Sales funnel basics

Sales funnels are often talked about in internet marketing
circles, but not always defined. Quite simply put sales funnels
are put in place because the marketer is trying to get the
potential customer to take a certain action in every stage of
the sales funnel that will eventually lead to a sale or multiple
sales.

For example, if you imagine the shape of a funnel, then you know
its extremely wide open at the top and as you move lower into the
funnel it gets extremely narrow.

As a marketer you are trying to get as many people as you can
into your sales funnels because it's much easier to maintain a
customer than it is to acquire a customer.

Once you have a customer in your database, then as a smart
marketer you can continually offer products and services to that
person, which means more and more money in your pockets if they
should take you up on your offers.

A simple sales funnel might be that you have written an ebook
that you want to sell on weight loss. If you can get people to
your website, then you can show them a sales page that offers
your particular ebook on weight loss. If they make a purchase,
then they get the ebook on weight loss - the end of the sales
funnel.

But what a smart marketer might try and do instead of the above
example is develop a lasting, long term relationship with their
customer. So instead of sending the potential customer straight
to a sales page, they offer them a free mini ecourse on How to
Lose 20 pounds in 10 days, naturally and without exercise. And
all they have to do to get the course is submit their email
address. That would be the 1st stage of the sales funnels this
marketer has in place.

The mini ecourse offers great information that is beneficial to
their customer and the more the customer reads the more they
start to trust. After the mini ecourse is over you might offer
them a low priced product that the customer can purchase. The
2nd stage of the sales funnel. And depending on what action that
person takes will lead them to another part of the sales funnels.

Suppose you have a higher priced product that is closely related
to your low priced product you offered, but has so much more
value. You are not going to offer that product in the earlier
stages of your sales funnel because if people don't know you

they don't trust you and they certainly won't buy from you. So
sales funnels build trust and ultimately sales. However you
decide to build your sales funnel think about what you want from
your customer at every stage of the funnel and how you can
profit while still offering value for every stage of the
process.


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