GSD 223: Sales Funnels For Small Businesses – Smart or No?

Welcome to today’s GSD Daily. We are going to be talking about sales funnels for small businesses. And lately, we’ve been having a lot of calls with sales funnels, local businesses, and folks who need a sales funnel, but it’s not a sales funnel. Some sales funnel as I know what a sales funnel is. Do you know what I mean? So as somebody who has grown up with sales funnels and built entire, many businesses on sales funnels, sales funnels now have drifted down into the vernacular of small businesses.

So small businesses are wondering if they need a sales funnel. If you operate a jewelry shop, no, you don’t need a sales to funnel. If you are a chiropractor, no, you don’t need a sales funnel, not as we traditionally know them. Now, a sales funnel is a collection of pages and marketing automation that moves a prospect through a buying process.

Now, usually, that buying process is done online. So for some of our clients, we have a mini sales funnel that ends in a scheduling functionality. So they come in, they watch a video, they fill out a form, they book a time, and they ultimately schedule on the local business calendar. So that entire process, front to back is done online. So nice and easy, no person is needed. That is a sales funnel.

Now, if you operate an auto mechanic or shop, no, you don’t need a sales to funnel. You just need somebody who’s picking up the phone, calling you, and booking appointments. They can book appointments through a website and they should for sure, but that’s not how most of your clients will come and do business with you. Most of them are going to click an ad, they’re going to go to your website, they’re going to hit the Google My Business listing, and they’re going to then call.

So that is the purpose of Google My Business, and that’s how they end up interacting with you. But they’re not going to watch a video. They’re not going to bond with you through emails and text messages. It’s a very quick decision whether they’re going to do business with you. They might read some reviews, and then they’re going to call you and book an appointment, and that’s about all.

So a sales funnel, in essence for small businesses is large if you’re building a relationship with a prospect, then yes, there’s a sales funnel. There’s some sort of a digital marketing automated kind of way that we can build that relationship with a client. But if you are a transactional small business, you don’t need a sales to funnel, you need a phone number and some ads pointed to it. A good couple of good landing pages that collect information about your prospects, maybe a scheduling functionality, but that isn’t a typical sales funnel as you would see it.

So basically what you’re going to be looking for is some sort of an ad. So ads, whether that be Google or Facebook, to a landing page. And that landing page probably is going to have some sort of a scheduling form, a phone number for them to call, and this is trackable. A contact form and/or an application. You don’t need all of those things, but you need at least a couple of them. For sure, your best bet is probably to include a scheduling form.

When somebody has a problem, then they want to solve that problem, or at least move closer to a solution immediately. So anything that you can do to temporarily resolve that problem for them will help them move closer to giving you money. Do you know what I mean? So if somebody needs new tires for their vehicle and they’re able to go to your website and book an appointment to get new tires immediately without talking to somebody, then you are that much closer to securing a great long-term customer.

So that is what the sales funnel is, designed to move them along that buying journey quickly. You don’t need a lot of complicated Wizbang marketing stuff. Landing page with a scheduling form, maybe an application, maybe some contact form, and a phone number so that they can call in if they’d rather. And then from there, you just need some sort of confirmation. And this is, thank you. Thank you for booking an appointment. Thank you. Well, you wouldn’t know if they’re calling. Thank you for filling out your contact form. Thank you for applying to work with us.

In this process, once it’s all up and running, you have Google Ads, which goes into a landing page, which goes into a confirmation page, and my friends are your funnel. That looks terrible, but that will move you a lot closer as a small business to automate your customer journey. Now, one thing I will mention, if you put this in place, you’re going to start collecting email addresses and leads, prospects, and people who want to do business with you, not now, but maybe later.

You want to make sure to email them, provide content, create social media posts, and all the excellent content marketing stuff. You want to make sure you’re doing it for them so that they can continue, so you’re top of mind always so that when the next time they need tires, the next time they need their brakes to change, they know that they at some point signed up on your email list. You provide good content, you must care about your clients and your clients and your customers. They will do business with you because you will be top of mind.

So if you have any questions at all, make sure to ask them in the comment box below this video. If you got value from this video, please like and share it with your friends. And if you would like to set up an action plan call where we go through, talk about your business, and figure out what kind of sales funnel is best for you, and what kind of traffic you need to start generating more revenue online, then go to doneforyou.com/start. Fill in the little form or go through and check the boxes, and we’ll talk to you soon. All right, thanks. Bye.