A sales funnel system is a set of sales and marketing processes designed to get buyers through the stages of a sale. The whole point is to create an effective sales process that will move potential customers from stage to stage toward purchase.

What are the steps of a sales funnel?

The average sales funnels will have five steps, which include

- Prospect - This is where someone downloads your information or attends one of your events like a webinar or seminar. This person could also be attending a trade event where they find out about you and your product by talking to an exhibitor or stand holder who has exhibited at their own event before. They might even receive something in the post which sparks their interest enough to lead them to attend one of your events or request some information.

- Lead - This is where you as a business have captured their details and added them to your marketing database. In some cases, people might have allowed their email addresses to be collected in return for something they found useful, like an ebook or white paper. This gives you the opportunity to contact them with relevant information over time.

- Qualified lead - Now that you have these people's details, this is when you can start to communicate with them more specifically based on what they want from you and how much they're willing to pay for it. You can start segmenting qualified leads into different groups depending on how close they are to making a purchase decision and what level of involvement there has been prior to now (i.e. maybe they downloaded some information, attended a seminar or webinar, spoke to your sales team and are now moving through the sales funnel towards purchase).

- Closed lead - They're at the top of the funnel and are ready for something more tangible like an offer or proposal. You might find you have five different leads who all want something different from you so it's worth keeping them separate as this stage because if you send them all generic offers that won't be of interest to all five groups. Every time there is any kind of engagement with a potential customer (i.e. they download something, email back asking for more info, speak on the phone) then you can update their status in your database accordingly so that it works out which group they fit in best with.

- Sales/customer - Once they're ready to buy, you'll proceed to the next step which is sales and delivery. You might use a more sophisticated sales funnel system if you are at the bigger end of things but even if you're starting out, it's always worth giving some thought as to how your customers will move through the sales and marketing process towards purchase. It helps focus your efforts on the people who are most likely to convert into a sale – right from that first point of engagement with your business!

- Repeat customer - In this final stage, you have a happy customer who will return for another purchase and may also tell their friends about your products or services. Keep them updated with the latest offers and news from your business so they feel connected with you as a business.

It's important to note that by no means is the above the only way of structuring your sales funnel because every business is different. It depends on what kind of product/service you're selling, where it fits into people's buying process as well as other factors like pricing, promotion, and competition. They are just some general guidelines for sales funnels but if sales are something you want to take seriously then do whatever research you can on how best to structure things for maximum impact.

What is a sales funnel system?

The simplest way to describe it is that it's the path taken by potential customers on their journey towards making a purchase decision and becoming your customer. It could also be described as your sales pipeline because it's important to keep track of them at each stage by moving them along from one level to the next, using different marketing strategies at each point in the process.

One of the most commonly known sales funnel systems is built on four stages: top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel and repeat customers (or back end). Each stage can have its own particularly effective marketing tactics used to move people through the process regarding what they need at each stage. 

At the top of the funnel, potential customers have little or no knowledge about what you do and so detailed marketing is not effective. Instead, they need to be introduced to your business and enticed into wanting to know more by being given free content that will interest them. Funnel trackers like Hubspot make this very easy as you can set up stages in Google Analytics which will automatically log new website visitors depending on where they came from and how much time they spent engaging with you before moving onto another page.

- If it's relevant, a content offer could include:

– Ebook - Download an exclusive ebook/PDF detailing some useful tips for first-time dog owners

– Webinar – An hour-long webinar providing even more tips for first-time dog owners that will help them make better-informed purchasing decisions

– Newsletter subscription - Subscribe to the latest news, special offers, and recipes from a well-known pet food store

– Video offer – A popular video showing how your customers can teach their dogs really cool tricks

This stage is where you'll be able to move more visitors through your funnel because it can include sales pages, phone calls, or emails in addition to purely content-based marketing. This is why it's essential to learn about your ideal customer right at the start of planning any kind of sales funnel system – so that you have realistic ideas about what will appeal to them! As they get closer towards making a purchase decision they will need to know more information about what you do. They may request a meeting, ask for a quote or information on your services. They may even want to see more about you as an organization with plenty of testimonials and other resources.

The perfect place to find the kind of content that will move people through this stage is support materials provided by successful business owners in similar industries. If you are dealing with dog training programs then read what others have put on their websites to know what works for them!  It's also worth adding more personal touches like including videos from the CEO talking about why they started the company so customers can understand that your business isn't just selling products and services – it has real people behind it who care about making things better for them.

If someone's ready to make a purchase then it's time to give them the ability to do so. You can use your sales funnel system to offer different payment options, free trials, or discounts in order to persuade customers that they are getting a good deal and you won't be trying to rip them off. Some people will still need more convincing at this point, which is why there may be further marketing tactics such as sending out emails with special promotional offers and reminders of how much money could be saved if they act quickly.

In the back end of the sales funnel, continuing customer relations are important – but also don't forget about marketing again because some people may have moved away from your business for any number of reasons. Make sure you include plenty of things like re-engagement campaigns to remind customers of what they've already purchased and continue to offer special offers or sales.

Likewise, there is a lot more that can be done with your sales funnel system beyond the five stages above. As you get more advanced you will be able to use split testing techniques to try out new ideas and improve your bottom line. The most important thing at this stage for any business is knowing your customer – so take your time in researching how best to serve them, establish systems that work well for you and then keep up consistent marketing!

In order for an organization's sales process (funnel) to produce highly qualified leads at each stage of the funnel, it needs Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs).

If you would like to learn more about SQLs and how they can revolutionize your business, jump on a quick call with the team at EB. We are here to help in any way that we can and we are never too far away.

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