The Role of Sales Funnels in Building a Strong Sales Pipeline
If you’re involved in sales, you understand that the sales pipeline is one of the key tools you use to convert prospects into customers. A funnel is a visual representation of the process by which your salespeople move prospects through the steps necessary to close a sale. It begins with a large pool of potential buyers, narrows to a smaller number of prospects as they enter the funnel, and ends with a closed-won or a closed-lost deal.
There are many ways to look at sales pipelines and funnels, but the main distinction is in perspective: a pipeline reflects what a sales rep sees, while a funnel reflects the buyer’s journey. As we’ll describe below, it’s important to understand the difference between these two concepts because they can have a significant impact on your marketing goals and strategies.
Prospects enter the sales pipeline at the awareness stage, where they become aware of your product or service. This could happen through your advertising, social media, or word of mouth. At this stage, you want to generate as much awareness of your offering as possible.
As the prospects move through the sales pipeline, they move from awareness to interest. At this stage, the lead has specific questions about your solution and has determined that they are interested in moving forward with a sale. This phase can involve a variety of activities, such as requesting a product demo or a price quote.
At the decision stage, your leads have a clear idea of the benefits and costs associated with your product or service. They may even have an idea of what they want to buy, or the type of package that is best for them. At this stage, your goal is to make your offer irresistible so the lead can’t refuse it. You can do this by offering a free trial, discount code or bonus product to encourage the lead to take action.
After a prospect moves through the decision and action stages, they become a customer. Once a prospect is a customer, it’s essential to stay in touch with them and provide exceptional service to build loyalty. A strong customer relationship will help your business thrive, so it’s important to continue to nurture it with regular contact such as emails and webinars.
Understanding the relationship between sales pipelines and sales funnels is critical for both managers and salespeople. Managers can use a sales pipeline report to predict the amount of sales they need to hit their revenue goal, while salespeople can track conversion rates through each stage to identify which parts of the funnel are working and which ones need improvement. In addition, it’s important to consider other metrics such as the average sales size and sales velocity when evaluating your funnel.
Doing so will allow you to pinch or expand the stages of your funnel to improve conversion rates at each point. With this knowledge, you can create a better marketing strategy and improve your sales results.
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