The sales funnel, i.e. thoughtful and effective action

Do you know the myth of Sisyphus? Punished by the Olympian gods, he continually rolls a rock to the summit, and when he is already in front of its top, the rock slips away and Sisyphus has to start his work all over again. The myth gave rise to the phraseological term 'Sisyphus', which means vain, futile effort that seems to have no end. This is exactly the kind of work that salespeople toil over, convinced that they need to reach the widest possible audience with their offer. Only a small percentage ultimately decide to use it. This low conversion rate is most often the result of a poorly constructed sales funnel or even the absence of one at all. But what exactly is a sales funnel? Why is it worth spending time on it? What stages does it consist of? Read the answers to these questions in today's article.

What is a sales funnel? Find out the important definition

The sales funnel (also known as marketing funnel, sales funnel or conversion funnel) are, according to the simplest definition, all marketing processes in a company divided into stages. The aim of each stage is to guide the potential customer from the moment of first contact and interest in the offer to the finalisation of the transaction.

Why funnel? The name visualises how the method works. At the very top, where the funnel is widest, are the most people. At this stage, yes, the company wants to reach a large audience. However, at each successive stage, the audience gradually narrows (as in any funnel) to those with whom it manages to strike a deal, colloquially speaking. 

It is worth noting that we can deal with a technique such as funnelling in both online and traditional sales - 'face-to-face' with the customer.

The sales funnel - 5 things to achieve

You already know what a sales funnel is. Now it's time to look at the five benefits of using it.

1. Targeted planning of activities related to each stage of the sale
2. Monitoring of sales performance
3. Development of a uniform system for evaluating leads coming into the company
4. Ability to analyse the effectiveness of actions at each stage of the funnel
5. Discovering the point at which potential customers abandon their further "journey" down the funnel and correcting the activities carried out at this stage

As you can see, funnelling is a method that not only makes it easier to select the right lead generation techniques and monitor activities, but also saves time. Why? Because it makes it possible to identify those audiences to focus on and those who are not sufficiently interested in the offer.

Get to know the stages of the funnel - the sales process in close-up

The construction of the sales funnel and process varies from company to company, business model to business model and industry to industry. However, there are four invariable parts of the funnel.

Attracting attention and building brand awareness

At this stage, all potential customers are still anonymous. It is obvious that neither they, nor the company, are yet ready to take sales action. This level is about building brand awareness in the minds of the audience. What activities are carried out in the first stage of the funnel? These include: social media posts and advertisements, content marketing, positioning website.

Generating interest and acquiring leads properly

The second stage of the funnel is reached by those people who already have a basic knowledge of the company, are familiar with its offerings and may have interacted with the website. This means that you have already gained their attention. Now, however, it is necessary to arouse interest in these individuals and sustain them. At this stage, activities that provide potential customers with valuable content and comprehensive answers to possible questions, doubts are desirable. All kinds of guides (e.g. on the company blog), ebooks, training courses or events work well for this. It is necessary for the recipients to be able to familiarise themselves with the product or service. At the same time, their attention should be subtly directed to the sales pages.

In this part of the funnel we are also already moving to acquiring leads, i.e. contact details of people (or companies) who are interested in the offer. In this way, strangers visiting your pages become real contacts and an opportunity for business cooperation. How do you generate leads? For example, by signing up for newsletter, webinars, ebook download forms or special discount codes. Offer real value in return for data such as name and email address.

Selection of leads

The next stage of the funnel is the classification of the acquired leads, i.e. their assessment of readiness to buy. Each company should develop its own individual system for evaluating requests for proposals, the so-called lead scoring. With the model established, assign point values to the leads and, depending on the established scale, assign them to one of the groups:

• hot leads - are those who are most interested in the offer, ready to start the sales effort
• warm leads - i.e. those that need to be 'warmed up'. These are people who are interested in the offer, but not yet decided on a purchase
• cold leads - people who are not currently interested in the offer, but may decide to take advantage of it in the future - they have the potential. 

Sales

The final stage and also the goal of the entire sales process is the purchase made by the customer. Up to now, you have focused on the customer, now it is time to focus on the sale. Remember, however sale does not mean the end of cooperation! Ensure that you maintain a good relationship with your customers so that they decide to make another purchase and recommend you to others.

Sales funnel in B2B versus B2C - how do the models differ?

Acquiring new customers is important for any company - whether it is focusing on relationships with other companies or targeting individual customers. The purpose of funnels is the same regardless of the business model a company operates under and is to increase sales of a service or product. The number of stages in the funnel may vary, but this is usually due to the specifics of the industry rather than the business model. Learn some important points to help you create a funnel in B2B and B2C.

B2B sales funnel

This funnel is a tool to optimise sales between the two companies (business entities). The business to business sales model is specific. One has to take into account that the process will go through many levels and employees before a purchase decision is made. For this reason, it is recognised that this type of sale is more difficult. Requires building good relationships with several people. What else makes the B2B funnel different from B2C? Because B2B products and services involve more money, the funnel is mostly closed offline - e.g. in a meeting. 

B2C sales funnels

The target audience of the B2C sales funnel is the individual consumer. So there is a certain ease for the company - the decision-making process is shorter and you have to hit the taste of the individual customer with your offer. Nowadays, the B2C funnel is usually completely closed online. 

Optimal operating strategy - executive summary

There is no denying - implementing the sales funnel requires a lot of work and commitment. However, it is a game worth the candle. A well-developed funnel is an opportunity to filter out people who are ready to move on to the next stage in the sales process and finalise a transaction. The funnel is also an invaluable support for the marketing department. It allows you to create effective action strategies and tailor messages to individual audiences. Be sure to incorporate funnels into your business, whatever your product, market or industry.