Implementing a Sales Funnel for a Successful Online Business

BizGuru.me – If you are engaged in an online business or if you have a business on your website, there is nothing wrong with learning this theory of the sales funnel and put it into practice so that your sales increase.

What is a sales funnel?

The sales funnel is an easy way to visualize a customer trip or what is commonly called customer trip, via your sales process.

This customer travel process is common because they realize that they need your product and end up making a purchase. This trip is called the sales funnel.

This sales funnel can illustrate how each sale begins with a large number of potential customers, then ends with fewer people who make a purchase.

In practice, the essence of this process is the way you invite brand traffic or visitors, then get their contacts, turn these contacts into prospects for your business, to finally convince them to “close the agreement. “Or in a transaction way.

In theory, the sales funnel is essential to the extent of the measurement, management, forecasting and improving your sales process in order to finish more transactions with customers.

A well-constructed sales funnel value is the ability to:

Establish clear and consistent steps in the sales funnel process that also reflect on your customer journey and can support these customers at each stage.

Establish a clear communication between sales, marketing and other management departments to a common sale vision. Most sales funnel teams have a daily or weekly call to examine the speed with which they are progressing rapidly.

Forecasting of future sales revenues with a much higher degree of precision compared to that done without any clearer sales sales scene.

Why implement a sales funnel?

According to David Kirkpatrick’s research published in Sherpa Marketing, on the sales funnel, only 50% of the marketing prospects are ready to buy right away. Meanwhile, many other customers must be treated and supported first to help them make buying or transaction decisions.

Get excellent results from any potential customer is also difficult. Why? Given that 79% of these marketing prospects were reported being reduced at the time of a transaction or purchase action. This means that there are many lost opportunities because the potential customer needs more support.

To support your customers through the sales process, it is important that you pay particular attention to the sales funnel. Although there may be a lot of care and attention, you give the funnel Improvement itself, there are “leaks” in the funnel that can happen.

The leak is what simply causes the primary customer qualified to leave without making a purchase or a transaction.

The average person who has just discovered your brand for the first time, of course, will not be immediately purchased because they feel they are not ready.

Related to this, which you can do is to establish a communication with these potential customers and invite them to know more your business and know what your product is and how its advantages and benefits are for them.

Even if it is a long process, they may be interested in your service before making a product purchase. By identifying and refining the weakest areas of your sales funnel, you can make sure your main customers reach a high percentage.

The main customers in question are those who are willing to make purchases and become repeated customers or loyal customers.

Understand your customer trip

The first step to build your sales funnel is to understand your client’s decision-making process, which is often called the “customer trip”.

To do this, you must put yourself in position or customer status when you are aware of a problem that needs to solve.

Then consider each stage of the trip they took to make this decision. This will help you make sure your sales team responds quickly and in the right way to all the needs of your customers.

The sales funnel includes steps designed to reflect on how the main decision-making steps are in the customer’s course to make a purchase or transaction. The number of steps may vary depending on the type of business you use.

Small businesses usually define up to 3, 5 or 7 steps in their sales funnel.

5 classical steps

Awareness (awareness)

At this point, your customers have realized the problem they need to solve. A simple example, there are people who want to play the guitar but do not have guitar skills and take music lessons are expensive. Then the person sees your ad that provides an online guitar practice service with an application.

Advertising is a method that you could use to adapt them to your product. This step is an important volume for your prospect customers.

Search (discovery)

In this second step, your customers realize that it’s time to find a solution to their problem and start looking for more information about your product.

For example, I found two solutions, the first is to follow guitar tutorials on YouTube, the second is to find a professional guardian and the third is an offer of download advertising of an online application that provides a practice Step by step guitar.

The promotion of the website is a way of allowing customers to explore your services and get qualified prospects.

At this point, there are few prospects for customers because some people have not progressed to achieve their problem to explore your product as a potential solution.

Thus, this person could simply open your website to learn more and weigh if it will download the application you offer. Make your website as attractive and informative as possible.

Evaluation (evaluation)

At the evaluation stage, clients face the range of potential solutions to their problem. Customers can eliminate options based on various considerations, including price, style and quality.

They can do so by requesting more information on your website or by contacting your sales representative. Thus, at this point, your number of perspectives decreases even further, but the chances of closing of the sale increase even more.

Also Read: Tips for Preparing a Vacation for Online Businesses

Specialization (intention)

At this stage, your prospect can considerably consider your product and call now to ask more detailed questions. What has changed in recent times is that more and more customers are now completing this online step.

As a result, customers do not feel the need to talk to sales of people unless you find the information they need online, reviews or the website. At this point, your number of perspectives decreases even further, but the chances of closing the sale increase even more.

Purchase

In this final phase, the customer has decided which product to buy online, or that they communicate with your sales team to complete the purchase or transaction. They can also try to negotiate a price or take advantage of the promotional offers you provide.

For example, this person has decided to use your application, but this person wants to get a promotion that you advertise, for example “free advanced tutorial”. At this point, you have left the smallest number of potential customers, but are almost safe to close the sale.

Mapping sales process in accordance with client travel stages

Now that you have reviewed your client travel process, let’s see how you can configure a sales process to hunt more customers to complete purchases or transactions. Each stage of the sales process must reflect the customer trip.

Why? Because your sales process will not work well if you do not recognize and do not answer all the needs of your client.

Perspective

Your future customers are aware of your brand, but they do not really know you at this point. The communication of your brand’s benefits compared to other solutions is the type of support that will greatly mean the customer at this point.

Sales can communicate these prospects through direct calls or networking in social events. Marketing is possible by reaching customers via online marketing campaigns.

Qualification (qualification)

At this point, you have identified a customer who really interests your product and the ability to pay for that. Customers will probably have completed the online qualification process themselves or have spoken to someone on your qualified sales team.

You must now have basic information stored in your CRM, including your name, your title, your phone number, your email address, your interests, your budget authority and your time to buy.

Demonstration

At this point, the customer explores your solution (and one or two competitive solutions) more in depth. This may be because you have provided the perspective with complete information, a written proposal or a demo.

Negotiation (negotiation)

At this point, the customer decided that you can possibly offer the best solution to their problem. They can therefore ask you a price question. This can lead to discussions with your sales team to negotiate prices and other conditions of sale.

Winning / loser closure (closed won / lost)

At this point, the agreement has been won and the transaction takes place. The goal of customer relationships is changing now how to acquire new customers how to keep the customers you have won, and then gain other customer references.

Use online tools

There is currently a way to monitor how users interact with your website when they are at the beginning of the funnel. You can use online tools to track your web visitor’s trip.

From the beginning, they enter the website to the end point, where they choose to contact your sales company or submit their own data via the website (online).

The most popular analysis tool is Google Analytics. By configuring an objective analysis in Google Analytics, you can see how many users have visited your website.

This tool allows you to create a “funnel visualization report” that can clearly show how many users click on each page on your website.

Google Analytics is also able to show what pages you need to improve. If a red brand appears on a certain page, you can simply click to view the details. It is possible that the contents of your page be so thin or short that the rebound rate is high or your purchase card design is too complicated for users / visitors.

Improve the website and its content

Once you know which parts of your website have weak points, it’s time to solve existing “leaks” to increase conversions.

Thanks to Google Analytics, you can really know which pages are problematic, but you will not know exactly what caused the problem. By determining the source of the problem, you will spend a little time simplifying your website before presenting it to attract visitors.

You can do two ways, namely, analyze heat cards or tests with A / B tests. Heat cards provide information on customer search, as well as what content interests you. By using heat cards, you can search for new ideas. Writing or images that many users see.

If they see are not content that can drive them into the sales funnel, it’s time for you to replace the page.

The same is the case with the A / B tests. What type of content appears, where it is on the page and how it appears important steps to correct “leaks” in your sales funnel.

Communicate with contacts

The first thing to pay attention to the establishment of communication with a contact is that you must make it as easy as possible for potential customers to contact you. If they do not do it, they can become frustrated and your reputation can suffer.

This means that you have to provide a variety of contact methods according to the needs of each client. This could be providing a help application on the App Store. It is very important to provide advice to customers according to their needs.

Forge a strong communication between you and your customer can create a life purchasing relationship that benefits everyone involved. So, think in the long run, not in the short term for the sale of a lot of time.

Maintaining every main customer is important because very few new customers will be immediately ready to buy from your business. Emphasize how the benefits of their product or solution to their problem have worked.

The best way to create relationships with customers is to be friendly, approaching and respecting them. You can provide a little encouragement if necessary but not too much for your potential customer to be bored.

Finally, once you have managed to encourage customers to make transactions, you must always maintain good relationships. You can regularly request comments on your products or services. Or, you can also show them some personal care such as giving gifts, specials or other attractive offers at their birthdays.

Such after-sales service can lead you to creating repeated customers, which is much more useful because they will always come back to buy more of your product. Not only that, but also promote your brand to their friends or other relationships.

Conclusion

With this article, you already know what a sales funnel is and what are the steps you can practice to increase your sales. In addition, we also provide other sales funnel tips, such as using online tools and websoral improvements you can do. Good luck!