10th Sep 2024
How to Plug the Holes in Your Sales Funnel and Start Generating Sales on Autopilot
If you’ve ever felt like your marketing efforts aren’t quite hitting the mark or you’re losing potential customers along the way, you’re not alone. Understanding and refining your sales funnel is essential to ensuring that your leads are nurtured effectively, and, most importantly, converted into paying customers. This post will walk you through how to identify leaks in your funnel, implement simple solutions, and start making sales on autopilot.
What Is a Sales Funnel?
Before we dive into fixing the issues, it’s crucial to understand what a sales funnel actually is. The concept of a sales funnel represents the journey a customer takes from discovering your brand to making a purchase. It’s called a “funnel” because the number of potential customers narrows down at each step.
There are typically three key stages in a funnel:
- Awareness – When someone first hears about your brand, product, or service.
- Consideration – When they are interested and engage with your content, exploring more information.
- Decision – When they make the purchase or take the desired action.
However, just because someone enters the funnel doesn’t mean they’ll make it to the bottom. That’s where leaks come in.
Plugging the Leaks
A “leaky funnel” refers to potential customers who drop off at different points, leaving without converting. If you don’t identify and plug these leaks, you could be missing out on significant revenue.
Let’s break it down with a few statistics:
- 70% of customers leave items in their cart and don’t complete the purchase straight away. Without an abandoned cart email in place, you’re losing seven out of 10 sales opportunities.
- 67% cheaper to retarget existing leads than to acquire new customers. Retargeting those who already know your brand is a more cost-effective way to increase sales.
- 91% of B2B interactions prefer webinars. For B2B businesses, offering value-packed webinars can boost engagement and lead conversion.
Step 1: Create an Abandoned Cart Email
If you’re running a product-based business, one of the easiest and most effective tools to plug a hole is to set up an abandoned cart email. These emails are easy to automate and can significantly increase your chances of turning a browser into a buyer. There are countless templates available online that you can customise within minutes. It’s a simple fix but can have an immediate impact on your sales.
Step 2: Retarget with Personalisation
Retargeting is one of the most effective ways to re-engage with potential customers who have shown interest but haven’t yet converted. Not only is it cheaper than acquiring new leads, but it’s also far more efficient as these people are already familiar with your brand. Use personalised ads, email sequences, or content marketing to bring these people back into your funnel. It’s like patching up a leak before it causes any more damage.
Step 3: Run Webinars for B2B Interactions
If your business works with other businesses (B2B), you should strongly consider incorporating webinars into your marketing strategy. An impressive 91% of B2B interactions are now preferring to engage via webinars. This format provides an excellent platform for building trust, showcasing your expertise, and engaging with decision-makers on a deeper level. It’s also an ideal way to provide value before asking for a sale.
Your Funnel Homework
It’s time to start thinking about your funnel, mapping it out and identifying any leaks that might be costing you sales. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your funnel already exists — you just need to bring it to life.
Start by writing down:
- Point of entry – How do potential customers find you? Through social media, ads, word of mouth?
- Nurture phase – How are you keeping their interest? Email sequences, free resources, etc.?
- Decision stage – What is your offer and how easy is it for them to make a purchase?
Once you’ve mapped this out, start looking for the areas where customers could be dropping off. Is it after the first point of contact? Are they browsing but not buying? These are your leaks. Then, look at the kind of content or marketing efforts that could plug those holes.
Moving Forward
Take the time to map out your funnel and see where the leaks are. On the 24th of this month, we’ll dive deeper into implementation strategies, where I’ll share templates, proven copy, and practical tips that you can use to turn your marketing efforts into an autopilot sales machine.
If you have any specific questions about retargeting, plugging your leaks, or anything funnel-related, feel free to reach out. I’ll be sharing more throughout the month, so keep an eye on the group for even more tips to grow your business.
Implementation Session: Susan Carruthers Implementation Session – Glasglow Girls Club
Start plugging those holes and watch your sales soar!
