Sales Funnel: Turn Your Audience into Buyers

You took the plunge and started that business, congratulations to you. But what comes next? You know that you need customers and buyers for your business to even be considered a success. But where do you start?

There are so many people out there, wanting different things. And you have no idea how to approach them and tell them about your product or business. Well enough for them to be crazy about your product or service. And want you to just take their money and give them your product or service.

You need to cast your net wide to try and catch as many customers to listen as possible. But you have to do it in a professional way so that you do not scare off potential customers. How do you do this? By use of a Sales Funnel.

What is a Sales Funnel?

This is a marketing concept that shows the path a customer takes from the awareness that he/she needs a particular product to the action taken of making a purchase. This number usually starts as a huge number but through the path, most people fall off and only a few make it to actually making the purchase. You need to understand the stages of a sales funnel and how a sales funnel works for you to be able to use it effectively.

Stages of a Sales Funnel

Awareness

Most customers are usually not aware that they need a particular service or product. Or if they are aware they are not really keen on it. You need to start with this market and make them aware of your product. And most importantly interested in your product. How do you do this? You educate them, give them information about your product. Make them understand what your product is all about, make them see the value of your product. As they get to have more information they get to be aware of the need to have this product or service.

Interest

Now you have them where you want them, you have their attention. You need to get them interested and keep their interest alive for as long as possible. How do you do this? You need to appeal to their desires, their hopes, their dreams. If you are able to tap into this, you can lead them anywhere you would want.

Provide a solution to their problem, be the saviour they have been waiting for. What keeps them up at night, tossing and turning and they cannot tell it to anyone else? Speak their language, do not just say what you can do. Show them that your product can do exactly what they need.

Decision

This is the part of the sales funnel where the customer is on the fence, they are not sure whether to make the purchase or not. You need to convince them that they do, how do you do this? Give them all the benefits of making that purchase. You need to list them all, make them see that if they do not make the purchase they would be missing out on a very amazing opportunity. You could even sweeten the deal by offering a one time discount. Or a freebie that would have cost them more if they made the purchase at a different time.

Action

This could be by far the best stage for any business owner. When the client has already made up their mind and they can’t wait for you to just stop talking so that they can make the purchase. This happens after a very effective execution of the sales funnel. So how do you as the business owner make sure that most if not all of your potential buyers become actual buyers? You need to learn how to execute the sales funnel effectively.

Execution of the Sales Funnel

Leads

You start out with a list of leads, these are the people who fit the profile of your potential buyer. How do you get these people? You can get them via ads that you run for your business, or by referral from people who have already bought from you and loved the experience.

This is an important step as it creates the opportunity for you to be able to introduce yourself to the world and let your product be known. This is the part where you create the first impression and as the saying goes, first impressions last, so you better have a great landing.

First Connection

This is the second part of the sales funnel execution. The first conversation is started after they come to you since they saw your ad somewhere or were referred to you. You need to really sell yourself during this part, they could get more interested or they could turn away at this point but do not be disheartened. Most likely they are not in the right frame of mind to listen to you at that time, you just need to set a follow up time that is convenient for them.

Follow-Up

A client is more prone to really listen to what you are saying and selling if you do it on their turf. This consideration makes them feel valued, and a valued customer is most likely to make a purchase than one who does not feel this. Make sure to follow up with a customer at their desired time and their desired mode of communication. Do not call if they prefer texting. And most importantly do not forget the appointment. This makes you look unprofessional to the customer.

Conversion

This is the part of the sales funnel where you have to be persistent and show the client that your product can deliver. This is the part that the client could be on the fence and it is your job to make sure that they are swayed to making a sale. Here is where the customer is making the decision as to whether they really need your product or service. So you have to do your best to make sure that they come to a very good conclusion, for your business’ sake.

Sale

This is the part that the client makes the purchase. After this stage, it is important to have an after-sale service. You can offer an additional service for free, this is mainly to say thank you to the client for buying your product or service. Or you can offer a coupon to be cashed in later, basically, make your customer feel appreciated and they are bound to refer more people or come back again for more purchases.

Well, we all know the struggles that come with putting up a business, much less running one successfully. Everything in life is all about a learning curve, the first time you do something you are not as good as when you try it for the 100th time.

In business, though you may not have the luxury of a learning curve for yourself. That’s why it is best to learn from other people who have had some sort of learning curve of theirs over the years. I hope my take on sales funnels is able to help you with getting more customers to your business. Let me know in the comments.

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