The definition of the sales funnel (also known as a revenue funnel, sales process ,sales pipeline) refers to the buying process that companies lead customers through when purchasing products. A sales funnel is divided into several steps, which differ depending on the particular sales model. It is the marketing term for the journey your potential customers go through on their way to a purchase.
You start with a lot of potential customers who may have heard of your product or service. A smaller part of that group may want to learn more, and a smaller part of that group may actually contact you.
As the process goes on, you're talking to fewer people who are more interested, until you end up with the people who become customers.
Unqualified leads are at the top, and nearly-closed deals are at the bottom.
Using a CRM, it is an easy way to manage your sales funnel and see what next steps you need to take with each sale.
How to Create a Sales Funnel:
To create a sales funnel, you first have to think about the different stages involved in your sales cycle whether:
B2C sales funnel:
1-initial contract
2-Qualification
3-Presentation
4-Evaluation
5-Closing
At the top of the funnel are your new leads, coming fresh from your contact form, marketing campaign(s) , leads list, or whatever your lead source might be. The first stage is often your initial contact with the lead, be that a call, email response, etc.
What follows are series of stages where you move towards closing the sale. Most businesses will have a
qualification stage, in which they make sure the lead has a need for the product and is financially capable of making the purchase. Following that are various stages of research, presenting, as well as an evaluation phase in which you address client concerns.
The cycle ends with closing – the moment the deal is officially done, whether that’s by signing a contract or processing a payment.
B2B longer sales funnel:
1-initial contract
2-Qualification
3-Develop solution: Start collecting facts about your client to develop a value preposition
4-Presentation
5-Evaluation
6-Negotiation: You negotiate price and other details
7-Closing
Once you know your sales funnel stages, it's time to find out where you're losing potential customers and analyze it deeply using CRM.
