There is no fixed formula or a sales funnel template which will work for all sales models. There, however, are principles that are universal and proven to improve the efficiency of the sales funnel. In this article, we will discuss six ways to improve the efficiency through sales funnel.
1. Prospects outreach
The first stage of any sales funnel usually revolves around reaching out to prospects in huge numbers and identifying the potential leads among them. Here you need to tell your prospect about the solutions your product offers and about its existence. This phase is very important because in the end closure happens only when you start well. Try not to build a huge pool of unrelated and unwanted prospects that would end up eating your time and money.
2. Use the data
Data should be used very effectively to identify the key points which will make or break your sales. Usually, when you sell a product there is a step when the prospects will go and compare the features expressed by you about your product versus the ones available in the market. CompareClick compares products by technical specifications, features, prices, pros & cons, and reviews.
Thus data becomes essential here. Using data you can know already about the behavioral aspects of users as per their age and earning capacity. You can compare your product already with your competitors and create your sales funnel in a planned way which focuses on your strengths. This will make sure that when your prospects go to visit the rival’s product he is aware about what you already offered as a counter.
3. Social networking and campaigns
Using social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and your websites blogs you can create and bring together a group of like-minded people who can become your customers after persuasion or interest generation. Write blogs and choose the content wisely depending on the mode of communication.
If you are promoting the product on Instagram, make sure you have a professional photographer who can provide stunning photos to lure the customers’ likes and engagement. The campaigns and awareness best happen when they spread by word of mouth. So your content and quality should be compelling. Make sure it doesn’t create a sense of spam.
4. Engage your prospects
The best sales strategists know the in and out about what goes inside a prospect’s mind in every step of the sales funnel. This is what makes a good salesperson valuable as he can close the sale easily, as he knows what goes on inside mind of the prospects. A good strategy is always to engage your prospects in the process rather than just keeping them at receptive end.
Don’t just speak, listen too. If you have a website make sure it has actionable data. Ask for their interests, data and tell them to send you what they want. These will make sure you get a real-time feedback and the prospects are into the sales funnel at the interest phase where you have an opportunity to convert their interest into sale.
5. Make sure to have autoresponder series
There is always a fear that some potential prospects can miss out buying your product due to reasons as stupid as forgetting about the name or details of your product to forgetting about the need itself. Yes! It happens. Many times prospects forget about the conversation which happened earlier and thus don’t bother to come back again.
In such cases, autoresponder emails or calls can be the savior. Make sure you have well-written emails which don’t spam your prospects and just gently remind them of the product. You can also track the prospects and keep the conversation history in your database using telephonic conversations.
6. Reevaluate
After all the hard work if you are able to covert the lead into a customer, make sure they are the happy customers. Provide them will some delighting offer or reason to continue their patronage towards your product. If you fail to convert the lead into a customer, identify and learn what went wrong. Which part of the sales funnel is relatively weak and vulnerable to let leads skip the purchase? Try to find a solution for the same.
Conclusion
Above six ways can prove to be useful to increase the sales efficiency through the sales funnel. Additionally, you should stick to the basic principle of sales, which is finding the selling point for your product and letting you leads understand their pain points and solutions your product offers. That will always work if done properly using a well-designed sales cycle! Happy selling!
