Sales Funnels For Beginners

When I ask my clients if they have ever used, or considered using sales funnels to help boost their business, they usually respond with the same answers.

“No, what are sales funnels?”

That’s the answer that I expect.  Even though sales funnels are all around us, both online and inside everyday businesses that you might purchase something at, people usually don’t recognize them.  And the truth is, that if they are used correctly, they can easily double, triple, and potentially 10X your income.

Sales Funnels Crush Website Sales

It’s the truth, and I’ll explain why.  Think about your average website for a second.  You’ve got some products, you might have a small description, you’ve got a price, and you’ve got a link or a button to add it to the cart.  And that’s not bad as long as the person knew exactly what they wanted and went to your website to get it.

But then what happens to the customer?  He or she will leave after making the purchase having satisfied his or her original need.   Which is why, in my opinion, that a website holds the same value as a brochure, or a catalog.  They skim through, and if the consumer sees something that they like, they buy it, and then they leave.  There is actually very little to no selling going on.

It’s like walking into a museum.  There are many exhibits to look at, so you gradually walk around the museum, and if anything catches your eye, you may stop and learn a little more about it.  And at the end of your trip to the museum, the only things that you learned about, are the ones that caught your eye, and that you chose to read a little more about.  That’s basically what a website is.

Now, what if you went into the museum, and you were met at the front entrance, and you were offered a guided tour through the museum?  So you decide to take the guided tour with your tour guide (let’s call her Samantha).  Along the way, you stop at every exhibit, and you are given detailed information including the importance of the exhibit and the time period from which it came.   Samantha is wise and has knowledge of every exhibit.  You enjoy the entire tour, especially given the fact that you learned a lot about exhibits that you had no intentions of originally looking at.  And at the end of your tour, you are amazed and can’t wait to tell your friends about this unreal experience that you had at the museum.  And that’s the main difference between websites and sales funnels.

Sales funnels are ways to take your potential customers by the hand and walk them through your products (either all or a select few), whether the customer came to your page for them or not.

Let me give you a couple examples of sales funnels in the real world (offline):

1. McDonald’s: I’m a little hungry, so I think I’ll swing over to “McD’s” for a burger real quick.  Keep in mind, all I have in mind right now is to get a burger, potentially from the dollar menu.  So let’s say that I order a McDouble.  What happens next? “Would you like fries with that?” Well, YEAH! Of course I want fries with that, even if I didn’t initially go there with fries in mind, fries sound good too.  And then what happens next?  “Would you like a drink with that?”  Well, you’re gonna need something to wash down the burger and fries with……so yes.  “Would you like to super-size that for only $1?”  I’ve already spent more than I had originally thought about, but it’s only a buck, so why not?  Next thing you know, instead of going there for just a burger, you got an entire meal.
2. Olive Garden:  Yeah, I love pasta.  And OG isn’t making it any easier for me to say no.  But instead of the multiple layers like McD’s uses, their sales funnels only include two steps.  First, after having gone through the menu six times and finally deciding on the Chicken Alfredo over the Spaghetti with Meatballs, you call the waitress over, and she takes your order.  But just when you thought you were done, she says “and what can we make you for tomorrow?”  Wait, what?  That’s right, OG will make you a second meal so that you can take it home and have for tomorrow.  So now you can have your Spaghetti and Meatballs too!  It’s a really good sales funnel.

There are literally hundreds of ways to use sales funnels for a traditional business, a few of which I’ll be covering in future articles.  But for right now, I’m going to cover a couple online sales funnels.  Some sales funnels can have digital products (software, videos, webinars), and some can have physical products that they sell online.

The Fitness Coach:

So, you’re thinking about getting in shape, but you have no idea where to start.  So you go onto Google and you search for diet plans.  You come across one called ABC Diet Plan (free download).   So you click on it, and your taken to this page that looks like a website (but it’s not, it’s a sales funnel), but with a ton of detail.  On this page, you’re introduced to this person (via video).  This is your fitness coach.  She introduces herself to you, and then gives you her story about struggling to get in shape (for example), and then finally finding a great diet that worked for her.  Below the video appears a button that says “Download Diet Plan Here.”  So you click on the button, and another video comes up with the same fitness coach, congratulating you on making the right decision to improve your health.  It also says in the video something like “if you’re just starting out like I was, you probably don’t have much time to go to the gym. Which is why I created a five-video home workout that includes simple workouts you can do every day from your home.”  And you say, “WOW” because that’s something that you need as well.  So, you pay the low price of only $9.95 for this video series.  And when you hit the purchase button, another page comes up and says “Wait, your purchase is not complete.” And you’re shown another video of the same fitness coach that says that she can be your personal fitness coach who can design an entire plan, diet included for an entire 60-days, including on-site training at your local gym.  So you went online for a diet plan, and then you’re now paying $49.95 a month for a personal trainer to help you reach your goals. But that’s basically how sales funnels work.  They take you by the hand, and they show you products that are in your target area.

The Author/Motivational Speaker

So you’re looking for a book that will help you with your mindset, and your motivation.  And you come across a (best selling) book that looks interesting so you click on the button.  It then takes you to a page with a video of the author, explaining who he or she is, what the book is about, why it’s important to you, and how do you get it.   In this scenario, the author is giving away his or her book for free.  This is called a “Free Plus Shipping” sales funnel.  All you have to do is pay the shipping costs and the book is yours.  So, you fill out the info, including your payment information.  You then hit purchase, and you’re taken to a page that says “get this book on a pre-loaded MP3 player!”   All you have to do is pay the $29.95 plus S+H and it’s yours.  You like listening to audio’s at the gym, so you get it as well.  Then, you hit purchase,  and you’re taken to a page that says across the top “Thank you for your purchase, but before you go, it looks like you’re in Phoenix!  I will be speaking LIVE in Phoenix next month and you can get a special GOLD MEMBER TICKET DISCOUNT for just $69.97!  With this you will get early event access with reserved upfront seating, lunch with me (the author), post-event Q+A for Gold Members, and I’ll upgrade your book to a personally signed copy!”  So now, you’ve got a book (signed), MP3 Player with book on it, a ticket to an event along with lunch and Q+A with the author after.  And all you were initially after was a book.  But you’re walking away motivated because of what you have coming and knowing that you’re going to learn some great stuff while meeting the author.  As the author, you got your customer in on a free book, and then sold him or her an upgraded MP3 player, and a ticket to your event, multiplying your profit and boosting your brand.  And, at the event, you can sell your personal “MasterClass” for hundreds, if not thousands.

Not everyone is going to buy every product that you offer, but if they are on your page, and the products are relevant to the target area/market, then you should at least show the potential customer what you have as opposed to just have them leave without knowing.

I can build sales funnels for pretty much any business out there, online or brick and mortar.  If you would like to discuss how I may be a able to create one for you, please email me at [email protected] with the subject line: Sales Funnels.

Or, you can use the same exact software that I use to build out sales funnels almost every day, by going to the link below for a free, two-week trial.  But don’t worry, I know very little about coding and html.  So you don’t need to be a member of the Geeky Squadron to use this software.  Check it out here:

https://goo.gl/9tNY9A

You can use this for any type of business, I guarantee it.  If you have questions, feel free to contact me again at [email protected], subject: Sales Funnels

Have a great day!