Building Your Sales Pipeline with Funnels

In this episode of the New School of Marketing Podcast, we dive into the world of sales funnels and why they’re essential for your business. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the idea of creating a funnel, don’t worry—it doesn’t have to be complicated! We break down what a sales funnel is, why it matters, and how you can create a simple yet powerful funnel to guide your customers from awareness to purchase. Learn the core stages of a funnel, how it can make your marketing more efficient, and practical steps to get started without the tech overwhelm. Tune in and discover how a well-crafted funnel can transform your sales process and help your business thrive.

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Transcript

Hey, welcome back to the new School of Marketing podcast. I'm so grateful to you for tuning in as always. Now, before we dive in, I would love to pay my respect and acknowledgement to the Palawa people of Lutruwita, who are the traditional owners of the land on which my business operates. And I pay my respects to their eldest, past and present. Okay, today is going to be super exciting episode. Although I say that every week, right? Yeah, I love marketing. So I guess, you know, I can just keep talking about it every single week as I'm doing right here. Today, I'm going to dive into a topic that can be a real game changer for your business. I'm going to talk about sales funnels or just, you know, funnels. Now before you get intimidated by the term funnels, let me tell you that they don't need to be complicated. In fact, I'm going to show you how simple and effective they can be. And just a little thing, everyone has funnels in their business, whether they are intentional or they've just come about organically. But you already, if you have a business, you already have a funnel in your business. Basically, a sales funnel is the journey that a potential customer takes from first hearing about your business to eventually making a purchase. And having a funnel in place helps you guide people in a structured way so that you're not leaving your marketing results to chance. You know, it's not a fingers crossed kind of approach. So I'm going to talk about why funnels matter. I'm going to talk about how they can help your business grow and how to create a straight forward funnel that works, no complicated steps required. So if you're ready to take your marketing efforts from haphazard to predictable, keep listening. Okay, let's start by defining what a sales funnel actually is. And I've kind of already touched on it a little bit, but basically it's a system that leads your potential customers step by step toward making a purchase. Picture it as like a roadmap showing the journey that someone takes from first, you know, discovering you like becoming aware of your brand to the point where they finally decide to buy from you. And that can be like a long journey or it can be literally a really short journey. But everyone goes through certain steps. Like there is a journey, whether it's short or long. Now, why do you need a sales funnel? Really simple. It gives you a structure for your marketing efforts. Instead of just putting out random content or random promotions and hoping for the best, a funnel helps you strategically guide people through each stage of the buying process. And that is going to help you know exactly what message to deliver and when, which makes your marketing efforts more efficient, and it also makes it more effective. And also funnels help ensure that fewer leads fall through the cracks. So think of it as like a safety net. Without it, you're kind of leaving it up to chance where the people move from just knowing about your business to actually becoming customers. But with a funnel in place, you've got a much higher chance of turning those leads into sales because it's a system and you're tracking bits and pieces. Okay, now let's break down the core stages of a basic sales funnel. I'm going to talk basic. You can always expand on it, and there's a lot of data about this and a lot of research about this, but I'm going to make it basic because I want you to see that having a funnel can really benefit your business and it doesn't need to be complicated. So there are usually three main stages. Awareness, consideration, and conversion. The awareness stage. This is where people first learn about your business. And your job here is to get in front of your ideal audience and make them aware that you exist. And you can do this through social media, through ads, blog posts, search engine optimization. There's a lot of different options. This is top of funnel marketing. When you hear a marketer talk about top of funnel, this is where it's at. It's that awareness stage. The goal at this stage is to make your business visible to people who could actually benefit from what you offer. And I actually would say that the majority of people spend a lot of time here, but it is a bit of a spray and pray approach. It's not a systematized, it's not a well thought out process. But that is the awareness stage. The next stage is consideration stage. So now that people know who you are, it's time to nurture those leads and give them more information about why they should consider doing business with you and buying from you. And this might be through email marketing. It could be through sharing valuable content, webinars, free trials. You're basically giving them reasons to keep paying attention to you. And as I said, I think A lot of people spend a lot of time at the awareness stage and not so much at the nurture stage. And this is the stage where everyone that you like, you've gotten attention. Now, what is the next step? What are you going to do about this? So it's not all about that top of funnel. This is the middle of the funnel, as people would call it. It's where you actually nurture those people that you've attracted and giving them reasons why they should consider buying from you. And then the next stage is the conversion stage. And this is basically where you ask for the sale and you make it easy for them to, to say yes to buying from you by providing a clear call to action. So a call to action is, you know, telling them what they need to do. Buy now, for example, or that could be signing up to something or buying your product or scheduling a consultation with you. So giving them the clear step to what they need to do. And you can also create urgency with, for example, limited time offers or discounts to really encourage them to take that final step. So if you just start with these three basic steps, you're already ahead of many, many businesses that don't have any funnels in place. Like I said before, a lot of people spend time at that awareness stage. They're like, look at me, look at me, I have this, I have this, I have this. But they don't actually really think about the buying journey. What are the steps that that person is going to take? What else do they need to know? What more do they need to know? You know all about your product, you know all about your service, but the person buying from you, they might not even know that they need what you have. And then, you know, you need to have that convincing piece and tell them that what you're offering is actually going to be a solution for them, whether that is helping them with the pain point or helping them with a desire. Because not everything, in my opinion, is a pain point. Sometimes people have desires. So this is literally very basic top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel approach. And one of the reasons why I love funnels is because they make marketing so much easier. And I'm going to explain to you how. Because yes, we talk about funnels, yes, we talk about marketing, and everyone's, or not everyone, but a lot of you might go, no, I'm just going to walk away from this. But they make everything so much easier. Firstly, there's predictability. With a funnel, you're not guessing what kind of results you'll get. From your marketing efforts, if you sit down and you really clearly map out a customer's journey, you are going to know like, each step of that and what you need to do and what you need to say. So you've got a system to follow. And once you optimize it, because that's another thing, you got to keep tinkering with it until you've got it all dialed in really well. Once you optimize it, you can actually predict your outcomes more accurately. And to give you an example of that, so you might be driving traffic with social media paid ads. So people see your content, they get to know you, you get them on your list. So that's one thing. Once they're on your list, and you might be selling online courses or digital products or something like that, once they're on your list, you send them a series of nurture emails. And you know you've been working on this for quite a while to optimize it, test, tweak. And by now you know that if you send a thousand people through your funnel, you get a 3% conversion rate because you have been pushing people through, testing, optimizing, tweaking. And now you know that if you send a thousand of the right people, of course, through your funnel, you're going to get X amount at the other end. And you know, there's always variables, but it becomes way more predictable when you have that system in place. Another thing is that you have clarity in your messaging. So when you have a funnel, you know exactly what to say to your audience at each stage. Like I said before, there's the awareness stage, there's that consideration, and there's the conversion. They are all at different stages to people in that audience and they need to get a different message. So once you have a funnel, you know what to say at each of those stages. And it takes away the guesswork because you're delivering specific messages that guide your leads towards making a purchase. So knowing what to say at each stage, and this is really good for your social media content as well, because you need to have content that fits in each of those stages. And yes, there'll be overlap of who sees it and things like that, but you need to have each one of those stages in your marketing content. Another thing is that it's an efficient use of your resources. Funnels allow you to focus your time and your energy and your budget on strategies that will guide your leads through the buying journey. So instead of, you know, that spray and pray with your marketing efforts, you're actually strategically Moving people from one stage to the next. This is why I love funnels so much, because really it makes marketing so much easier. Now let's talk about how you can build a simple funnel that works. And it doesn't need to be complicated. It can be super straightforward. It can be like a three step process to get started and depending on your business, but you might want to just sit down and go, well, what is the most straightforward way for me to attract that person, nurture them and convert them. So here's an example. Step one, Start with a lead magnet. So you can offer something valuable for free, like a checklist, a guide, a webinar, a free consultation. Be mindful with those because there's only one of you. Or if you're in E commerce, you can do free shipping on your first order or 10% off your first order. Something valuable. So this is an easy way to attract your ideal audience and to get them into your funnel it needs to obviously be something that is related to what your core offer is going to be because it has to all be linked to each other. Step two, use an email sequence to nurture your leads. So once you've got someone's email, you want to send them a series of follow up emails that add more value and then introduce your core offer. And I love funnels for all sorts of reasons that could be literally onboarding funnels and all sorts of things. But for the purpose of this episode, I'm talking about a sales funnel. And sales funnels can even be used in places where you wouldn't even think you would be using a sales funnel or just a funnel. But yeah, you want to send people a series of follow up emails that add more value and then you want to introduce what you offer. So it's where you nurture the relationship and you build trust. And when I say you want to add more value, I'm not saying that you have to give them more free stuff and things like that. It could be a little mindset shift. It could be like just a tiny little lesson. It could be a story of one of your clients, like a case study. Like it depends on obviously what you sell, but it doesn't have to be long either. It could be like four emails and then the next step is to present a core offer. So make it easy for them to buy by giving them a clear and compelling offer. Like this is what you're working towards, like this is your main thing that you sell. So that's where you've built all this trust for all this. Like this relationship building, because let's be honest, if you go on social media and get in front of someone who has never ever heard of you, doesn't even know what you sell, doesn't know what you do, doesn't even know that they need it, and you go, hey, buy my thing. What do you think is going to happen? Yes. So before you invite them to buy from you, you really want to have that piece of relationship building done. Whether that is a fast process, depending on your offer and the price point, or whether that is a longer process. But and I'm going to backtrack here a little bit, you need to know who your ideal client is as well. Because your ideal client might not have any issues with a high priced offer as long as it is presented well, as long as the messaging and positioning is done so, so well that they go, yep, here's $2,000, fix it for me kind of thing. And that could be an online course, it could be a group program, it could be a service, all of that, as long as you have that trust building piece. Because people still need to have trust and they need to know that what you do and what you offer is going to help them. So it could be fast process, it could be short process, but it was all part of a funnel. Then you really want to make sure that you make it just easy for them to buy. It's amazing how many places I've visited in terms of like online where I'm like, I want to buy from you but I can't figure it out. Like it's not straightforward, it's not simple. People are almost hiding the buttons to sign up with them. So make sure you make it easy. And whether it's a product, service or a course, make the purchase process seamless. Like it doesn't need to be hard. Like make it easy for people to hand over their money. If you've done all this work in getting them to a point where they're like, oh my goodness, yes, take my money, make it easy for them to pay you the money. And there's like other ways that other things that you can do as well. So you can have upsells down sells to increase your sales. But remember, keep it simple, don't overcomplicate things, especially when you're just starting out. Like it doesn't need to be hard. You just gotta think about what is the most straightforward way for someone to go from not knowing you or not knowing that they have a problem. Or maybe your ideal client is problem aware. What is the most Straightforward way to go from discovering you to buying from you while you still building that trust piece. It doesn't need to be complicated. So why do I think that you should go through the effort of setting up a funnel? Like I said, I love it. But there are some other benefits as well. One, it increases conversion rates. So because you are guiding your leads step by step, they're more likely to convert into customers. So I've actually worked with quite a few businesses who have only done that top of the funnel part. They have a Facebook page and maybe an Instagram account, and that's it. Some have a website, some don't have a website. But there is no middle of funnel action. There is no nurturing, and they often don't even know where their customers come from. Or if they do, sometimes they just have. They have all these comments on social media and they go, well, nobody's buying from me. But like, there's no middle of funnel. So having that step by step, you guiding them into converting to customers, it gives you like a structure. A funnel gives you a structure. It gives you a way to structure your sales process and it gives you a way to make it easier from your leads to borrow from you. So this is why you need to really track your leads. If you don't know what your marketing efforts are doing, if you literally just go on social media and you just post and post and post and you hope for the best, you don't have a funnel. And that is a really risky way to build a business. So you need to have a way to track your leads and then figuring out what makes those leads convert into customers. Like, there's all that tracking piece. Another way, another step benefit is that it saves time and it saves energy. So once you're finally set up, it works for you even when you're not actively selling. It's like having a marketing assistant on like 24 7, an unpaid marketing assistant for 24 7. Like, once it's set up, it like it's automated. You don't have to do anything. You still have to feed traffic to it. But like, there's so many steps that you don't have to do anymore. Another thing is that it improves the customer experience. With a funnel, the customer journey feels natural and it feels intentional. And when you do it right, it doesn't feel salesy at all. Like, instead it actually feels like you're genuinely helping people solve a problem. Like, even though it's called the sales funnel, it is you building that trust, sharing what you do, sharing what you know, not all of it, of course, helping people towards a solution. And it will feel like that if it's done right. And another benefit is that it gives you data for optimization. You can actually finally see what's working and what's not, which makes the whole process easier, but it also allows you to make tweaks and improve it over time so that you can step away even more, like automate things even more and still convert and make sales. So lots of benefits. I love it. Now, I know that there's a lot of resistance for, against funnels, but I also know that people don't understand a lot of the, like the concept a lot of the time, or they don't often see that there could be an easier way. And this is what I've noticed with working with local businesses, there are often easier ways. For example, I worked with a farm business direct to consumers, and they just didn't know that there was such an option as automating a lot of these things. They were manually collecting email addresses, manually emailing people when they had produce available. So don't worry if that is you. If you are hoping that there is a solution that things can be automated and made easy. I almost, I'm almost certain that there is an easier way. But don't worry if you don't know about this and don't worry if you feel in a way uncomfortable, unsure whether or not funnels can help you. I'm going to run through some misconceptions because I know there are a few and this is my thing. I love, I love funnels so much. Every single business person or every single mentor and client that I meet with, I'm like, how can we automate? How can we make things easier? And how can we make the customer journey, what, more fun but also more streamlined and so that they actually do feel nurtured and they do feel that you are fully invested in helping them. So I'm going to tackle some misconceptions. One, people often feel like funnels are complicated and people tend to overcomplicate things, myself included. Sometimes there is a simple way. It doesn't need to be so complicated. A funnel can literally be as simple as three steps, a lead magnet, a nurture sequence, a core offer. You can always add more complexity later. But starting simple is the key. Like, yes, you can do upsells, down, sells, cross sells, all sorts of things. Start simple. You literally just need a way to get people in. And a lead magnet is a really, really good way to get people in and give them A taster of what you offer, then you need to have that nurture sequence, that nurturing piece where you build that relationship and that trust and you need an offer like your main thing that you sell. It can literally be that simple. I often hear that funnels don't work for my business. Actually funnels can be adapted to any business model whether you're in E commerce, a service based business or even a brick and mortar store. I have not met any businesses that cannot benefit from having a funnel, even a simple like three step funnel, like the most simple funnel, even when you, you know, go to a telstra store or like a phone store, you need to need a new phone. There's that whole piece of attraction. So they need to have done the work to attract you to come to the store. But even in the store there's the salespeople, there's processes, they move you from one step to the next. I know we don't notice it as much because one we're used to it and we don't question it. But there are very deliberate steps. Even the setup of the stores often are very deliberate how they make you move through a store. So yes, there's funnels everywhere. Every single business has a funnel. A lot of businesses you will notice, especially the bigger players will at some point get your email address and email you marketing emails. And it is all part of brand building, nurturing, being visible, staying visible, staying in front of mind. So it's all part of that structure. And then another one that I often hear is it takes too much time to set up. Well, I do agree on you agree on that with you. But while it may take some time up front and some effort up front, the time you invest will save you countless hours down the road. Honestly, if you kept doing a lot of things manually and you kept doing that, you either need staff or you just if you want to grow, you're going to hit a max because there's only so much you can do as a one person. So you're going to hit like a certain ceiling where you can't grow past. And then you might have to hire staff. Automations honestly make your life so much easier. Plus you'll also see more consistent results. And all of the software that we can now use to automate a lot of stuff it always data tracking. So that's another thing. You're also going to get data that you can look at use to improve. So yes, there is something to be said for some manual steps and it will take time to build a funnel but in the end, you're going to save way more time than you're going to spend building it. All right, time to wrap up. Remember that funnels don't need to be complicated to be effective. Start with a simple funnel and simply focus on guiding people through a logical path from awareness to purchase. And by implementing a funnel, you'll just literally make your marketing efforts way more predictable, way more efficient, way more impactful. It is honestly going to save you time, but it has so many other benefits as well. Now if you're ready to start with funnels, I have actually created a comprehensive but easy to follow mini course that gives you everything you need to build your funnels. It's called Funnel Fundamentals. And right now you can access it at the special launch price which gives you 44% off. I will put the link and details in the show notes. But basically this program program has been in the back of my mind for so, so long. Since I work with so many different businesses online, space is literally funnels galore. Most of us have funnels, but I have been mentoring a lot of local businesses. I'm working with, for example the chamber of commerce, some local food manufacturers and providers yet as other other ones as well farm direct from the farm kind of businesses. And there are just so many opportunities for funnels. Every single time I meet with a business, I can see the potential. I can see how things can be automated, I can see how things can be made easier. And there is literally a funnel for everyone. Every single business can use automations and funnels to make things easier. Whether that is as part of the sales process, as part of the onboarding process, when you know, when you bring clients on board, just giving people a better experience by automating certain steps, it makes such a difference. I'm even seeing it with my husband and some friends who have gone through like for example job application processes not getting an automated response. I don't even know why businesses don't do it. Like put in an automated response, we've received your application. Thank you so much. We will follow up with you soon. It doesn't need to be hard, but if you don't get anything, you kind of, it's almost like you're leaving the person hanging, not knowing whether or not they got it, whether or not they've received it, what's going to happen next. It makes it such like a much better experience getting an automation. So this is where I coming from when I'm saying funnels. It's not only funnels for sales it's funnels, like automated funnels. There's so many things we can do do with that. So that's why I built Funnel Fundamentals, because every single business needs a funnel in my opinion and there are different nuances. So inside of Funnel Fundamentals I'm giving you like planning checklists, working through your customer avatar again working out who your ideal client is, what kind of steps they take, are giving you a lot of resources to build your funnels. So for example email nurture sequence, copywriting guides, sales page copywriting guides, planning your whole funnel in your sequence. Whether that is going to be as like a simple funnel or whether it's like for example a webinar funnel or a low ticket offer funnel, there's so many options inside of there. So I'll pop all the links for final fundamentals in the show notes right now. You can access it at the special launch price, but it will be going up really soon so make sure that you don't wait too long. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode. I hope you found it helpful and I'm always excited to share more marketing tips and strategies with you. So I'll be back next week. And don't forget if you are ready to take your business to the next level with Facebook and Instagram advertising, make sure that you head to new school of marketing.com where you find practical free resources. And if you want to grow your business but you don't want to spend all your time on slow and unpredictable organic social media, then the Aimful Ads Academy is for you. It's the place to learn how to be seen by your audience, attract the right people as leads and turn them into paying customers with my proven four ad stack method. Plus as part of the program you will have one on one access to me. I'm a marketing strategist with over 10 years experience so that you don't have to navigate this alone. I am here to help you be seen, I'm here to help you attract leads and I'm here to get you more paying customers. And if you're not a part of the Aim for Ads Academy, you get Funnel Fundamentals as part of that. So there's another option. Now make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. I can't wait to keep this journey going with you. Until next time. Take care and market your business every day.