Automated Sales Funnels: Why They Work From Top To Bottom

Success in business is all about the process  Your automated sales funnel is no different. From lead generation to sales and marketing, everything involves having streamlined processes in order to turn traffic and visitors into sales and revenue.

Today, I am going to talk about one of the most important aspects of converting customers - and that's through an automated sales funnel.

Before we get into the details of that we need to have a clear understanding of the basic terminology or what a sales funnel is...  And if you're curious how to set up a sales funnel for your business, check out this Funnel Factor report!

What is a sales funnel?

In the simplest of words, marketing can be defined as the series of steps a customer has to go through before they end up converting into a sale.

Though sales funnels and sales systems have been around forever both online and off, in this fast-paced world with internet and technology it has become easier for a business owner to create an automated sales funnel and convert customers than it ever has been before.

So, how do sales funnels work?

First of all, you need to understand the fact that the goal of a sales funnel is to make it easy for someone to understand what you do, find out how you do it, and ultimately take action on an offer... In other words, convert into a sale.

Typical stages of the sales funnel  

Now that you have basic knowledge of how a sales funnel is laid out, let's shift the conversation toward the different stages that a customer must pass through in a sales funnel.

And believe me, this isn't a newfangled marketing tactic.  In fact, automated sales funnels follow the time-tested and age-old A.I.D.A. Principle. AIDA and the overall approach are commonly attributed to American advertising and sales pioneer, E. St. Elmo Lewis and can be found in pretty much every marketing textbook on the planet.

Awareness

Just like a toddler learning language initially by becoming familiar with the alphabet, the first step of the prospect's journey in this funnel begins with the letter A... i.e. Awareness.

To bring people into the automated sales funnel, you need to make them aware of the fact that you have the solution to a problem they are facing. For example, you are selling a car. You need to target the audience - someone who commutes on the local bus - and who would rather drive themselves...

So, initially, you must make them aware that you have a car for them.

Interest

Now that the customer is aware of the fact that you have a solution to their problem, you need to build their interest.

Answer the question – why should they choose your product?

Continuing from the above example – why should they consider buying the car that you're selling?

This is where building interest comes into the picture. You need to let the customer know about features of your product like affordability, low maintenance, better convenience, higher social status, and other things that'll help your prospect consider purchasing the vehicle...

Desire

Once the customer passes through the second stage and they're considering your offer, it's time to increase their desire...  This can be done through a demo, a free trial, an explanation of the benefits they'll experience once they purchase, etc...

In the car example, the classic move in increasing desire is offering a test drive...  Once they sit behind the wheel and take the car out for a spin, they immediately feel a sense of ownership...  What would it be like taking the kids to school in this car?  How awesome would it be if I didn't have to wake up 60 minutes early every day to catch the bus...  At this point, the only stage that's left is them taking action and purchasing the vehicle!

Action

This is the final stage of the sales process...  The prospect is now all set to buy your product/service, usually through a sales letter of some kind, be it a video sales letter or a traditional sales letter.  To see how all of this works in your business, book an Action Plan call and we'll diagram a funnel for you!

Once the customer is satisfied with all the information he or she has managed to gather in the previous funnel steps, it's time for them to make the ultimate decision and purchase your product or service.

Throughout this process, content and content marketing plays a massive role. After all, that’s how the customer will move through the different stages of the funnel. Without engaging content, your prospect doesn't stay connected or hooked to the offer.

... And, don’t forget that in today's marketplace, your competitors are outside like hungry wolves waiting to pounce on your prospect. So, you cannot afford to make the mistake of letting your customer go once they are in the automated sales funnel.  You need to keep them engaged even once they're through your funnel!

Now throughout this automated sales funnel, the customer journey can be divided on different phases based on the stage they are in. Here’s a look into those phases.

Prospect

At this stage the customer is naïve – he or she is looking for information about your brand or about a solution to their problem, but they're unaware of what you do and definitely don't have the information to make a decision yet.  Oftentimes, we get them to raise their hand at this point by downloading a lead magnet or signing up for a webinar.

Qualified lead

When a customer begins digging into your products and services, either by filling out a contact form or signing up for a piece of marketing collateral that you offer, they move from prospect stage to the qualified lead stage.

Interested

This is the stage where the customer starts to show real interest in what you are selling by exploring your product/services in detail.  Usually, it's after attending a webinar, watching a sales video or filling out a form for a strategy session with you.

Decided

When the customer has decided that he or she wants to buy what you are selling, the customer is going to contact your salesperson or click an Add To Cart button on your website to take action with you.

Won / Lost

The last stage, when the customer is satisfied with the information you have to offer, is after they purchase.  At that point, you're fulfilling your product or service and they're getting what they paid for!

Conclusion

In conclusion, this is the simplest and clearest way to describe how a marketing funnel works, as well as the different stages that a customer has to move through while being in this funnel.

Getting prospects to enter this funnel is pretty easy. Usually, you give a download or a webinar registration or something that they opt-in for...  After that though, the real work begins.

In order to keep your prospects moving through the stages of the funnel, you need to make sure you're giving them what they need to progress through the automated sales funnel as quickly as possible.  Sometimes, a buyer decides in 5 minutes....  Other times, it could take months.

Don’t forget...  Content is your best friend when it comes to conversion. Focus on creating awesome content that can keep potential customers learning and moving through your process and you'll be well on your way to setting up an automated sales funnel that converts day and night!

If you're interested in a Done For You Sales Funnel, make sure the schedule a call and we'll chat about it!

Video Transcript:

In today's video, we're going to talk about how sales funnels work from top to bottom.

Now, this is totally loaded. I mean, it's a loaded question, because there are so many different kinds of sales funnels. There's three, pretty much foundational sales funnels that we build for most of our clients in most cases, and they are largely determined based on price in complexity.

So the more expensive an offer is, the more high touch it's going to end up being. So your low touch kind of sales funnels. automated sales funnels are like VSL upsell sequences, like a video sales letter followed by an upsell sequence.

And then above that is a multi-video launch sequence. So usually three or four sales videos that walk through a specific sales process. That bond is engaged. And, you know, basically, sell a prospect.

So you know, turn them into a customer. And then you have your automated webinars and auto made webinars have two different kinds of calls, two different calls to action.

One of them is an order form, you know, so it's like straight up add to cart, and the other one is book a call with a sales rep. So that's generally kind of the framework that we follow, the more complex, the more high ticket, you know, we tend to skew towards like an automated webinar with a sales call.

Now, that process can be shortcutted with a fully qualified lead sales video, which we have been testing a lot of and doing a lot of recently because people they want something done quickly, you know, so so that's one of the reasons why these FTL VSL funnels work really, really well.

But to talk about a sales funnel is really to understand the process of how a prospect warms up to you So there is a in an age old marketing acronym, Ada Ada that we, I learned in college, you know, in a marketing class and it was one of those things that was in the textbook, I remember being on a quiz. And I'm like, I'm never gonna use this.

This is crazy. It's 130 years old, you know what I mean?

But here's the thing like, it doesn't matter whether it is 100 years or 50 years or 20 years, businesses business you know, so, whether somebody is bonding with you and progressing through a sales cycle in person, or whether they are bonding with you and progressing through a sales cycle, digitally through an automated funnel, the same process is happening.

The same, the same four-step you know, the thing is going on, they are being attracted into your world, your silo, your business, your brand, then they are increasingly In interest, so they're becoming more and more and more interested in you in what you're doing in your offer, they are increasing in desire.

So the more they learn about you, the more they see, they watch the video, they read your sales copy, they visit your blog, they attend webinars, they open your email them, the more desire they have for the thing, that the offer that you were making the thing that you are going to be selling them, which leads to the fourth step, which is taking action.

So taking action is the last piece of the puzzle where they pull out their credit card and they buy whether that or they you know, you agree to have an invoice sent to them and they purchase no matter how it works. Those are four the four basic cycles or the four pieces of the sales process. Now when you apply that That, those principles to a sales funnel, you can see them playing out like this.

So let's say we have an automated webinar that is selling a high ticket coaching program or some sort of a high ticket service. So let's say it's a 20 $500 a month coaching program that is three months long, let's say. So all in all, you know, it's 2500 a month for three months and there's some sort of a fast action discount that drops 1500 dollars off the price, you know, so, we set up an automated webinar that plays immediately on-demand after somebody signs up for it.

We also set up a lead magnet and we set up you know, 2025 emails that move them through from a marketing automation standpoint, that's what we do for all of our clients.

Now, what happens is when that funnel is up and running, so we have a Facebook ad invites invite you to know, it's a video it invites them to you know, To sign up for the webinar or sign up for the lead magnet, that video is being seen by 20 3050 100 200 500,000 people. It is it isn't.

It's casting a net. It is inviting people. You know anybody who is attracted to this thing, click the link, click the button you know to watch the video. That is the purpose of you know that net and you can do retargeting, and you can do content videos and live streams and all that thing just to cast a huge net, just to just so people become attracted to you where you attract your ideal target market through the words you use through the modalities. You create whatever.

Now, they hit your landing page. They sign up for your webinar, and they have opted in. They receive your webinar content they receive your lead magnet they receive your emails they received blog posts and all of these things that increase their interest and ultimately turn into a desire for the thing that you're selling.

Now, this process happens because they are receiving stuff from you, because they're receiving content.

Then finally, you make an offer that resonates with them, and they turn that into a pitch. So the attractiveness piece is everything outside. You know, like that.

First, a is everything that happens outside of your wheelhouse outside of your silo to pull them in. Once you pull them in, and they are they have opted in for your stuff. Then you work at increasing their desire and ultimately turning, turning, you know, converting them into that action for your offer.

There are those steps can play out in as little as two hours, as little as 15 minutes or it might take six years. I find people who have been on my list for six years, and then they just now have, you know, signed up for a sales funnel or we're running traffic for them or whatever, you know, they have just made the decision, then it's time for them to jump and move forward.

You know, so there's always that. So that is this, the sales funnel process, and how everything works from top to bottom. Now, your sales funnel is going to be a little bit different. just purely because your offers different your business is different.