There's a lot to keep in mind when it comes to funnel management. With so many factors that can go wrong, it's easy to get overwhelmed and feel like your campaign is doomed. But there are actually four simple steps you can take today that will help ensure your campaign runs smoothly all the way through - without any issues!
Sales funnel management is the process of turning strangers into customers. Depending on your business, this may be done one-to-one or in mass outreach campaigns. Regardless, you want the whole process to be as efficient as possible because every potential customer counts.
To keep things simple, break down your sales funnel stages into two parts: Awareness and conversion. Your entire journey should begin with awareness—that's why it's at the beginning of the funnel! Once people are aware of your brand or product, they'll move into conversion phases that can include interest/evaluation and desire.
To get better results from each stage, always take note of your previous campaigns. Use software like Marketo or Salesforce to record the data you need in order for this process to be smooth and efficient.
Want more sales funnel management statistics?
Here's how to use savvy analytics to turn information into action.
Stage 1: Awareness (top of the funnel)
The top part of the funnel—the awareness stage—is where you get people checking out what you're selling. Depending on your industry, this may involve attending trade shows, sending emails about your new product/service, or making an appearance at a local event.
Keep in mind that while these are all great ways to create awareness, they aren't necessarily direct routes to conversions. There are many other methods available for funneling people into the next stage of your process.
Stage 2: Interest + Evaluation
Once you've created awareness, you want to turn strangers into prospects—people who are interested in what it is you have to offer. To help do this, think about how people usually shop for things that interest them. When they find something that looks good, they'll research more about it!
You can use this technique by providing value on your website or blog, including contact information so visitors get in touch with their questions. If someone's curious enough to want to know more about your brand or product, then great! They're a prospect. Now all you need to do is lead them towards exploring opportunities for themselves.
Stage 3: Desire
This is the step that most companies ignore. Many businesses just leave it up to their sales reps to close deals, but this puts too much responsibility on someone who's already busy enough—and not good at closing deals! Instead, by using nurturing campaigns directed at individual prospects (who are already aware of your brand or product), you can show them why they need what you've got.
This increases their desire for your product/service and helps move them towards conversions (for more info please see our article 'The Building Blocks of Marketing Funnels').
Losing deals in the middle?
Sometimes potential customers drop out somewhere between awareness and conversion; maybe they didn't like what you had to offer or weren't ready. Don't worry about these people.
Even if they don't buy now, you can still keep them in the loop by emailing them relevant information that might be helpful/inspirational to them or their business. You never know—they may have just been busy when you first contacted them and are ready to buy right now!
Stage 4: Action (bottom of the funnel)
Once you've got your prospects excited about what it is you have to offer, all that's left is for someone to take action. This could mean having a sales rep send over an order form so customers can place an order online, sending an email with links to purchase products directly, or attending another event where potential customers learn more about your brand.
It comes down to drawing people towards the next step you want them to take.
Just because it's a sales funnel doesn't mean there should be a lot going on! Focus on one process for each stage of the funnel and stick to it—don't try to force prospects through all four stages at once, as this will only confuse them. Instead, find out what each stage is about and work from there.
Use software to your advantage so that everything is automated where possible. This means you can have everyone working together towards the same goal without having to worry about who's doing what.
You've probably heard the expression, "Don't over-think it." This is so true when it comes to sales funnels! If you start worrying or thinking too much about your process, you'll get confused and lose focus. Here are some questions you should avoid asking yourself: What am I supposed to be doing? Does this make sense?
Are they going to think my company is weird? No matter how many times you ask these questions, the answers won't change—your process shouldn't either. You need to understand what makes up each stage of the funnel, but that's it! Don't try to figure out why things work—simply use the strategy and let it do its thing.
As a sales manager, you need to know exactly what your reps are doing at every step of the process, but that doesn't mean you should micromanage them or drive yourself crazy trying to control everything! Instead, check-in with your department regularly and keep everyone on track by leading from behind.
Your team will feel more accountable for their actions if they're not constantly looking over their shoulder to see if you approve.
Plus, your reps will be much happier and more productive when they aren't so concerned about watching what they say or how often they send emails or call people—they can just focus on converting as many prospects as possible and earning commission anywhere between $10,000 and $25,000 (or more!) per month!
With the right combination of marketing automation and sales funnel strategies in place, you can manage hundreds or even thousands of leads at once while your reps track everything from a single dashboard. This is because systems like Eloqua give companies automated workflows and email campaigns that can be set up to match specific stages in your funnel.
This means that every time someone enters the top of one stage or moves down to another, they automatically receive an email with links offering relevant information/products/services. Your rep only needs to make sure everyone stays on track by initiating any real-time communication required.
Once you start using such software, there's no limit to how many people you can reach or how much money you can make!
A phrase you should be familiar with. You can't just focus on the number of leads that come into your sales funnel—you need to make sure these people are also high-quality leads, otherwise, you'll have wasted your time and money trying to convert them.
This means paying attention to where those leads come from so you can work out which channels produce the best results for your business, as well as ensuring any emails or other communications sent out properly explain what your company does and how it could benefit potential customers.
There are some common mistakes many businesses make when trying to implement a sales funnel for the first time, but they can be easily avoided if you know what you're doing. We've already gone over why it's important to keep your process simple and not overthink things, so here are other ways to avoid messing up:
Don't forget to measure
If you don't keep track of your data, no one else is going to—not even your reps! You need to stay on top of everything so that way you can set yourself apart from the competition by knowing exactly how much potential revenue each stage in the funnel is generating.
There's nothing more disappointing than finding out later down the line that all those leads didn't produce any deals because you didn't have the data to show you where you went wrong.
Don't fall into the trap of tracking every single word spoken over the phone or email—you can rely on your software to keep track of what's being said so you know which areas need improving and who's responsible for addressing them. Then, once all problems are fixed and everything is in place, your team can start converting more leads!
Don't stop training people
Most sales reps aren't good at closing deals when they first start out. This is why it's important that managers bring new hires up-to-speed by offering regular training sessions with qualified experts who can teach them how to properly convert leads without any errors or setbacks.
Even when an employee doesn't seem to be getting the hang of things, there will always be someone ready to help them—and that's why it's equally important for reps to focus on building solid relationships with their customers.
Don't stop gathering data
Once you start gathering information about your team and the people they're dealing with, it'll become much easier to find out which areas are working well and which need improvement. Just because this stage of the funnel is over doesn't mean you can ignore it! The same goes for any tools or resources you might be using, so make sure you keep them up-to-date as soon as possible if anything needs fixing.
Gather and review data religiously
One of the most important things to do in order to really ensure your sales funnel is working effectively is to keep track of everything. This means making sure everyone you're working with knows they need to give you regular feedback about how it's going and what else could be done in order to make progress.
Don't forget: statistics, facts, and figures can tell you a lot more than your own gut instinct, so make sure you pay attention! It also helps if everyone involved knows what you're doing and why—if someone isn't satisfied with something, this gives them an opportunity to let their feelings be known without getting angry or having a meltdown.
The last thing anyone needs when trying to build rapport with customers is conflict among team members, but it's all too easy to let things get out of control.
Make sure your CRM's got what it takes
If you need an effective, reliable way of keeping track of everything, make sure the software you're using is up-to-date and actually has the capabilities required. Just because some piece of technology meets all your needs now doesn't mean it will be able to do so in a few months' time—regardless of how much money or effort might have gone into making it work that way!
You don't want to find yourself in a position where something new comes along and blows your current solution out of the water, so always keep this in mind.
Right now, there are a lot of people who have no idea how to make the most out of their sales funnel. So, if you're wondering how to create a real estate sales funnel from scratch, here's what you need to think about:
1. First things first: establish your goals for this thing. If you're serious about getting positive results from your funnel, then it has to be something that actually works—and having goals in mind will help determine whether or not that's going to happen. You should also consider whether or not you want the opportunity to grow and expand into other areas at some point down the line.
2. Once you know exactly what it is you want from your sales funnel and have set yourself realistic goals, you need to figure out what it is that's going to help you get there. You might already have everything lined up and ready to go—but if not, then start looking for various ways through which you can improve your business and yourself as an individual.
3. The next step in the process is all about putting things into action. This means focusing on how well your sales funnel works and making sure everyone involved knows exactly what needs doing in order for it to be a success. Outline clear steps and responsibilities so people know their jobs—and don't forget about measuring progress over time.
Once this part of the equation has been put into place, all that's left is actually executing it properly—but even though this is the most straightforward of steps, it's also one of the most important. The bottom line is that you won't get anywhere without actually doing things properly, so make sure you follow through on everything and keep up to date with what's happening in your business.
With sales funnel management has become such an integral part of any online venture these days, knowing how to create a real estate sales funnel from scratch is essential if you want to continue enjoying success in this industry—or any other for that matter! It all starts with setting effective goals and then following through on them; but after that comes ensuring people know their roles within your organization and making sure they do them properly.
