What Is A Sales Funnel? (And Why Websites Don’t Work Anymore)
What’s all the fuss about funnels…..?
Sales (or marketing) funnels are a must have in today’s businesses. Especially, online. You can hardly look up anything online without reading about funnels. Creating them, how to use, funnel hacking, and more seems to be all the rage these days regarding marketing.
What is a sales (or marketing) funnel?
A sales funnel is a guided path that prospects move through in your sales process. It walks people from their first engagement with your brand through a number of steps that are intended to result in one or, hopefully, more conversions AND sales.
A conversion can be anything…..from opting-in to a mailing list, downloading a free PDF or document, attending a webinar, or making a purchase.
Often a funnel will facilitate several different aspects, like upsells, downsells, and one-time offers, in order to maximize the profit from each customer. Usually funnels will encourage several different conversions along the way.
Depending on the actions they take as they move through the funnel, customers may be offered different things at different points. Funnels may be very simple or incredibly complex. However, when all is said and done, they are all about one thing and that’s to increase your conversions and profits.
Hopefully, you can see why they are so incredibly popular?
How Do Funnels Work? The Secret Funnel Formula.
Sales funnels work by guiding customers through a process that starts with a very low entry offer or commitment (like a free download or free report). The funnel then gradually takes them through the steps that warms them up and exposes them to higher and higher-priced offers with more and more value. This enables the customer to become more familiar with you and your brand and ultimately develop a trust in you.
If you were to walk up to a total stranger, who has never heard of you, and ask them to purchase a large order from you, it’s likely not going to happen. Right?
However, if you first offer them something of value, for little to no cost, they are more likely to be responsive and accept your offer. Because you are helping them, they begin to trust you, which builds your know, like, and trust factor. Building this trust makes them more likely to purchase your higher-priced offers. Initially, your free or low cost item moves them into your funnel.
They have now entered your funnel process….
Now you have demonstrated that you offer value and have proven your worth, which in turn further builds the know, like, and trust factor. At this point, you can start to offer opportunities for purchase or higher-priced opportunities.
You might start with a low-priced offer, to get some commitment, and then proceed to offering something that is higher priced. If that is too high of a price for them at this juncture, then a lower-priced offer will presented when they deny the higher priced item. This is called downselling. But if they do buy, you would then go on to offer them more expensive, or possibly premium, products or services at higher prices. This is called upselling. You are offering higher value for higher cost.
Now if you are super tech savvy you may be able to create a sales funnel without any trouble. However, if you are like I was when I started my online business, you may want some help creating your sales funnels. There are lots of tools out there available to the business owner. There are tools specifically designed to help people implement sales funnels in their businesses.
A typical funnel company will incorporate one or more opt-in pages, an email auto-responder (to send a sequence of emails that move them up your value ladder, learn about value ladders here), plus one or more sales pages, order forms, additional content, member’s area, etc.
Why Websites Aren’t Getting It Done.
Last but not least, why websites aren’t cutting it when it comes to sales for your business.
In the past, in order to put a sales funnel into operation, it would require you to have a website, hosting, an auto-responder service, landing page software, split-testing software, membership site software, and probably a host of designers and programmers to assemble the whole thing together. To achieve the same thing a well, put-together funnel can do.
In fact, many people spend a lot of time creating and managing their website, without giving much thought to their actual sales process or funnel.
I’m not suggesting that you should go to the extreme of ditching your website because that is one piece of real estate that you own online and no one can take that away from you. It helps to build and promote your brand. But unless you are all setup with a sales funnel process on your website, your time will be more appropriately focused on getting your sales funnels up and functioning. As you have seen in this article, it is definitely worth focusing on your funnels above everything else.
How Do You Focus On Your Funnel?
I highly recommend two companies that are equipped with the tools for the funnel processes. As a matter of fact, I use both of them to compliment one another. But you can start with just one of them and add the other later. Click here to learn more about my number one company that offers funnels along with LOTS of other tools for your marketing needs at varying price points.
My second choice focuses more on the funnel side of marketing, but also offers the various items listed above. To learn more about this amazing company simply click here.
If you are looking for more of a done-for-you system to get you up and running in your online business, then learn more by clicking here.
Here’s to your business success!
Suzanne Perkins
***Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link in this article, you should assume that I have an affiliate relationship with the company providing the product or service that you purchase, and that I’ll be compensated in some small way at NO EXTRA COST to you. Thank you!***