake. Between intakes they get newsletters and invitations, nothing else. Around every intake four touches run, and then the same loop begins for the intake after that.

Cohort loop Four touches around every intake: ten weeks before, six weeks before, three weeks before and at the start. Then the loop repeats for the next cohort. Every intake 10 weeks before the next cohort starts on X 6 weeks before deadline and what to hand in 3 weeks before last call, places filling up at the start not this time? Next one is Y Anyone who applies leaves the loop at once. Everyone else stays in contact until the next start.
Building this track needs two decisions from ADI: the outcome field after the consultation and approval for the single-module entry. Both sit as questions 8 and 9 in section 10.

7 · The conversion layer: what the best funnels add

The funnel above moves leads. How many of them arrive is decided elsewhere. Comparing it with the three funnel types it matches (premium consultation, university enrolment, B2B demo) produces six additions, sorted by impact:

#LeverWhy (benchmark)What gets built
1Speed on qualified leads without a slotContact within 5 minutes instead of 30 makes qualification 21 times more likely (MIT study). Today someone who abandons the booking falls into the slow long-term track.„Hot“ mini-track: booking mail immediately, reminder day 2, last nudge day 5, plus a call task for the advisor
2Show rate for the consultation30–50 % of booked B2B appointments collapse without countermeasures; reminders cut no-shows by ~28 %Before the consultation: a valuable reminder 24 h ahead („this is what we will discuss“, with name & photo) plus a short reminder 1 h ahead
3No-show recoveryA collapsed appointment is the warmest lost lead there isAppointment passed → friendly rebooking mail day 1, second nudge day 3, then a call task
4Employer approval (stage „Unternehmen hat zugestimmt“)The person is convinced, their employer is not: a B2B close. Good funnels equip the champion.„Case for your employer“: one mail with a PDF on benefit, funding and education leave, invoicing to the company, time commitment
5Report hot signals to a humanSomeone clicking „funding“ twice needs a phone callClick on funding or booking links → automatic call task the same day
6An intermediate step in the offerTop education funnels stagger commitment; going straight from reading to a degree application is a big jumpThe Gasthörerschaft (guest attendance) as a trial CTA in the alumni mails: „sit in on a lecture before you decide“

The value ladder: the missing intermediate step

Funnel designers draw the offer as a ladder of rising commitment. ADI owns every rung; nobody promotes the third one so far. Lever 6 puts it into the nurture mails.

Value ladder Four rungs of rising commitment: newsletter and whitepapers, webinar or seminar, guest attendance as the new trial rung, the degree programme as the core offer. Value and commitment rise Newsletter & whitepapers free · mailing list Webinar / seminar low price seminar funnel Guest attendance trial offer lever 6 · new in the funnel „sit in on a lecture before you decide“ Degree programme core offer Diplom · REE · SBM

The order follows a multiplication

After the first step every consultation funnel is a chain: qualified × booking rate × show rate × consultation→application × admission. Worked through with round example numbers:

100 → 8
today (illustrative): 100 qualified · 60 book · 40 show up · 20 % apply
100 → 11
with levers 1–3: 70 book · 56 show up · 20 % apply
≈ +40 %
more applications, without extra ad budget and without new copy

The percentages are industry benchmarks, not measurements. From month 1 the metrics in section 9 replace these assumptions with real data.

8 · Case study: three paths through the funnel

Three invented people; their path follows the designed system line by line.

Case A · Ms Berger, property manager: the ideal path with two rescues

Timeline case A 45 days from enquiry to enrolment: automated mails above the axis, human steps below it. HOT mail at 11:15 reminder T−24 h N2: programme in detail employer kit form · books that evening consultation → track starts call after click signal application enrolled 06 717 2124 3845 ● above: automated mails (number = day) · ● below: a person, the lead or the advisor
Wednesday, 10:42 · day 0

Ms Berger fills in the consultation form: 8 years of work experience, a commercial background, motivation „next career step“. The scoring rates her qualified and the booking widget appears. Her phone rings; she closes the tab without booking.

11:15 · rescue no. 1 (lever 1)

Without the conversion layer, a month of silence would follow. Instead this arrives: „Your consultation at ADI: pick a slot.“ That evening she clicks and books for next Thursday. Deal: „Termin geplant“. From now on she receives no promotional mail.

Wednesday · day 6

Reminder 24 h ahead: the three topics for the meeting, the advisor's name and photo, a rescheduling link (lever 2, the mail that lifts the show rate by a quarter).

Thursday · day 7

The consultation takes place. The advisor drags the deal to „Beratungstermin hat stattgefunden“; that one move starts the post-consultation track. They send their personal follow-up, so the automated thank-you mail is dropped (question 1).

Day 17

N2: „Diplom-Immobilienökonomin in detail“, personalised with her programme from the deal, salutation „Sehr geehrte Frau Berger“ (the salutation field carries a name on 54 % of contacts).

Day 21 · rescue no. 2 (lever 5)

She opens N2 three times and clicks twice on „funding and support“. The dispatcher creates a call task for the advisor. On the phone it turns out her real question is the employer subsidy. Because of that call, the 7-day rule holds back the next automated mail.

Day 24

Her employer reviews it. The deal moves to „Unternehmen hat zugestimmt“ → the employer case (lever 4) goes out: funding routes, education leave, invoicing to the company. Ms Berger forwards the PDF to her management.

Day 38

The company agrees. She applies through the application form → deal „Bewerbung eingereicht“. All nurture mails stop; from here the admissions process communicates.

Day 45

Admission, „Immatrikuliert“, won. She receives no further marketing mail, only intake information. Without the conversion layer this close would have failed twice: at the unbooked slot on day 0 and at the open funding question on day 21.

Case B · Mr Okafor, asset manager: the seminar bridge

Day 0

Books the „ESG reporting“ webinar in the shop and lands in the seminar funnel: confirmation, access details, attendance.

Day after the seminar

The upsell track starts: thanks and rating, on day 7 the bridge mail „from the seminar to a part-time degree“.

Day 12

He books a consultation out of that mail; from here the path of Ms Berger runs. In the overview this is the dashed bridge. The seminar funnel is the biggest feeder of prospective students.

Case C · Mr Weiss: the no-show who does not stay one

Day 0–6

Like Ms Berger: form, booking, reminders.

Day 7

A client appointment gets in the way and he does not appear. The deal stays on „Termin geplant“. Today nobody would notice.

Day 8 (lever 3)

„We missed you, here is your new booking link.“ No reproach, one click to rebook.

Day 10

Second nudge. He rebooks for day 15. Without the recovery ADI would have lost a lead who had already cleared the most expensive hurdle, the decision to book.

9 · How we measure success

MetricTarget corridor (benchmark)Where to read it
Form → booked consultation> 60 %Pipedrive report (stage 12→13)
Show rate for the consultation≥ 75–80 % (with reminders)Stage 13→14 against collapsed appointments
Consultation → application15–25 % (demo-to-close band)Stage 14→16
Mail engagement per trackOpens and clicks per mail, unsubscribe rate < 0.5 %Brevo statistics
No-show recovery rateevery case counts; baseline today: 0Recovery track
The project handbook requires both as acceptance criteria: the lead-to-consultation conversion has to be readable in standard Pipedrive reports, and the automatic stop on conversion or unsubscribe is proven by test.

10 · What we need from ADI

#QuestionDecides
1What happens after a consultation today? Does the advisor send a personal follow-up mail?Whether the automated thank-you mail exists or is dropped
2Who drags the deal to „Beratungstermin hat stattgefunden“, and how reliably?The starting signal of the post-consultation track
3Cohort calendar: next intakes and application deadlinesThe two most important mails (secure your place / does it fit now?)
4Sender: personal (the advisor) or a functional address?Sender and reply handling for all nurture mails
5Cadence sign-off (handbook baseline against the tightened proposal)The send intervals
6Final copy: 4 mails to write from scratch, 6 to adapt from existing ADI mailsNo go-live without real copy
7Can the Gasthörerschaft be promoted as a standing trial offer, and on what terms?The intermediate step of the conversion layer
8Will the advisors set an outcome field after every consultation? Six options, one click, at the same moment as the stage change.All the routing in section 6. Without the field the standard track runs
9May a single module be promoted as an entry point, and at what price? Same for the seminar cross-sell.The descending offer ladder in section 6

Sources & references