Sales person #1 is handing out brochures to passers by.
Expert Sales Person #2 chats with passers by and finds out what they need … and then, escorts them to a team member who can immediately help. The team member makes sure that the new prospect’s questions are answered and demonstrates exactly how your offering solves their biggest problem.
Which sales person do you think will make more money?
Expert Sales Person #2 right?
Yet, if you are like 95% of companies, your website is acting like Sales Person #1.
It’s like your website is passing brochures to a crowd and expecting them to immediately offer you money in return.
There’s a simple fix that you can make today to your website … and it’s called an online sales funnel.
“What’s an online funnel, Angela?” I hear you ask?
An online funnel is like hiring a top inside sales person to work for you, have them work tirelessly 24/7, not on commission, and generate a stream of qualified leads that already like you and want what you offer, before you pick up the phone.
An online funnel is a vehicle that drives people that LIKE you and WANT your products, right into your sales pipeline, day in, day out.
Think of an online funnel as a front-end to your sales team’s sales process.
We all love “A-HA” experiences, so go ahead and give one to your prospects with an on-line funnel!
An online funnel focuses on a specific audience who it laser targets. It delivers immediate value to them. It helps them solve a painful problem.
An online sales funnel gets you a warm, laser-targeted lead.
BONUS: An online funnel can double up as helpful educational information that existing customers will value. It can grow their desire to renew or buy more of your products.
If you like to help customers … and want to get rid of the grind of marketing and lead generation … then an online funnel is for you.
Here’s what to do next.
IS YOUR WEBSITE HELPING OR HURTING SALES?
4 Reasons Why Websites Fail To Drive Sales
Let’s step back for a moment and ask…
“Is your website helping or hurting sales?”
On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = “does not do this”), grade how well your website does the following:
- Calls out to your ideal customer, by name, while subtly repelling everyone else
- Immediately solves a specific customer problem, one step at a time, so as to create desire and trust?
- Follows up at least 4 times -Bringing the prospect back by giving help again and again – super helpful information that the prospect welcomes … Why do this? Because any sales person worth their salt knows that “the money is in the follow up”. It’s true. It takes someone 4-7 times of seeing your wares online before they feel like they know you. An automated follow up to every visitor catches prospects that will buy later – It gets website visitors to come back to your site… and stay in touch.
- Drives qualified buyers forward toward a sale.
On that final point, let me ask you…. Does your sales page look like all of your other web pages, with dozens of links in sidebars, the header and the footer?
The big mistake that most website sales pages inevitably make is “link overload”.
On your sales pages, if you provide just 1 or 2 call-to-action buttons for the visitor to click on then they will click and drive forward in your sales process. 3 or more buttons and links on your page …. and your prospect will get confused … And leave without telling you who they are .
– A confused mind always says “No”-
How did your website do?
WEbSITE –> CASH MACHINE
Add Online Funnel To WebSite
An online funnel is going to turn your website into a cash machine.
It piques the prospect’s interest and instantly takes them on a journey. The journey lets them experience them HOW you solve a big problem that they have.
Your funnel HELPS the prospect.
Because help is what the prospect craves.
Gone are the days of handing out a datasheet.
Your funnel is going to deliver HELP and then follow up with MORE HELP … automatically at least 4 times.
Refer to the Online Funnel picture. It shows just one example of an online funnel. The funnel has 4 helpful training video steps, followed by a webinar step. Each step in the funnel is a simple web page.
Why so many steps? You see – people need to hear from you 4-7 times before you can expect them to transform from a prospect into to a buyer.
… To drive deeper engagement and trust.
Follow up can 4X the number of buyers.
The journey down the funnel is automatic.
Each step in the funnel has a “next step”.
Each step in the customer’s journey through your funnel leaves those that are your target customers thinking… “This company gets my problem”. “This company CAN help me”.
There is a psychology behind why online funnels work.
We all know that if a customer knows, likes and trusts you, that they are more likely to buy.
That if they are convinced that you solve their problem and have their back, that they will buy again and again.
Your funnel is developing a relationship of trust.
By HELPING the prospect, it transforms them into a qualified buyer, not a cold lead.
Helping is what Expert Sales Person #2 would do.
So let me ask you this…
How great would a sales call be if it was with someone that already LIKES you and IS CONVINCED THAT YOU SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM?
… Because they already went through your online sales funnel and saw your expertise?
Want to know how to create an online funnel that generates qualified buyers? Read on… .
Turn prospects INTO BUYERS
How To Build An Online Funnel
Your online funnel is going to be great! It’s quite simple – a sequence of web pages that:
- Give away FREE content
- HELP prospects SOLVE A PROBLEM
- FURTHER THE SALE
- Get The Prospect’s EMAIL ADDRESS
- Provide ROI to you and the prospect
What help (content) should you give away for FREE?
Where to begin? Get out a piece of paper and list top questions asked by customers that end up buying ….
What is the biggest problem that they need to solve? The picture gives you a framework of questions to use.
Ask your applications engineers, customer support people and existing customers for inspiration.
Pick the 4 top questions. and answer them – One question, one video
“… But I’m not a videographer, Angela” I hear you say.
Perfection is your enemy … I know. It’s counter-intuitive …. If you are worried about making video, pick one of these approaches. Then just do it !! You can make your video prettier later.
- Grab your cellphone and record an interview with your office mate where they ask you a top question and you answer it. Answer as though you are talking to a friend
- Record a short “how-to” video demo. Record your laptop screen as you show the prospect how to solve their problem using your product. You can record with apps such as Zoom or ScreenCastify
HINT: At the end of the video, …. Tell the prospect what to do next. For example, “view my next video”, “schedule a blueprint call with me”.
What Your Funnel Page Should Include:
- THE HEADLINE on each funnel page that grabs attention and calls out your target audience by name. The headline is the thing that makes people read on. It includes the promise of solving a problem. “How <target market> can <solve problem> even if <their biggest barrier to buying>” is a great headline format
- A HELPFUL VIDEO that you just recorded. A cheatsheet that complements the video is also great
- A SINGLE CALL TO ACTION – The only link on the page should be to a BIG “take the next step” button. One call to action is preferred. 2 is OK. (And, Yes, you should include small link to your privacy policy/terms page in the footer, but make it small).
- Formatting that looks GREAT ON MOBILE DEVICES. Over half of your viewers will enter your funnel from their smartphone
“But I’m not a web geek and it will take months to get updates such as funnels onto my website, Angela” I hear you say.
You can build your funnel outside of your company website using funnel building software such as DropFunnels, GoHighLevel or ClickFunnels.
What I love is that many funnel builder tools includes free templates so that all you just have to add your video and giveaways… and a few words… in order to get your funnel launched.
The minute your funnel is built, you can send prospects to it, whether or not the funnel physically sits on your company’s website.
You don’t need your webmaster’s help
FILL YOUR FUNNEL
Send Prospects To Your Funnel
With your funnel READY, you now have a “HOW TO solve <big problem>” resource to offer to customers and prospects.
Include a LINK to your funnel in every place that your dream customers hang out….
- Your Email Footer
- Your LinkedIn Profile
- Your LinkedIn Company Page
- Relevant LinkedIn Group Posts
- Your Medium Account
- Your Podcast
- Your Articles
- Your Opt-in Email Lists
- Your Press Releases
- Your Facebook Personal Page
- A Facebook Group that you create
- Your Facebook Company Page
- Previous Visitors To Your Product/Service Pages (Via Retargeting)
- Your YouTube Account
- YouTube Video Descriptions
- Your Instagram Bio
- Your Twitter Profile and Posts
- Your Google Adwords Listing
- Print Adverts
- Product Launch Kits
- Your Paid Ads
What are your thoughts about using Online Sales Funnels to grow your bookings?
Questions?
COMMENT BELOW !
ACTION PLAN
Turn Your Website Into A Money Machine
Audit YOUR WEBSITE
CREATE ONLINE FUNNEL
ADD ONLINE FUNNEL TO WEBSITE
DRIVE PROSPECTS INTO FUNNEL
Reach dream buyers
Be THE SECRET TO YOUR CUSTOMER'S
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I was looking for online funnel articles related to website building. And luckily, I have found one. Thanks for sharing such an informative blog.
I am so glad that I could help. Best wishes to you.