- A sales funnel is a tool used to track leads as they move from buyers to customers.
- By analyzing the sales funnel, you can improve your sales and marketing efforts.
- The sales funnel has three sections: top, middle, and bottom (or high, middle, and low).
- This article is for small businesses looking to improve their sales and marketing strategies.
Whether it is a physical or online business, you need to create a sales funnel to attract visitors and convert them into customers. The main purpose of your sales funnel is to take people through the different stages of the sales process so that they are ready to buy your products or services.
What is a sales funnel?
A sales funnel describes the steps a person takes on their way to becoming your customer. It consists of three parts:
- The top of the funnel is the marketing that brings leads to your business (such as advertising in your storefront or on the landing page of your website).
- Mid-funnel includes all parts of the pre-sale process (for example, people trying on clothes in your store or website visitors reading the benefits of your products).
- The bottom of the funnel is the final purchase (for example, shoppers paying for clothes to shop or website visitors entering their credit card details to complete a purchase).
Key takeaway: The sales funnel shows where a person is in the buying journey, whether they're new to your brand or a brand loyal customer.
The importance of the sales funnel
The sales funnel shows the path your customers take to purchase your product or service. A funnel analysis will help you understand how it works and where it doesn't work. It will also help you identify gaps at different stages of the sales funnel (eg, where customers leave and don't convert).
Understanding the sales funnel will help you influence how leads move and whether they convert into buyers. It will also give you insight into what customers are thinking and doing at each stage of the sales funnel, so you can invest in marketing activities that generate more leads, develop more relevant messages and convert more leads at each stage of the sales funnel. . Payments clients
The key: A clear understanding of your sales funnel is essential to understanding your customers' buying path, identifying gaps in the process and investing in the most effective marketing strategies.
4 stages of the sales funnel
Prospects go through four stages of the sales funnel: from the time they first hear about your product or service to the time they buy (or don't buy) your product or service. The four stages reflect the mindset of the point of view, and each stage requires a different approach to messaging. There are four steps you can remember using the AIDA acronym:
- Awareness
- interest
- the solution
- an act
Awareness
The first stage of the sales funnel is awareness. This is the first time someone has heard of your product or service. They can develop this awareness by seeing your ad, learning about your brand on social media, or hearing testimonials from friends or family. Or a potential customer might discover your business by doing a Google search that brought up your company's website, seeing one of your ads, or reading your blog.
When the time is right, a potential customer can become a customer by clicking on the link and purchasing your product. However, you are much more likely to convince a potential customer to visit your store or website or contact you by phone or email to do business with you.
interest
The second stage of the sales funnel is interest. At this point, the potential customer has known your company, brand, products or services and decided to rate them according to his level of interest.
At this point, you need to post great content that informs and educates potential customers, but doesn't overtly sell. If you become pushy or hostile in your sales approach at this point, you can turn the prospect off and force them away. Your content should showcase your expertise and help the potential customer make an informed decision.
the solution
The third stage of the sales funnel is decision making. Now the customer is ready to buy and can explore many options before buying. They will then compare prices, packages, and other factors to find the best option for them.
At this point, you should make your best offer. For example, you can offer free shipping, a discount code, or an additional product when ordering. The key is to make a compelling offer so that a potential customer will want to choose your offer. Your content can help a potential customer make a decision. Sales pages, webinars, or phone calls can all help convert a potential customer into a buyer.
an act
The final stage of the sales funnel is the action. A potential customer becomes a customer by purchasing your product or service (or decides to leave without making a purchase). When a customer makes a purchase, they become part of your business ecosystem.
Although the sale is completed, the process never ends. Your goal is to retain customers for current or future purchases. Your content should boost customer loyalty. For example, thank the customer for their purchase, ask for a review, provide post-purchase support, invite them to sign up for your newsletter or sign up for a rewards program.
The key: The four stages of the sales funnel are awareness, interest, decision, and action. Use these steps to improve your sales funnel and convert leads into customers.
How to build a sales funnel
Creating a sales funnel is critical to moving a prospect from initial contact to final sale. You can then track levels of behavior and engagement at each stage to see where the lead is in the sales funnel and how it performs.
There are many ways to create a sales funnel, and different companies and industries have different types of sales funnels. Follow these steps to create a sales funnel for your business:
1. Create a landing page.
A landing page is often the first opportunity a potential customer will have to learn about your business, products, and services. Users reach your landing page in a number of ways; They can click on an ad or link on a social media page, download an e-book, or sign up for a webinar.
Your landing page should clearly describe your company and the unique benefits of your product or service. Your landing page may be your only chance to impress potential customers, so your copy needs to be strong and persuasive. It should also include a way to obtain a prospect's contact information so you can continue to communicate your value to them.
2. Offer something of value.
To get a potential customer to give you their email address, you need to give them something in return. For example, you can offer a free e-book or document with useful and educational content.
3. Develop perspective.
Now that the potential customer is interested enough to provide their email address, back them up with content telling them about your product or service. You want to be in touch with them regularly (once or twice a week), but not so often that you get bored or stop playing all the content. Ensure that the content meets basic needs and overcomes any potential objections.
4. Close the deal.
Make the best offer—one that's hard for a prospect to ignore or refuse—to close the deal. For example, you can offer a product demo, free trial, or a special discount code.
5. Continue the process.
At this point in the sales funnel, the prospect has either converted into a customer or decided not to make a purchase. Regardless, you should continue the process of networking and building relationships.
Once a potential customer becomes your customer, continue to build relationships by telling them about your products or services, regularly participating in the loyalty process, and providing excellent service to keep customers loyal. If the potential customer hasn't made a purchase, keep in touch with them via email. Continue to convert customers with a variety of email support sequences.
6. Improve your sales funnel.
Even if you create a sales funnel, your work will never be done. You must be constantly looking to optimize and improve your sales funnel and identify where you are losing customers. Focus on the areas where potential customers flow from one stage of the sales funnel to the next.
Start at the top of the funnel. Evaluate how each piece of content performs. Are you generating enough leads with your original content? The goal of your content is to get potential customers to click on your call-to-action (CTA). If they don't, or if a piece of content is getting fewer call-to-action clicks, redesign that part or try something new.
Rate your landing page. Your offers and calls to action should reflect the content that brought the lead to your landing page (such as blog posts and Facebook ads). Do potential clients trust you with their contact information? Test all parts of your landing page (such as your title, images, text, and call-to-action) to see what works and what doesn't.
Test each offer at the working stage of the sales funnel. Compare the results of different offers (such as free shipping and discounts). How many purchases do you get from your email campaigns and other marketing efforts? If one offer is doing much better than another, target this offer to potential customers that is easy to use and see if you can improve on it.
Track customer retention metrics. Determine how often customers come back to buy your products or services. Do customers come back more than once and buy other products or services? Track how often others refer to your work.
The key: To get users into your sales funnel, create a landing page and use digital content to drive users to your site. Then enter their contact information to stay in touch with them throughout the shopping journey.
Frequently asked questions about the sales funnel
How is a sales funnel different from a marketing funnel?
The sales funnel begins at the end of the marketing funnel. The marketing funnel builds potential customers' interest in your brand and guides them from their first interaction to the moment they become interested in learning more about your products or services. The marketing funnel also helps with lead generation and development. Once a potential customer becomes aware of your brand, they will leave the marketing funnel and enter the sales funnel.
What is the difference between a sales funnel and a sales funnel?
A sales funnel is a series of steps to convert a potential customer from a potential customer to a buyer. A potential customer goes through all the steps until they make a purchase and become a customer. Sales funnel and sales funnel have the same phases but are presented differently. The sales funnel shows the cost, number and stages of the various deals open at a given time, while the sales funnel helps sales teams understand the total number of deals and the percentage made during each stage of the sales process.
Who is a sales funnel manager?
Funnel Manager helps track a customer's journey from attention to action, as well as identify and fix leaks in the sales funnel. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software automates and streamlines the sales pipeline management process, including qualifying leads, tracking key activity at each step of the buyer journey, and automatic follow-up at the right time. CRM software can also help define the sales process, identify leaks in the sales funnel, and optimize conversion so that customers reach the bottom of the sales funnel.
