A "Sales Funnel" takes a wide pool of 'leads' and funnels them down into prospects, then customers who buy your goods or services.
Getting leads is essential for any company, but your leads are worthless if they don’t convert.
Take time to design your sales funnel. Make sure you understand the client you are looking for and communicate that sales proposition to the market.
This way potential clients entering your 'sales funnel' are already seeking the services or products you offer. There is no point trying to appeal to the whole market as you will have all leads and no customers. This ties up valuable resources as you sort through to find those that are a good fit for your business and are ready to purchase.
Many new companies focus on collecting data and leads but fail to nurture potential new clients properly.
To avoid bloating your sales pipeline, you need an effective sales funnel from beginning to end (and beyond!). It could vary depending on the industry, but be sure to nurture your leads as long as needed to complete the sale.
In the ideal sales funnel, leads convert when ready and become loyal ambassadors of your brand. With a quality, automated system, you can sit back and watch it happen.
Here are a few ideas for nurturing leads:
Send industry-related freebies (How-to Guides, Tools, White papers)
Share relevant blog articles based on interest (personalization)
Wish them a Happy Birthday! (Gift, Voucher)
Set up a referral program with incentives
Engage with leads on social media
Use chatbot technology to answer FAQs when unavailable
Newsletters (Old fashioned, but efficient!)
It is important to create and maintain a genuine relationship even after the sale. It has been proven that it is more time and cost effective to maintain current customers than constantly look for new ones.