6 Steps to Build an Online Sales Funnel for a Successful Business

The ultimate aim of every business is to grow effectively with increasing profits. The high number of profits is directly linked with efficient sales processes. It is said that any sales procedure is divided into a few steps, which are termed a sales funnel.

Each of these stages creates an impact on the customer, and if you are aware of their behaviour, you can undertake steps to initiate their purchases accordingly. Hence, the sales funnel is a process that anyone has to go through to become your client or customer.

Every entrepreneur needs to understand that marketing is one of the most important areas for your business organisation. The growth and success of your business largely depend upon the same. Customers are the king of our business, and this article will focus on how to grow a business using an online sales funnel.

Sales Funnel Stages

It is usually said that creating an effective sales funnel strategy is a vital part of any company’s marketing plan as it helps to grow business. Here are the sales funnel stages:

1. Initial content: The customers get aware of your brand through any means like email, social media, etc.

2. Qualification: If the customers like the products you sell or services you offer, that determines whether they can be converted into leads or not.

3. Developing solution: In this stage, you collect facts about your customers and offer them value propositions accordingly.

4. Presentation: You either give a demo of your product, provide details, or a proposal for your product or services.

5. Evaluation: You need to address all the concerns that your customer has about the services or products.

6. Negotiation: If possible, negotiation in terms of price and other aspects can be done, and we can arrive at the final selling price.

7. Closing: This is the stage when the actual purchasing happens. The deal gets closed here.

How to Build an Online Sales Funnel for Your Business?

We now have realised the importance of the sales funnel and how an online sales funnel helps our business grow. Here are a few business tips that will help any organisation distinctly design an online sales funnel to lower the hurdles or barriers for customer acquisition and increase your firm’s value. These steps are considered to be the business growing tips, which are as follows:

1. Undertake research

Research is considered an essential action that will provide you with all the key information to be included while building an online sales funnel. You need to research every stakeholder connected to your business. Gather information and facts about your customers. Know your target audience well. Try to understand the different types of customers and how they behave in any particular situation.

Understand the business model and working on your direct and indirect competitors. Know the interest of customers, their needs and wants, what they are looking for, etc. Try to understand the working of the sales funnel of other successful businesses. Provide the right product or service to your target audience.

2. Great landing page

We are aware of the fact that the first impression is the last. So, when your probable customers visit your site for the first time, it should be attractive enough for them to scroll through the whole site. It should seem incentivising, which is important for growing your customer base.

Use the call-to-action (CTA) well. It should be simple, clear, and easy to understand. It should be presented boldly. The landing page should be designed aesthetically and encourage the customers to subscribe to your newsletters. The colour, layout, and content of the landing page should highlight all the important aspects of your products and services. Grab the attention of your customers by any pop-up notification relating to any offers or discounts going on. Make sure there is no clutter and encourage them to try new products.

3. The front-end offers

As soon as the customer lands up on your page, provide them with opportunities and incentives to buy your product or avail any of your services. This is the stage where the possibility of them buying may take place. This stage is termed the pre-selling stage. Highlight all the attractive offers and products. Create more desire into the minds of the customers to facilitate buying. Highlight the best product or service of yours.

Provide glimpses of what you are going to provide them with. The most important area should be the quality of the product or service you are going to provide. You need to deliver more than they expect. Surprise them in unique ways, maybe by giving them an additional discount, a first-time purchase discount, or a freebie. In short, give them the best experiences.

4. Provide an up-sell offer

This is a crucial step while building an online sales funnel for your business. This should be decided beforehand by the possible thoughts any customers would come across. Providing an upsell offer means giving the customers a choice to upgrade the product or service they will buy.

Many customers do not mind getting a better product or service by adding more amounts. So, make sure you convince them by listing all the benefits of your offerings that seem to be luring. Deliver more benefits than the price they are ready to pay if that is possible for your online business.

5. Downsizing option

If you are providing an up-sell offer, you also need to provide a downsize option. Not everyone is quality- or benefit-oriented. A lot of customers believe in getting the product at the most economical price. If you provide cheaper options to certain customers, it will ensure that all types of customers are attracted to your business.

Giving a downgrade option will ensure retaining customers, and you can earn their loyalty also. Everyone has a budget or financial capabilities. Once you are successful in retaining the customers, they may upgrade later and buy products and services.

6. Stay in touch

Maintaining relationships with customers is an important part of the after-sales service. It helps the business to keep going and gain momentum for our business. Do not forget to take a follow-up after-sales. Ensure that they are happy with your offerings. Take feedback about the whole process. You can initiate a reward program for customers who buy regularly and give membership facilities. Communicate with your customers constantly and give them goodies if they are loyal customers. Focus on customer conversion and attraction, as well.

Conclusion

Running a successful business online during the era of cutthroat competition is difficult. If the online sales funnel is designed, crafted, and implemented properly, you will gain an edge over other competitors. The above-mentioned business tips will help you to grow the business, and remember one thing the potential customers are always high in number, but you need to constantly keep on optimising the sales funnel and measure success as and when necessary.

Also read:

1) Best Home Business Ideas in 2020
2) Online Business Ideas You Can Start Quickly
3) What online business can I do to make money? Here are the top-6 ideas for you.
4) Where Do the Best Business Ideas Come From?
5) OkCredit: Simple, Paperless & Secure solution for businesses

FAQs

Q. What is the best way to check or measure the success of your online sales funnel?

Ans. One of the best ways to measure your online sales funnel’s success is by tracking the conversion rates.

Q. What are the stages of content creation?

Ans. The acronym AIDA is used to remember the stages of content creation. The four main stages of content creation are:

Attention
Interest
Desire
Action

Q. How can you make your prospective customers aware of your online business?

Ans. There are various ways to make your customers aware of your online business-like SEO, newspapers, online ads, videos, campaigns, E-books, direct email, social media platforms, text messages, billboards, etc.

Q. Is building a brand important for your online sales funnel?

Ans. Yes, your company needs to create a brand for your online business. This is an important stage of the online sales funnel because the customers get more attracted looking at the brand name, the colour of the logo, website designs, etc., and help them spend more time looking through their website or page.