Sales funneling is basically a step by step business strategy. It involves various aspects of selling a product. Starting from being exposed to a product via advertising, to buying the product, a customer goes through a process. In business theory, this is called sales funneling. In terms of businesses, it is mainly inducing a customer to choose and ultimately buy a product, thus incurring a sale. 

Sales funneling is a great way for businesses to generate revenue. Plainly speaking, it is the only way for businesses to generate sales and to make revenues. Proper learning and investing in the way of sales funneling could potentially change the opportunities and profits for a business. In this article, we will explore sales funneling in-depth, and how it could assist you in generating revenues. 

Types of sales funneling

Sales funneling doesn’t have definite types. Different businesses follow different methods to funnel sales. We will try to address some prominent sales funneling methods here. 

Most convenient for current age and time is the online sales funneling. In online sales funneling, there are many methods you can follow. Clickfunnels are a popular method. 

Email generated sales are the most used method online. Many businesses are only based on just emailing methods. Another popular online method is the webinar method. You can address your customer base via live webinars on platforms like youtube and Facebook. 

Another method of sales funneling is conventional or offline funneling methods. This involves general advertising methods. Affiliate sales funneling is a popular method, where affiliates take charge of marketing in exchange for a part of the sales revenue. 

Free plus shipping sales method is where the customer buys a product at the cost of production and shipping. In this way, you get the contact info of the customer for future sales. 

Up until recently the most popular method of sales funneling was a sales call. It is still a very popular method of funneling sales. Companies hire a group of sales representatives, to call the potential customers and spread the information about the product the company is trying to sell. 

Self-liquidating funnel is the type of funneling activity where you try to acquire contacts in exchange for profits. The Free plus shipping method discussed above is one such example. Here the theory is- by forgoing the profits on the first sell, the business gets a long term customer. 

The stages 

A sale funneling involves five stages, each stage is very critical to the whole process. The stages are- 

Product awareness 

This is the initial stage of sales funneling. In this stage, the customer is exposed to the product for the first time. He becomes aware of the product’s presence. 

This stage is the mass advertising period. Using these advertisements businesses reach the masses.  It is still undetermined at this stage to find out who is interested in the product. It’s more of a general announcement to everyone. 

When online, this stage involves blog posts, cold emails, ads on sites, and social media posts.  SEO techniques should be followed at this stage which involves certain keywords that can lure the customer to your product. 

For example, let’s assume company X wants to sell a new line of graphics cards they produced. For that purpose, they rent a few billboards and post their ad on them. The people who see these billboards will become aware of these products. Thus, company X has achieved its first stage of sales funneling. 

Once the customers are aware of your presence, they will move on to the next stage. 

In addition, a sales enablement platform can help drive product awareness faster because sales teams can quickly find compelling and relevant sales content to use in their sales efforts. Additionally, by using this platform, sales representatives can answer customer product queries faster and more accurately. If you want to learn more about modern sales enablement you can visit https://www.allego.com/platform/sales-enablement/, to get more information.

Creating interest in the product 

Now that the customer is aware of the product, the next step is generating interest. 

In this stage, the differentiation between the interested parties and the general populace begins. Those who are interested in the product might want to do some further research. 


To achieve this purpose an online presence is very pivotal. Having a website with the proper product details could help you catch potential customers.  The major sign of interest is when someone signs up for your services online. Physically, having a sales house, product books, etc. could help. 

In terms of the previous example, if company X had a website where the interested customer could know about the graphics card, that, in turn, will further help to develop their interest. 

African sales manager stretch out hand introduces himself to client

Product consideration 

As soon as the customer is interested in the product, he starts to consider buying it. This is the consideration stage of sales funneling. In this stage, the businesses commence what is called the nurture sequence. 

A nurture sequence is where the customer interest is nurtured via intensive individual targeting. In this stage, the customer is sent somewhere between 5 to 20 emails or physical product references, in a regular interval to maintain the interest. 

In our example, if the X company’s marketing team managed to differentiate the interested parties and sent them product emails and brochures about the graphics card, that would be their consideration stage. 

Evaluation stage 

At this stage, the customer does a final evaluation of the product before buying. He compares the product with similar products available in the market,.looks at the prices and makes a decision. 

This is the stage, where businesses launch sale sequences. A series of marketing campaigns, dedicated to the consumer, to help them make a decision in the producer’s favor.

In company X, the marketing team will help the customers by providing information on the advantages and services that the graphics card will provide.

Final stage

This is the last stage when the customer buys the product.

In this stage, the businesses should try to properly serve the customer, so that he or she may come again for further buying. 

For our example, in this stage, the customer goes to a company X store and buys the graphics card. The sales team provides warranty and other after service functions to the customer so that the person is convinced about taking further services. 

Why is it so important 

Selling products or services is important for all businesses. Sales funneling provides a system for that procedure. 

This method allows you to communicate with your customers. It allows you to build trust in your product. Before this process, customer visibly has no need to buy your product. Sales funneling is important because it creates the need for the sale of the product. Every study out there shows, following the sales funneling methods company can increase the sales by various measures. 

The different methods and stages described above provides an insight into the importance of the sales funneling. If you own a business, it’s imperative for you to try out the methods of sales funneling.

Image Source: BigStock.com (licensed)

Site Disclaimer 

The Content in this post and on this site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained on our Site constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by HII or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments.

Nothing in this post or on this site constitutes professional and/or financial advice. You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content in this post or on this site. 

You recognize that when making investments, an investor may get back less than the amount invested. Information on past performance, where given, is not necessarily a guide to future performance.

 

Related Categories: Work, Reviews