If your online sales have lagged behind the goals that you have set for yourself, you may need to rethink the strategy that you are implementing to drive them in the first place.
Unless you are approaching your sales strategy in a directed and focused manner, you are going to continue to miss the mark. To solve this, you need to figure out how to capture better leads. Website impressions and views do not mean you are attracting the right potential leads for your business; you need to ensure that these leads are qualified enough to convert them into customers and drive sales. customers.
How? Through better managing your sales pipeline (also known as your sales funnel).
What is a sales pipeline?
In a nutshell, a sales funnel is the framework that you have established to move potential customers into your sales cycle. This means that they are speaking to your representatives, they are learning what you have to offer, and they are showing openness to hear what you have to say. At CentrixOne, for example, we have made it our mission to power your sales by making it easier for you to build an effective sales funnel. This is where our CRM is extremely helpful, making your sales funnel more organized and optimized for conversions
How to build a sales funnel?
The key here is to make your sales funnel in such a way that it captures, engages, qualifies, nurtures, and converts your leads. If you are doing nothing more than tossing up a landing page and accepting e-mails, you cannot expect to drive the sort of results that you want.
On the contrary, you need to get active about your sales funnel. Consider how you want to engage with leads at each stage of the sales process—when they first discover your business, when they explore your products and services, when they contact you for more information, etc. In fact, there are generally four major phases in your sales funnel: Awareness, Interest, Decision and Action.
During each step, consider what types of useful emails, relevant content and promotions they would be most likely to enjoy receiving. This helps to narrow your sales funnel as leads move through it or become disqualified due to a lack of interest or fit. By qualifying your leads, it is only natural that you have more prospects at the top of the funnel than buyers at the bottom.
How to optimize your sales funnel
To optimize the efforts that you are putting into qualifying your leads, make sure that you are asking the right questions:
* Are you speaking with a decision maker or purchasing influencer?
* What are the main concerns of the decision maker or purchasing influencer?
* Does this company or person have the budget to work with you?
* Will this company’s or person’s timeline work for you?
* What are the compelling reasons for this company or person to work with you?
The sales pipeline: It’s all about selling!
Don’t strive for perfection from the get-go. Just because a potential customer isn’t ready to take action on your offer, you can nurture the lead. All you need to do is stay proactive and reaching out on a timely basis. This way, you can build trust among your prospects over time and better understand what makes them tick. You’ll also gain valuable insights on what makes a prospect become a customer.
