What is a Sales Funnel?

Sales funnel is like the Tesla of the internet marketing world – you see and hear about them everywhere. They have been explained and interpreted in various ways on the internet, but many often misunderstand the concept.

A sales funnel, simply put, is the marketing process of turning a prospect into a customer. 

In the baking world, a funnel is used to take a large amount of one ingredient and slowly guide its contents into a small opening. A sales funnel is just that – taking one large group of possible customers, guiding them through understanding your offer. Allowing your offer to be a solution to their problem, and ultimately inspiring them to take action. 

While sales funnels are probably a little less messy than baking! There are still plenty of details to understanding sales funnels and making sure that your business is using them most effectively.

Why Do I Need A Sales Funnel?

Sales funnels can often be misconstrued as icky sales. The truth, however, is that sales funnels, though designed to turn a prospect into a customer, can help grow and nurture the relationship between the customer and the business. 

Think about the type of laundry detergent you use. You probably use it for a variety of specific reasons – it has a great smell, it easily removes stains, it’s toxic free. Whatever the reason may be, you trust this brand of laundry detergent because it aligns with your needs, it solves your problem and you know it will work every time. 

Using a sales funnel helps to understand the customer’s needs, offer a solution to their problem and continue gaining their trust to keep them coming back. 

Nurturing this relationship is far more beneficial than just thinking about the sale at the end of the tunnel. It’s the journey each customer takes to get there, something every internet marketer strives for. A properly designed funnel can easily accomplish this.

Check out what Rocksauce founder, Q Manning has to say on the importance of sales funnels.

Ways Your Sales Funnel is Failing You

If you’ve already into sales funnels, but they aren’t yielding the results you had anticipated, there could be a few ways that your funnel is failing you: 

1. Your funnel has too many steps

If there are unnecessary steps, whether it be to have them click a link to something else or just for added pizzazz, you might be losing your customers on the journey.  Keep the steps short and intentional.

2. Your funnel is too broad

The goal of a sales funnel is to turn potential leads into loyal customers. If your funnel is focused on too many types of people, your funnel is going to catch a lot of people you aren’t looking to work with. Stay hyper-focus on who you are marketing to. 

3. You aren’t nurturing your leads

Your sales funnel is assisting you in making connections and building relationships with your potential customers…BUT, it can’t do all the work on its own. You need to be following up with each lead, such as using automated email campaigns with programs like Sendinblue or Mailchimp. Check in to see if they have any questions along the way. 

How to Build The Perfect Sales Funnel 

A well designed sales funnel often consists of 4 primary stages that go from creating an interest in your offer to making a sale.

1. Aware

First and foremost, for your offer to even exist, it has to be brought out into the universe. Make prospects aware of your product or service by investing in marketing and social media campaigns to help spread the word. 

2. Interest

Once an individual is aware of the brand, the sales funnel should work to then capture their interest. Think of this step in terms of fishing – without the right kind of lure, a fish might not be interested in taking a bite. But, once you’ve found a lure that attracts, whether it be based on how shiny it is or how fast it moves, you are more likely to make a catch.

In a sales funnel, your potential customers are the fish you are trying to interest in your offer. Create a need for your product or service, based on consumers’ desires, problems and behaviors in your marketing.

3. Decision

After providing information on the value of your offer, each prospect will then make a decision.

This is an opportunity to really nurture the relationship. Ask them if they have any questions, send follow-up emails, explain the different pricing or packaging options, or even offer them a discount. This can help the lead to gain your trust and opt-in to emails or follow on social media. 

4. Action

The final stage of an effective sales funnel is action.

If the sales funnel is proving to be a success, this stage will occur for your business. Here, the prospect has taken action based on the value that was provided about the offer and has become a customer. 

There are other steps that can come in between these primary ones, such as continuing to build and nurture the customer relationship, as well as some more value-providing strategies, but having these are crucial for a successful sales funnel.

Why Should Your Sales Funnel Be Properly Designed?

A good sales funnel puts you ahead of any competitor who isn’t using one. With that being said, if you are new to the sales funnel game, it is in your best interests to understand how it works and how you can use it to your advantage.

At EX Squared, we take an idea that has been boiling in the pot for much too long and finally let the world have a taste of your special offer. With innovative techniques and nice team workshops, we help aspiring businesses gain traction with sales funnels that kick ass. 

Contact EX Squared if you are considering having a good sales funnel properly designed with a good user interface.