HOW TO SET UP YOUR SALES FUNNEL
Setting up your sales funnel for success is massively crucial to your business’s profitability. You might wonder how we get people from just being a website visitor to becoming somebody who’s a paying client. This is a process that our team has perfected over the years.
Website visitors are leads. But odds are, not all leads are ready to buy. So the key is to create a sales funnel that allows you to focus on leads who are serious about buying, and nurture them until they’re ready to convert into sales.
We're going to show you how. Keep reading if you want to know what a sales funnel is, why you need it now, and how to set up your sales funnel for success.
WHAT IS A SALES FUNNEL?
Let’s start by defining a sales funnel. Essentially, a marketing or sales funnel is the journey you take prospects through so they know you, like you, and trust you enough to do business with you.
There are three stages of the customer purchasing journey:
Cold prospect: People who have vaguely shown interest in your business.
Customer: People who have already decided to buy from you.
Raving fan: These are your repeat customers. Also known as brand ambassadors, these people rave about your product to anyone who will listen and post about your services on social media. Apple fans spring to mind; they’ll stand in queues for hours to get the latest Apple product.
Now one thing to keep in mind is that not all leads will eventually turn into customers, which is why you need a sales funnel.
WHY DO YOU NEED A SALES FUNNEL?
This is a question we get asked a lot. So our clients will say, why can’t I just invite people to check my website, send a contact form, or whatever, and get leads?
Look, this is not how you successfully approach your target market. Let’s put it this way.
3% of your target market is ready to make a decision right now. And this is what all marketers are fighting for. You’ll see Google ads, landing pages, and other sales campaigns targeting them.
7% are really interested in buying but they might need a bit of a nudge. For example, they have questions that need to be answered before they’re ready to buy.
30% are also interested, but they can’t buy right now. They either don’t have the money now or it’s not the right time.
60% of your target market are just not interested at all. They wouldn’t even buy your product if it was free.
So this is why you should build a sales funnel. You want to know how many of your leads are ready to buy, who wants to buy in the future, and those who aren’t interested. Once you figure this out, you can redefine your strategy and focus on leads who will convert to sales.
HOW TO SET UP A SALES FUNNEL
So now that you’ve got a handful of leads, what’s next? You have to set up your sales funnel. Ideally you want to do this before you start generating leads, but let’s say you’ve got a few already.