The Sales Funnel is a concept that relates to how prospects “fall away” as they take steps closer to becoming a customer.
That is why it is referred to as a funnel. At the top of the funnel are people who have some form of interest in your product or service. At the bottom are people who buy.
At each step in the funnel, there are fewer and fewer people.
To illustrate the point, let us assume an example.
You sell a link prospecting software tool, such as BuzzStream.
There are four steps in the sales funnel:
- People express an interest
- To learn more they watch an Intro video
- To learn even more they download and read an eBook
- They are then send regular email messages
- The ones who are ready to move forward buy
Of the people who express an initial interest, a subset of them watch the Intro video. Of the ones who watch the Intro video, a subset of them download and read the eBook.
You get the idea.
There is a common “model” of a Sales Funnel called AIDA.
The letters stand for:
- A: Awareness
- I: Interest
- D: Desire
- A: Action
What is Most Critical About Sales Funnels
When we buy stuff, we go through a decision process. For small purchases (for example: a ream of paper for your printer) the decision process is short.
For larger purchases (for example: a car) the decision process is much longer, more involved, and contains many more steps.
When you understand the decision process people go through in the course of becoming your customer, you simple flip it over or turn it upside down, and THAT is your Sales Funnel
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