A sales funnel is the set of stages a customer goes through from first hearing of you to buying and buying again, with fewer people at each stage. When you measure how many people move from one stage to the next, you see where customers are lost and can fix that stage instead of buying more ads.
Step by step
- 1
Awareness
The customer learns you exist for the first time through an ad, a search or a recommendation. The measure here is reach and visits.
- 2
Interest and comparison
They follow, ask questions and compare you with others. Here they need content that answers their questions and proof from past customers.
- 3
Decision and purchase
They ask for a quote or add to cart. Fast replies, a clear offer and easy payment decide this stage.
- 4
Repeat and referral
A satisfied customer comes back and recommends you, and reaching them needs no new ad spend.
- 5
Calculate the conversion between stages
Example: 1,000 visitors led to 50 quote requests and 10 closed deals, so 5% of visitors asked for a quote and 20% of requests became deals.
- 6
Fix the weakest stage
Many visits and few requests point to the page or the offer, while many requests and few deals point to sales and follow-up.
Pouring more ads into the top of the funnel does not help if the leak is at the bottom. Look for the stage where the rate drops sharply.
- sales funnel stages
- what does sales funnel mean