How do customers go from hearing about a product or service to ultimately purchasing it? Chances are, they have entered a business’s sales funnel and came out the other side as a paying customer.

What is a Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is an automated journey a prospect goes through to become a customer. It usually consists of three to four steps that convince interested prospects to take a certain action. As customers continue to be interested, they work their way down the funnel.

Elias St. Elmo Lewis devised the sales funnel process back in 1989. He outlined four steps:

• Attention: When a customer is first made aware of your business or the products or services you sell.
• Interest: The customer is curious about your business, how it solves a problem or gives them something they want.
• Desire: The customer begins to like the product and develops a fondness for it.
• Action: The customer does more research, samples the product, and eventually purchases it.

It’s called a funnel because of the way it looks on paper. The top is wide as awareness reaches a lot of people and eventually narrows as the pool of interested individuals becomes smaller and more targeted.

Why Your Business Need A Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is the backbone of every online business. Here’s why your business needs one:

It builds a relationship

Most customers don’t make major purchases right away. They do their homework, study their options, and buy from brands they trust. A sales funnel allows that relationship to blossom.

You focus on the right leads

Uninterested customers will leave your funnel on their own, leaving you to devote your time and resources to those who are most interested.

It sets the stage for ongoing sales

When customers enter your sales funnel, they are at varying stages of the buying process. Those that are further along will become paying customers. The others are on a journey that will result in an eventual sale. Keeping interested customers engaged in sales funnel means a steady stream of customers in the future.

Accountability for your sales

Every activity in your sales funnel is tracked, so you will know your most effective content, your best selling products, the social media platform that has the most responses, and the geography of your most paying customers. Having a sales funnel helps you understand the sales process and adjust to what is working the best.

You can monitor your metrics

Sales funnel software can give you more information than the page views your website typically gives. It measures traffic, returns traffic, sales qualified leads, conversion rates, cost per lead, sales velocity, and much more.

If you’d like to learn more about sales funnels and how they can help your business, contact Web Strategy Plus. We create engaging sales copy that expands the number of visitors who enter your funnel and enticing landing pages that persuade visitors to take action. We can build a sales funnel for your business that is both effective and affordable. Contact us today for a free consultation. For more tips to grow your business, check us out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and SlideShare.

Michelle Hummel is CEO of Web Strategy Plus a full-service digital marketing agency focused on Franchise Marketing. She was recently nominated for the Woman-Owned Business of the Year! She’s a passionate Social Media Trainer with 15+ years of successful online business development, sales, and marketing experience. She also holds a valuable Internet Marketing Degree however with the ever-changing world of web marketing she strives to learn something new every day.

She travels Nationwide visiting her 22 Social Media Enthusiasts Chapters she developed Nationwide delivering in-depth social media training. She also provides Social Media Certifications through founding Web Media University. A current contributing editor to The Franchise Dictionary Magazine and she has written 3 books in her series called, “The Social Media Magnet: Everything You Need to Know to Attract Customers with Social Media”, where she shares her best-kept secrets to success. She also specializes in helping Franchisors and Franchisees develop an integrated web marketing program to drive leads. She’s available for interviews via email, telephone, Skype video, news segments on location and more. Just let her know how she can help!