Do you know the difference between an informed business owner and a business owner who is not? Well, the answer is simple.
The informed business owners know how sales funnel strategies work and how t can be used to convert:
Potential Customers ———> Paying Customers
Sounds like a magic lamp, right?
Well no, it can be achieved with a defined set of steps that are being diligently followed.
Let’s see, the basic idea of every business is to deliver the products/services according to the customer’s needs and make money. Correct?
How can you fulfil this need? By identifying why leads are not converting and where the problem occurs, so you can fix it!
So, what exactly is a sales funnel & how can sales funnel management help?
A Sales Funnel is the journey your customer goes through on entering the system as a lead.
When we say Sales Funnel, you can imagine a funnel, which is likely to be wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, just like the image below.
Here you can think that sales funnel is like a filter: Pour in a broad mixture of potential customers, and your sales funnel strategies will gradually refine it down to the purest, most interested leads that convert into actual paying customers.
How Does Sales Funnel Management Work?
Let’s understand with the help of an example.
Imagine Inferno, a leading bike manufacturer, aiming to enhance the quality of their products by outsourcing the manufacturing of handlebars to a specialized firm.
Let’s look at their sales funnel strategies and how they convert a lead into a paying customer!
- Awareness
Inferno recognizes the need to elevate their handlebar quality and begins their search for potential manufacturing partners. They scour the internet for solutions and stumble upon a blog post by a reputable steel manufacturing company. This blog highlights the advanced machinery and superior steel quality, piquing Inferno’s interest. - Interest and Engagement
Intrigued by the steel company’s capabilities, Inferno delves deeper into their website, exploring product specifications and testimonials. They fill out a contact form, expressing interest in learning more about how the steel company’s expertise can align with their handlebar manufacturing needs. - Evaluation and Consideration
The steel company responds promptly, providing tailored information and case studies showcasing successful collaborations with similar manufacturers. Inferno receives follow-up emails detailing specific benefits and cost-effectiveness. These communications solidify Inferno’s trust in the steel company’s capabilities and its potential to elevate their handlebar production. - Decision and Purchase
After thorough evaluation and lead nurturing, Inferno is convinced that partnering with the steel company is the right choice. They finalize the agreement, confident in the expertise and quality offered. The steel company ensures a seamless transition, providing ongoing support and assistance as Inferno integrates their handlebar production.
It is important to define your brand value in the last stage with a smooth customer experience through business policies and customer support. And why is this important?
Seamless Customer Experience = Referrals = More Business!
What kind of content is required at each stage to ensure effective sales funnel management?
Your customers won’t know that they’re moving through a sales funnel – they’re just shopping. You can make your sales funnel strategies more effective by viewing the journey from the customer’s eyes and making shopping fun and easy for them. This will help you turn their browsing into buying more effortlessly.
How can you incorporate sales funnel management in your business?
Here’s a simple guide to setting one up:
- Start with a Landing Page: Imagine this: someone clicks on your ad, signs up for a webinar, or downloads an e-book. Their first stop? Your landing page. This is your chance to make a great first impression. Introduce your company clearly and showcase what sets you apart. Don’t forget to include a form to collect their contact details [and any other information relevant for your service/ product] — you’ll need these to keep the conversation going.
At the top of the sales funnel, everyone is a potential buyer. However, only genuinely interested people will move forward. To run an effective awareness campaign, you can use marketing tools to access a wider audience, such as blogs, social media, ads, events, etc. Remember, the key is to find a broader audience!
- Provide a Valuable Offer: Now, you need to give your visitors a reason to leave their email. You can offer a free e-book or a detailed whitepaper. These are called lead magnets and they’re your trade for their contact details. Make your offer irresistible and relevant to their needs.
- Nurture Your Leads: Once you’ve captured their email, the journey from awareness to interest begins. Use nurturing e-mail campaigns to educate them about what you offer. This is your opportunity to deepen their interest and prepare them for the next step. You can also use cold calling, emails, case studies and demo videos.
- Encourage a Decision: When your prospects reach the decision stage, it’s time to nudge them towards a purchase. Offer a demo, an extended trial, or a tempting discount—anything that might tip the scales and help them decide in your favour.
- Continue the Engagement: Whether they buy or not, keep the lines of communication open. For new customers, focus on education about the product, ongoing engagement, and retention strategies. For those who didn’t purchase, regroup, and reach out periodically with new information or offers to reignite their interest.
Keep the conversation alive and the conversions will follow!
Surprisingly, around 68% of the businesses still do not have sales funnel strategies or sales funnel management.
We hope you are now prepared to make your own sales funnel, incorporate sales funnel strategies and shift to the 32% informed business owners!
If you still need help with preparing, maintaining, monitoring and constantly improving your sales funnel strategies, then that’s where we come in!
At Contetra, we have worked with 150+ business owners to help them create cash-rich scalable businesses!
We do this by – creating sales budgets, evaluating, and revamping sales strategies, setting up and monitoring KPIs of the sales team and bringing about a 2x positive increase in the topline as well as the bottom-line.
Feel free to book a slot here for a personal one-on-one review with one of our business consultants to know how we can do this for you too:
