Before we start, don’t let the term ‘sales funnel’ daunt you. It sounds intimidating and mathematical, but we are going to break it down for you in a visual way, because we we learned in the last blog post, our brain comprehends images quicker than words.

Nerd talk: you may notice I say “upper funnel” or “lower funnel” a lot. If you see that, think of this graph. The higher (or upper) the funnel, the colder the lead. The lower the funnel, the closer we are to conversions (or repeat customers).

While some customers do impulse purchase, or immediately know they NEED your product, the average shopper/customer/client is going to follow the flow of this funnel.

Having a sales funnel in mind is more for you (the entrepreneur) than it is for anyone else. With a good funnel, the customer should never know that there even is one. It should be a natural, smooth transition to lowering them down the funnel.

Let’s briefly break down each step of this funnel, shall we?

1. Exposure
   
   This is the first-time someone even hears of your brand. It could be from an Instagram ad, you popped up on their explore page, or perhaps its from a friend at a coffee shop after complimenting their outfit. Think of this as the first time even HEARING about the brand.
   
   
2. Discovery
   
   This step differs from exposure, because they are taking that mindset of “I’ve heard of that”, to “I’ve looked into that”. This is the first time someone clicks on your site, content, or pursues your brand with interest in mind. They want to see what you’re about. Its important you have a good website that aligns with your brand, is true-to-you, and showcases your products & services.
   
   
3. Consideration
   
   This is possibly my favorite part of the funnel 🙂 Silly to say, because it’s not the actual conversion and step that drives the $$, but I believe that this is the step that nurturing & education is SO important. Its the deciding factor for if this prospective customer wants to stay & purchase, or if they want to decide its not for them and unsubscribe. It’s imperative to keep this lead hooked, so they are obsessed with consuming your content & keep wanting more. Here’s the welcome flow that I love to follow:

• Welcome to the list
• Founder / mission
• Problems we solve
• Link to EDU resources (blog, social posts, etc)
• Client testimonials
• Case Studies
• Best-selling products / services
• CTA to purchase/book/schedule a call
  

4. Conversion

We know her, we LOVE her. The work we’ve put in for steps 1-3 finally paid off, yay! Think purchase, booked lead, phone call made, in-store visit, whatever your goal was, it was completed.

If only that was the last step…Nope!

5. Customer Relationship

A lot of brands are so excited about the actual conversion, they let paying customers drop off of the radar because they have already completed what the business wanted. What that tells the customer is that your goal is money, not community.

While that may be true, its just as important to have a loyal customer base than it is to have a lot of 1x customers. If you’re an e-comm site, retention marketing is (in my controversial opinion) more important than finding a ton of new customers.

The proven ways we have helped clients communicate with their customers even after purchasing are:

• Post-purchase follow up >> founder email asking how they liked the product, what it was created for, best practices in using it
• Up-sell items >> send complementary items that pair perfectly with the product they purchased
• Purchased from you 3x before, but not within the last X amount of months >> they were once returning customers, but haven’t purchased in a while. Check in to see how they are doing, possibly with a “we miss you” discount code
  

6. Retention

This one kind of goes hand-in-hand with step 5, but for this one, I like to ask: how can I get a system set up where customers naturally keep coming back? Here’s what we’ve found success with at SDM 👇

Loyalty programs.

If there’s one thing people love in this economy, its saving money or getting freebies. Loyalty programs help people keep coming back to YOU. Studies show that consumers are 82% more likely to purchase from a company that has a loyalty program over those that carry the same product at a different store, but have no incentives set in place.

Tiered approaches are great for gamifying the program – the more they spend, the more they earn. Plus, you can layer on things like birthday discounts, which can keep customers feeling valued.

See, I told you it’s easier than it sounds! (MAKE THIS BIG)

Hopefully this challenged you to think about the process you currently have in place, and what tactics you can layer in to make your funnel more seamless, communicative, & compelling.

If you want more strategic advice about the strategies we have found proven to increase sales and cultivate a loyal customer base, contact us here. We can’t wait to meet you 🫶

Cheers!