Sales Funnels
Simplified
Think sales funnels are complicated? Think
again!
Simplified
Think sales funnels are complicated? Think
again!
Sales funnels are not new. They have been about since long before the internet was even heard of (the term sales ‘funnel’ was first coined in 1924). It’s just that as consumers we don’t generally have any reason to know the term.
Chances are, you never even heard of a ‘sales funnel’ until you got involved in the online marketing world.
Maybe you still aren’t clear what a sales funnel is. (If that includes you, don’t worry, we’ll cover this soon).
But one thing is certain - effective sales funnels are ESSENTIAL if you want to make a decent living online.
You might not know it, but you go through sales funnels every day in life.
The layout of your local grocery store is not random – every item there is strategically placed to encourage you to add more and more to your basket as you walk round the store. The layout, the pricing, the special offers, everything is part of a sales funnel designed to make you buy more.
Think of McDonalds. ‘Would you like fries with that?’ is an upsell, part of a sales funnel.
Amazon are masters of the sales funnel. ‘Customers who bought this item also bought’ and ‘Frequently bought together’ on the checkout page are part of their sales funnel. All the follow up emails you get after making a purchase? Part of the sales funnel.
Chances are, you never even heard of a ‘sales funnel’ until you got involved in the online marketing world.
Maybe you still aren’t clear what a sales funnel is. (If that includes you, don’t worry, we’ll cover this soon).
But one thing is certain - effective sales funnels are ESSENTIAL if you want to make a decent living online.
You might not know it, but you go through sales funnels every day in life.
The layout of your local grocery store is not random – every item there is strategically placed to encourage you to add more and more to your basket as you walk round the store. The layout, the pricing, the special offers, everything is part of a sales funnel designed to make you buy more.
Think of McDonalds. ‘Would you like fries with that?’ is an upsell, part of a sales funnel.
Amazon are masters of the sales funnel. ‘Customers who bought this item also bought’ and ‘Frequently bought together’ on the checkout page are part of their sales funnel. All the follow up emails you get after making a purchase? Part of the sales funnel.
So what exactly is a sales funnel?
Quite simply, a sales funnel is a series of offers that are presented to the prospect/customer. These offers can be cross sells (fries with your burger, or an extended warranty for your new TV), but often tend to increase in both price and value (also known as an upsell).
The idea is that as someone goes through the sales funnel they become more and more engaged and spend more and more money. It is with these ‘high priced ‘backend’ offers that the real money is made –one $4997 coaching client is worth a lot of $7 front end customers.
A typical online sales funnel works like this...
Quite simply, a sales funnel is a series of offers that are presented to the prospect/customer. These offers can be cross sells (fries with your burger, or an extended warranty for your new TV), but often tend to increase in both price and value (also known as an upsell).
The idea is that as someone goes through the sales funnel they become more and more engaged and spend more and more money. It is with these ‘high priced ‘backend’ offers that the real money is made –one $4997 coaching client is worth a lot of $7 front end customers.
A typical online sales funnel works like this...
At the 'front-end' is a free product to capture people's interest.
In order to grab the free product people have to sign-up and hand over their email address - and in turn they are added to an email list/database of prospects.
After the person is added to the list, they can then be sent other related offers that they might be interested in.
Immediately after signing up for the free product the prospect will typically be presented with a low priced offer (called an 'upsell' or 'one time offer').
Here they're moving into the 'back-end' of the funnel.
If they buy this low priced offer then they will then be offered another related product at a higher price.
If the person buys the higher product they are then offered another product at an even higher price.
... and so on.
As the price of the products increases, so does the value being offered. For example, the free and low-priced upsell product might be a short 30-40 page report or eBook...
By the 3rd or 4th upsell they might then be offered a personal coaching program or ‘done for you’ service charged at $497 a month.
Remember, as people go through the sales funnel they become more and more engaged and spend more and more money.
In order to grab the free product people have to sign-up and hand over their email address - and in turn they are added to an email list/database of prospects.
After the person is added to the list, they can then be sent other related offers that they might be interested in.
Immediately after signing up for the free product the prospect will typically be presented with a low priced offer (called an 'upsell' or 'one time offer').
Here they're moving into the 'back-end' of the funnel.
If they buy this low priced offer then they will then be offered another related product at a higher price.
If the person buys the higher product they are then offered another product at an even higher price.
... and so on.
As the price of the products increases, so does the value being offered. For example, the free and low-priced upsell product might be a short 30-40 page report or eBook...
By the 3rd or 4th upsell they might then be offered a personal coaching program or ‘done for you’ service charged at $497 a month.
Remember, as people go through the sales funnel they become more and more engaged and spend more and more money.
“Your ability to set up an effective sales funnel will determine
your online success.”
your online success.”
A lot of people who try to make money online have no idea how to set up an effective sales funnel. They just choose an affiliate offer and more often than not send traffic with the hope to make a few sales.
While they will get a few sales if they are sending good traffic, such a business model won’t last because as soon as the traffic stops the income will also dry up.
Most people don't buy first time. There is something called ‘The Marketing Rule of Seven’ - your average prospective buyer needs to hear or see your marketing message at least seven times before they buy from you.
Whether it’s really 7, or 77, or whatever is irrelevant – the point is you have to be able to show your offer to the same person more than once. So if you have no system in place to capture those leads you are leaving a whole lot of money
on the table.
So Here's What You Need To Do
1. Offer A Bribe (FREE OFFER) so that people will sign up to your list
The trick to this is that no one will be presented with a paid offer until they have signed up to your email list. If you are worried that you may miss sales by doing this, worry not – experience has proven that this is wrong.
The truth of the matter is that those would would buy right away will still be able to do so because as soon as they optin to your lead capture page, they will be redirected to the paid offer where they can then buy the product. At the same
time you can also follow up with people who would not buy to build a relationship with them via your newsletter which will convert them into buyers.
2. The Your First Product In Your Sales Funnel Should Be A Low Priced
Product
It is important to note that this first entry product is not where you'll make most of your from. As a matter of fact, depending on how you drive traffic, you may be at a loss even after making several sales of this product.
However, this product is to separate your buyers from your freebie seekers. So the methodology that should be in place is that once someone purchase a product, he/she will automatically be removed from your free list onto your
customers list. A low entry product can be anywhere from $7 to $27.
3. Have An Effective Backend With High Priced Upsells
For the really successful marketers, the bulk of their income comes from the backend product. This is where your previous customers will get to upgrade and purchase higher priced products in your sales funnel.
You can have several different priced products in your funnel. In order for your customers to see the higher priced products they must first buy the lower entry ones.
So the funnel with look something like this:
While they will get a few sales if they are sending good traffic, such a business model won’t last because as soon as the traffic stops the income will also dry up.
Most people don't buy first time. There is something called ‘The Marketing Rule of Seven’ - your average prospective buyer needs to hear or see your marketing message at least seven times before they buy from you.
Whether it’s really 7, or 77, or whatever is irrelevant – the point is you have to be able to show your offer to the same person more than once. So if you have no system in place to capture those leads you are leaving a whole lot of money
on the table.
So Here's What You Need To Do
1. Offer A Bribe (FREE OFFER) so that people will sign up to your list
The trick to this is that no one will be presented with a paid offer until they have signed up to your email list. If you are worried that you may miss sales by doing this, worry not – experience has proven that this is wrong.
The truth of the matter is that those would would buy right away will still be able to do so because as soon as they optin to your lead capture page, they will be redirected to the paid offer where they can then buy the product. At the same
time you can also follow up with people who would not buy to build a relationship with them via your newsletter which will convert them into buyers.
2. The Your First Product In Your Sales Funnel Should Be A Low Priced
Product
It is important to note that this first entry product is not where you'll make most of your from. As a matter of fact, depending on how you drive traffic, you may be at a loss even after making several sales of this product.
However, this product is to separate your buyers from your freebie seekers. So the methodology that should be in place is that once someone purchase a product, he/she will automatically be removed from your free list onto your
customers list. A low entry product can be anywhere from $7 to $27.
3. Have An Effective Backend With High Priced Upsells
For the really successful marketers, the bulk of their income comes from the backend product. This is where your previous customers will get to upgrade and purchase higher priced products in your sales funnel.
You can have several different priced products in your funnel. In order for your customers to see the higher priced products they must first buy the lower entry ones.
So the funnel with look something like this:
By simply linking to a product without capturing leads, you are just doing hit and miss marketing. If you are also paying for traffic, you will find it very hard (if not impossible) to turn a profit.
With an effective sales funnel, you can happily spend on traffic because you have a good back end in place, so you know that every $1 spent will bring in more than $1 in return. Once you have this, the sky really is the limit - all you
have to do is scale.
Conclusion
This covers the basics of what can be done with a sales funnel. This is not advanced, yet 95% of marketers do NOT even have a tenth of this in place.
If you are one of them, make a concentrated effort to focus on the #1 growth driver in your business – your sales funnel.
Quite simply, an effective sales funnel will change your online business forever.
With an effective sales funnel, you can happily spend on traffic because you have a good back end in place, so you know that every $1 spent will bring in more than $1 in return. Once you have this, the sky really is the limit - all you
have to do is scale.
Conclusion
This covers the basics of what can be done with a sales funnel. This is not advanced, yet 95% of marketers do NOT even have a tenth of this in place.
If you are one of them, make a concentrated effort to focus on the #1 growth driver in your business – your sales funnel.
Quite simply, an effective sales funnel will change your online business forever.