So, you have found Product Market Fit – PMF (Yay!)
You know your ideal customer profile (ICP) and have a compelling offer.
As a result, you now have traction and early adopters.
Your next growth goal is: to find more of the same ICP (ideal customer) and to keep them as long as possible.
A Sales Funnel may be the growth technique you need.
What is a Sales Funnel?
A Sales Funnel is a framework or series of activities to turn strangers into customers.
Its goal is simple. ABC…Accelerate the Buyer’s Commitment.
Sale Funnel Stages:
A Sales Funnel has six stages: Brand Awareness, Nurture, Convert, Deliver, Retain, and Offboarding (Yes, offboarding too!).
Each stage has specific goals, as shown below.
Attempting to skip stages could lead to frustration, poor customer experience (CX) etc.
More Flywheel & Circular Than Linear:
It can be tempting to think of sales funnels as linear and sequential.
But in practice, it is circular and iterative, as shown below.
Key Actions, Metrics and Helpful Tools By Funnel Stage:
Step 1 – Brand Awareness:
- The Goal: Lead Acquisition. To capture the contact details so you can follow up.
- The Value Exchange: An appropriate lead magnet, e.g. ebook, coupon code, template etc.
- Metrics/ KPI To Consider: Marketing Leads Per Channel
- Tools To Consider Leveraging: Landing Page; Social Media Post Scheduler (e.g. Metricool); Social Media Pixels; Email Marketing Software (e.g. ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, HighLevel)
Step 2 – Nurture:
- The Goal: Lead Activation or Qualification. Depending on the lead’s awareness stage – educate the lead on the problem, solution or your product; determine if the lead is the right fit for your core product (aka qualify them) and/or get them to make a low-ticket purchase.
- The Value Exchange: Educational Content, e.g. email campaigns, webinars, newsletters etc. AND/OR a product for a prospect, a low-cost product that gets them started (aka a Tripwire)
- Metrics/ KPI To Consider: Sales Qualified Leads Per Channel
- Tools To Consider Leveraging: Email Marketing Software & CRM (e.g. ActiveCampaign, HighLevel)
Step 3 – Convert:
- The Goal: Retention. To understand and address the customer needs; Establish realistic expectations; identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities; ensure a smooth handover to the Operations/ Customer Success team.
- The Value Exchange: Core Product, Deeper Customer Profiling/ Insights to serve customers well and predict future needs.
- Metrics/ KPI To Consider: Conversion Rate Per Channel, Customer Activation Cost (CRM)
- Tools To Consider Leveraging: CRM (e.g. ActiveCampaign, HighLevel)
Step 4 – Deliver:
- The Goal: Referral or Reviews. To transform customers into ambassadors.
- The Value Exchange: Fast Time to Value, Referral Incentives
- Metrics/ KPI To Consider: Time to Value, Review Rating, Number of Referrals, Delivery Cost Per Customer, User Active Time.
- Tools To Consider Leveraging: CRM (e.g. ActiveCampaign, HighLevel, Hubspot, D365), User Behaviour Analytics (e.g. Hotjar)
Step 5 – Retain:
- The Goal: Revenue Increase. To make the product sticky and continue to incentive the customer to return.
- The Value Exchange: Upsells, Loyalty Schemes
- Metrics/ KPI To Consider: Customer Lifetime Value, Repeat Purchase Rate, Payback Period.
- Tools To Consider Leveraging: CRM (e.g. ActiveCampaign, HighLevel)
Step 6 – Offboarding:
- The Goal: Re-acquisition. To understand the reason for exiting and attempt to win the customer back.
- The Value Exchange: Downsell, Referral to Lower-Cost Partner, Win-Back Email Campaigns.
- Metrics/ KPI To Consider: Churn Rate, Win Rate Rate
- Tools To Consider Leveraging: Survey Forms, CRM (e.g. ActiveCampaign, HighLevel)
In summary, by embracing the circular nature of a sales funnel and optimizing each stage, you can speed up your business’s growth.
Following the six sales funnel stages – Brand Awareness, Nurture, Convert, Deliver, Retain, and Offboarding – is crucial for guiding potential customers and ensuring a positive experience.
Use the right tools and metrics at each stage to streamline your efforts.
Embracing the power of a sales funnel can create a flywheel effect that propels your business forward.
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I am Yemi Oluseun.
I help startups & SMEs grow revenue and enter new markets with Sales Funnel Automation, Go to Market, and International Expansion Strategies.
Please connect and follow for more content on growth.
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