What is a sales funnel?

A sales funnel is a series of steps that engages and directs customers to buy a product through a series of marketing actions like automated emails, videos, articles, and landing pages.

Depending on the action that your customers will take when they visit your landing page, they will be entered into a sequence of marketing messages.

Expectedly, not everybody who visits your page is guaranteed to become a customer and make a purchase. In that case, you can make them a prospect for down sale.

Why build sales funnels for your online business?

In sales, it is important to not only reach all potential customers but also build relationships with leads, illustrate the value of your products the best way you can, and then convince them to buy.

Sales funnels help you through the buying process that a potential customer will go through from when they first interact with you and your content until they become a paying customer. It is an all-in-one solution to all your online marketing needs.

Phases of a sales funnel

A sales funnel is a structure based on different models depending on your industry and type of business. Generally, a sales funnel has seven phases:

1. Awareness Phase – where prospective customers become aware of a solution to a personal problem.
2. Interest Phase – where prospects show an interest in your product or service by researching it.
3. Evaluation Phase – where prospects examine other competitors before the final buying decision.
4. Decision Phase – where the final decision and negotiation begins.
5. Purchase Phase – where the product or service is being purchased.
6. Remarketing Phase – where the prospect turned client evaluates their satisfaction with the product or service.
7. Repurchase Phase – wherein the customer repurchases the product or service if positively reviewed in the re-evaluation phase.

How to build your online sales funnel

Below are five steps that you can follow to build your online sales funnel.

1. Create a great landing page.

The landing page of your website is the first impression your potential customers will have of your business. That’s why you need to spend time to make sure that it looks great.

A good landing page can encourage visitors to sign up or subscribe to your website. It provides you that all-important contact information, which becomes your first line of communication.

The elements of a great landing page

• Trust. The first essential element of a landing page is trust. You want to make sure that you are providing a good experience for your customer. You want to let them know that you are reputable and that they can rely on you for a positive experience.

• Connect. A landing page should build a connection to the potential customer. You want to ensure that you are relating to your customer and understand where they are coming from. Focus on their questions to increase the connection element. Explain to them the deeper meaning behind your product or service.
• Excite. Excite your customer about the product or service. Make sure to provide as much information as possible about your product or service. To do this, list some exciting features or benefits of what they can expect.
• Impulse or Call to Action. Your landing page should have a strong call to action. When incorporating this, keep in mind that online customers have a short-attention rate so it needs to be snappy.

2. Present a front-end offer.

The second step is to present potential customers with the opportunity to buy your product or service.

3. Provide an upsell offer on the back end.

You can offer your customers who bought or are about to buy a product or service to upsize or upgrade that service.

For instance, you can create an offer that will deliver more benefits to the customer if they upgrade. This method is known as an upsell.

4. Offer a downsize option.

In the same way that you encourage customers to upgrade to your services in the upsell step, these sales funnel elements help you to offer a downgrade option to your customers.

A downside option doesn’t represent a failure. You can consider it to keep a customer who is unable to buy from you due to budget constraints. Keep in mind that those circumstances may change. Be considerate enough and offer affordable options for these individuals to keep them as your potential customers.

5. Keep your momentum going.

The final step in the sales funnel is to keep your momentum going. Follow up with all the new customers you have acquired and make sure that they are happy with their product or service.

An excellent way to accomplish this is to offer a membership-based rewards program. It will allow you to remain in communication with your customers and gives you the perfect opportunity to tell your customers about new products and services.

 

How to lead people into your funnel

Once people have visited your landing page, the next challenge is to lead them into the next step of the funnel. You don’t have to give up on a prospect just because they’re not ready to purchase at a given time.

Be considerate of your audience and their needs before making your next move. Consider all your future marketing messages. In this way, you are more likely to build trust with potential buyers and secure a sale in the future.

Give your customers some space and freedom to browse and then be readily available when they need your assistance. Sometimes, the brands that push for a sale too hard or to soon are the ones that walk away empty-handed. (Think of the last time you entered a store to browse only to be annoyed with a pushy sales assistant who won’t leave you alone.)

When a prospect doesn’t convert, ask yourself why. It could be that you’ve set an item at a price that is too high – that would be poor advertising. You can fix the situation by offering them an item at a lower price point. You can also bundle together several things to add excitement, make your offer stand out, and increase the perceived value. Production costs will be small and people will be more likely to buy.

 

ClickFunnels as a funnel-builder platform

ClickFunnels is a cloud-based software used to build customized sales funnels. (READ: What is ClickFunnels)

ClickFunnels will take care of the heavy lifting for your business with its various marketing and sales funnel templates. You can choose from the templates or build your own.

Whether you need a funnel for your product or membership site, you’ll have access to a myriad of proven and tested sales funnels. The templates are categorized under lead capture funnels, sales page funnels, event funnels, and membership funnels. Some commonly used funnel templates are sales letter funnel, invisible funnel, homepage, squeeze page funnel, lead magnet funnel, and more.

All the funnel templates have pre-designed landing page templates. You can modify these templates to meet your business needs.