Sales funnels are not a new concept, however, they have become an essential part of entrepreneurial success in today’s online marketplace.
Do you own a business with an online presence? When someone asks you what your sales funnel look like do you know how to answer? If not, keep reading!
What is a sales funnel?
Simply put, it’s what turns strangers into paying customers. There are sales funnels for all types of businesses and audiences; retail sales, coaches, repair services, local businesses, and so on. There are many different types and styles of sales funnels, some simple and others incredibly elaborate.
Let’s take a look at how they work!
Breaking Down Funnels
The overall goal of a sales funnel is to create awareness of your product (business, service, etc.), develop interest in your product (business, service, etc), trigger your prospect to take action, and, eventually, gain a customer.
It’s called a “funnel” to represent the process of communication and interaction you take with every prospective customer. The wide mouth top of the funnel is the broad part of the process, developing awareness and interest. As the funnel narrows, your potential customer travels through different interactions and decisions to ultimately end at the bottom of the funnel where the final action takes place and you make a sale.
Step 1: Create Awareness
In order to get people into your sales funnel, they need to know about it! So the first step of a successful sales funnel process is spreading awareness of it.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, you need to use social media platforms, like Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram to get your information out there! When you do, your brand will be create a direct connection with people locally, nationally, and globally that don't need access to a brick-and-mortar location to do business with you. This isn't about building viral content; it's about establishing a baseline for strong, consistent communication.
When sharing your new funnel (or what it’s typically called when you launch it, a “campaign”), you need to consistently share it. You can’t expect someone to find your amazing new ebook, service, or product on their own – take the guesswork out of it and share, share, share! AND always share with your audience without a sale in mind.
One blog and a couple of tweets isn’t going to cut it. This is about sharing at least once a week and detailing why this is a fantastic product/service/opportunity for your audience and what benefits it directly provides them with.
Step 2: Develop A Connection
Once people are aware of you, you need to connect with them.
You know how used car lots get a bad reputation for having pushy salespeople who just want to get a sale? A bad sales funnel is just like a used car lot – the salesperson doesn’t worry about the people, but the sale.
You want to share your knowledge and advice with your potential customers without asking for anything in return, building trust before building your income.
Do you have advice to give on a certain topic? Can you solve a problem? Do you have a belief worth sharing? Tell your story about why this is important to you and how it can benefit others.
The more you share, the more your prospects will learn.
The more they learn about you the more likely they will begin to trust you.
The more they trust you, the more interested they become in what you have to offer.
These first steps take place at the widest part of the funnel, starting the journey to success. At these stages some potential customers will spill out of the top and no longer be a part of the funnel process. Those that remain have done so because you have built trust and interested them. These potential customers are heading deeper into the funnel and for action!
Step 3: Make An Ask
Time for the sale to come in!
Having created awareness, developed interest, and built a trusting relationship, your potential customers is prepared to commit, all you have to do is ask for it. Continuing to be a source of knowledge, guidance, and trust will make this step go successfully!
Step 4: An Action Action
Potential customers who have reached this step are no longer a casual browser, but a hot lead! Because of your diligence and effort in creating awareness and developing interest you are about to have a new customer. Your funnel has led your potential customer to your point of action. This may be a payment page, this may be directly speaking with you, or something else entirely.
But wait, there’s more!. Now that you have them engaged and taking action, you have an opportunity to showcase your other offerings and multiply the original sale!
Follow-up
Congratulations, you’ve made a sale, or two, or two thousand. Now what? Well, you want them to come back again and again!
One sales funnel is amazing, but that’s not where the relationship with your precious customers end.
How do you retain those customers? What happens when you pour something into a funnel?
You guessed it - everything comes out of the bottom. You worked hard to get the new leads into your funnel and through the process, don’t let your customers spill out of the bottom and scatter about. Retain them!
You’ve invested a lot of yourself to get them here. Be careful not to have the relationship you built be tarnished for lack of caring. Once they have taken action, follow-up with a thank you email, a satisfaction survey, or any other gesture of appreciation.
This additional effort helps your target audience see you as more than just someone trying to make a sale but as someone who cares about them as an individual. By simply following up with short messages, even automatic ones, you'll better retain the relationships you've established and create more sustainable leads.
What’s Next?
You need sales funnels to continually connect with new people, creating leads for your business and build growth. Funnels are created by taking your prospects through a series of steps on different pages, communication channels, and requires organization so no one in your funnel “slips through the cracks.” That’s where we excel! With our platform you can easily create unlimited landing pages, share content to create enticing funnels, create and send targeted emails, and increase your revenue,
click here to check it out for yourself.
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