We’ve all seen how a funnel works. You pour contents from the top through the wide funnel entry and it makes its way down, guided by the funnel out the bottom into a waiting container.
While a funnel may not be the first thing you associate with marketing, when we apply its capabilities in a metaphorical sense to the sales process, it becomes a powerful tool.
Just as a funnel can quickly and effectively get oil into a bottle, using this principle in marketing can help you guide customers from prospects to buyers. This makes them an incredibly beneficial tool for businesses and one worth focusing on.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a sales funnel or are hoping to create an effective one for your business, this guide is here to help you on your way.
Variations Of Sales Funnels
Your sales funnel may look entirely different from someone else’s depending on your goals and the type of business you operate.
While some sales funnels may have up to seven stages, others may only have three.
Shorter funnels tend to be more common as they deliver better conversion rates by drawing the customer more quickly to a conclusion. Longer funnels can help you to collect more data on your prospective customers, but if too lengthy, may see them abandon the process altogether.
Critical Stages Of The Sales Funnel
As seasoned marketing professionals, we recognise that it gets a little confusing when there are seven stages and that just as equally, when there are only three, you’re missing out on a lot of information.
At CLIQ Marketing Content, we believe the following is the perfect five-stage basic sales funnel model for beginners and one that has worked well for many of our clients.
Stage One: Awareness
In most versions of the sales funnel ‘awareness’ is the first section. It is considered the most important section because it gains people’s attention so that they might journey through the rest of the tunnel.
In short, it makes people aware of your business.
Prospects enter your sales funnel through an enticing offer that is usually found on your leads page.
This offer, otherwise known as a lead magnet, may offer something of value for free in exchange for their email, for example, and is where you gain the first link of communication.
This is why a leads page is so important. You have to make sure that it pops out to customers and can lure them into your business.
Stage Two: Interest
After gaining your future customer’s email through stage one you can now communicate with them and try to gain some of their interest.
This can be done in different ways, but it is most important that you focus on providing what your customer needs or wants.
Try and share as much information about your business as possible and even the product that they might wish to buy.
As this is the start of your customer relationship, be polite and not too salesy as this is less likely to lead to a good, long-term relationship.
Introduce each email with friendly remarks and add information about who you are and what your purpose is. You can include information about products but make sure to add personal touches such as what you think.
Incorporate a lot of inclusive language to refrain from making the emails sound like your standard automated email from a robot.
Remember, the customer is more likely to buy from you if they like you. And if they like you then they will like your business.
Stage Three: Decision
Sometimes a lot of thinking and research happens before someone decides to purchase something. Other times, there isn’t much thought put into a purchase at all.
Something many business owners do not realise is that whether it happens quickly or takes a while is up to them! You have a lot of sway in your prospect’s decision.
Show them reviews of how other people were happy with the product after buying and even articles about your business.
Find anything that you can that says “yes” and make it highly visible. Hopefully, the decision is yes and that takes us to the next step.
Stage Four: Purchase/commitment
Your prospect is now a customer!
At this stage you check up on your customer and see if they are happy with their product, making sure that it works and giving any aids that may help them.
You can offer upgrades and downgrades and send emails connecting them to similar or additional products.
Keep in touch with these new customers and ask them to leave a review or fill in a survey about their experience wherever possible as this supports easier future customer conversion too.
The Sacred Stage Five: Loyalty
This is the last step in the funnel. Not all funnels will have this as a step, but it is also important to consider.
After a customer has bought something from your business, the story shouldn’t end there, because after going through that entire process of gaining a customer, it would be a waste to stop attending to them.
Sometimes this can be called the ‘repurchase’ section where you try to get customers to buy more than one thing. Gaining a customer’s loyalty means a long-term relationship is possible and that rather than them maybe buying one or two things they become a regular.
Also known as ‘repeat customers’, they are far too valuable to not place time and effort into. So, as much as it is important to gain new customers, you should remember to equally look after the ones you already have.
Additionally, don’t forget about those first buys – give them further value over time following their purchase with you. Send them blog articles, special offers and a ‘thinking of you’ message – ask them for a review and leverage the power of remarketing.
Do You Have An Effective Sales Funnel In Place?
Have your own unique questions about sales funnels, or even on a broader scale, questions about your business in general? If so, CLIQ Marketing Content is here for you.
As one of Adelaide’s leading marketing teams, we offer a variety of tailored solutions intended to meet your business’s unique needs. Our goal is to see you achieve your goals and thrive as a business owner.
To learn more about the power of a well-planned sales funnel for your business or any of our other proven marketing strategies, simply contact our expert team today.
