Sales funnel, Customer Journey & Process

Sales Funnels - What is a Sales Funnel?

For the last 3 years I have been building Sales Funnels and helping small businesses with marketing strategies. Over the years, many times when I sign up a new client that doesn't have a Sales Funnel in place they usually don’t understand the concept.?

And that is perfectly understandable but also sad. Because as a small business owner, you are throwing away money.?

I am writing this article to explain what a Sales Funnel is, the Customer Journey that plugs into your Sales Funnel and the execution AKA the process flow of how it all gets built out in a Sales Funnel Software to create an automated lead generation system.?

I will also recommend a software that I use for myself and my clients that is easy with drag and drop functionality, with built in CRM, membership and more.?

But for now, let’s start with the concept of the Sales Funnel.?

What is the difference between a Sales Funnel and a website? Most often new clients want to make the sales funnel look like their website. I am all for it fitting in with your branding, but there is a big difference between a website and a sales funnel.?

A website has many exits and it is really like an information page, telling people about your services (about page, pictures, general contact information, maybe even booking a meeting). Most often, a website does not guide a person to a sale. And that is the purpose of a Sales Funnel.?

When it comes to building a sales funnel, a lot of times, people get hung up on funnel building software, pictures, fonts, colours, and other bits and bobs. In reality that is not going to give you sales. Sure it can make you look more professional and it can potentially contribute to sales but I have also seen some really ugly funnels make a lot of money. It is about the customer journey.

Let's dive into what exactly a Sales Funnel is... Let's take the concept of Sales Funnel offline. Let's look at? a Brick and Mortar Sales Funnel.?

Imagine you have never been camping in your life, and your friend invites you to go camping. The very first thing you need to do is get camping gear. You get in your car and drive to an outdoor shop.

As you walk through the door, immediately there is a person at the door greeting you. You barely open your mouth and the sales person shoves a trolley in your hands and starts filling it up with all sorts of outdoor equipment. You are not even sure what this person is putting in your trolley, but it is full of stuff.?

You have so many questions going through your mind…do I need all this stuff, how much will it cost, will I really need it all for a small weekend camp, do I actually have all I need… Should I go somewhere else…??

What is the feeling that is suddenly bubbling up inside you? Overwhelm? Confusion? Heck yes. I would have definitely felt like I wanted to run for the hills without the camping equipment! The shop assistant was asking for a marriage proposal on the first date!?

But imagine you get to the door and a sales person greets you and asks you what he can help with. You explain to him or her that you have never been camping and need camping gear for the weekend away with friends. This amazing sales person takes you from aisle to aisle explaining to you what you need and loading only that in your trolley. Basically, only the next logical thing that you would need for your trip. From a waterproof tent to a sleeping bag, gas, pots, and whatever else you need to go camping!

The sales person got to know you, by asking crucial questions to establish your problem and then gently guiding you towards the solution. This includes upsells and order bumps.?

So the definition of a sales funnel (my definition) is the journey your customer is walking with you through the buying process. You know exactly who your client is. You know what they need, what are their desires, struggles, pain points, do they have a family, what do they do on a Saturday, even if possible what type of car they drive. These questions would lead to what type of camping equipment will be right for you. You would purchase a bigger tent if you have a family, maybe if you don’t have a big car, he would suggest a canopy for your roof etc.?

Now you have established trust. You are not going to trust someone that is going to shove a trolley full of stuff in your face and probably half of it you might not even need. Date your customer first.?

This brings me to your Customer Journey. What is the Customer Journey??

You need to identify your customer journey first before you even think about building your sales funnel. This is the most crucial step and sadly also the most overlooked.?

I already touched on it with the shop assistant that takes you through the shop and guides you to buy what you need to go camping. You are solving their problems. But it is more than just that.

You need to make your funnel visitor excited even before they land on your Sales Funnel. They need to be aware of you from the ad they saw or the social media post. Maybe they heard about you on a podcast, or read about you on a blog like this one.?

You also need to ensure that you engage your ideal client with the content that is on the Funnel Page but most importantly you need to convert them to a sale or at least let them join your email list

When they are your perfect customer, they will advocate for you. Tell others about your offer and what you sell. And before you know it, you are building a tribe.?

How do you do this? By knowing your ideal client. By playing with your headlines, pictures & videos. Creating something that grabs their attention and makes them stop in their tracks to see what you have to offer. Creating hooks to catch their attention.

Finding the right hooks can take a little time, to many hours over many months. It is about testing, testing and testing. Once you get the right hook, that is when the magic happens where you put $1 in the ATM machine and $5 comes out.?

So, the conclusion of your customer journey is to have a conversation with your ideal customer, understand their problem and then build that solution to their problem into your Sales Funnel. Like when the shop assistant took you through the shop and added only camping equipment that you needed to your trolley.??

Now for the most important part. HOW do you put all of this together to become an automated lead generation machine??

This is where the Sales Funnel Flow Comes in. This really is the process.?

The Sales Funnel Process?

Every good Sales Funnel Starts with a drawing. You map out the steps of your Sales Funnel. (See picture) Once you have your process mapped out, that is when you start building it out in the software you chose.

You have to ensure you set your SEO data, meta tags, email sequences, Facebook and Google Pixels, CRM, internal notifications and more.?

Below is an image that I mapped out to show a basic Tripwire Funnel and also below the image is a video I did on how I implemented the process.

Tripwire Sales Funnel in Funnelytics?

For more information you can reach out to me via Facebook / Instagram or get a free trial for the best funnel and CRM software out there: https://ghl.unleashyourmarketing.co/?

{When you join using this link, I will provide you with an onboarding call, funnel templates, email templates and a free marketing course to set you up and to start generating leads on autopilot}

I appreciate you!

Joy Nicholson?