What a Sales Funnel is (and why you need one)

Last month we dug into the Customer Journey - the bigger picture of how someone discovers you, connects with you and buys from you. If you missed that blog, go back and have a read.

It's not until you work in the world of sales funnels or other marketing activities, you realise that the word funnel isn't a universally understood term.

Start talking about them to many business owners and in my experience, they may have heard of the term and roughly know what they refer to - but that's likely about the extent of their knowledge.

I'm going to try and simplify what a funnel is used for, what the core components are, and demystify some of the terminology around them.

What is a Funnel?

Think of an actual funnel - it's wider at the top and narrow at the bottom. In a sales journey, your leads enter your funnel at the top... and with each stage you filter them down to smaller numbers to the ones that ultimately buy from you.

Although the funnel is designed to move people along your sales journey, you inevitably end up with fewer numbers at the end.

Not everyone will buy from you, but as well as sell, the funnel does two other important jobs that shouldn't be overlooked:

• Collect lead data

• Increase your visibility and know/like/trust factor with your audience

More on this later

But let's strip down the core components of a traditional funnel

1, The Entry Point

This is where people step into your world - usually via clicking on a link that takes them to a value-based piece of content.

That link can be on a social media post, via a QR code at an exhibition or on your website. And it will usually take them to a landing page.

2, The Landing page This is another term that confuses people - but a landing page is just a single web page. This can either be a page on your main website, or hosted within another platform such as Mailerlite, Mailchimp, Go High Level (there are so many).

What's included in the landing page is usually dictated by the desired outcome. Simple for something being offered for free, more complex if it involves them buying something. 3, The Action

A funnel always has one clear, intentional outcome, usually one of these three things:

• Subscribing to a mailing list or downloading a free guide

• Buying a product or service

• Gaining access to a course or community

4, The Follow-Up

After someone has given you their details or paid for your service, the most common follow-up is an automated email sequence. The purpose of this is to keep them engaged beyond the point of sale, add further valuable information or sometimes even upsell another service.

Why you need a funnel in your business

If you want to launch, promote or sell anything to your customer online then the way you do that is via a funnel.

It can be super simple or very complex, but without this presence and method of bringing your leads into your world online, you will likely get lost in what is a very crowded and noisy marketplace.

Of course there are LOADS of other marketing activities that support a sales funnel, social media, websites, public speaking, published print, podcasts to name just a few. All have their place and are right for different things.

But my speciality is funnels - designing and creating them, and making all the different elements connect together so that your customer glides seamlessly from one step to the next and become a paying customer.

Having seen the blank looks of people when I start to talk about funnels, I realise It can be a bit of a complex subject, so I've also created a free glossary download to help make it even clearer! Download your free copy here.

And, of course if you'd like to find out more about how I can help you to create your funnel, then book a discovery call with me now.