You’ve probably heard of sales funnels – you may even have a lead magnet on your website, but why should you invest what is at least a couple of days of effort in building one?
A lead magnet in isolation doesn’t constitute a sales funnel. It’s what you do with the people who sign up that make it into a proper lead generation system.
In order to understand the value let’s look at what a sales funnel can do – providing it’s constructed properly in the first place. It can:
- Identify people who are your ideal clients
- Engage with them over a period of time
- Deliver great value to them on an ongoing basis
- Persuade them to buy low cost items
- Upsell them to higher cost offerings
- Turn them into raving fans and loyal advocates
So that’s what it does – and the reason that’s important is because, if you’re busy working with your current clients and don’t have time to do marketing and sales, it keeps restuffing the sausage machine for you. A well-built sales funnel will keep attracting and generating potential business.
So that’s what and why – what about how?
If you are going to build a sales funnel that really works for you, then first you need to be really clear on who you want as a customer. If you really understand your ideal customer it makes the rest of the process easy.
Let’s revisit that bullet point list above and dig deeper.
Identify people who are your ideal clients
If you know who you want to attract as customers or clients, you can write a lead magnet that appeals directly to them. The fact that they choose to download it is the equivalent of them putting up their hands and saying ‘Please can you solve my problem?’
That means that everyone on your list is a potential client.
Engage with them over a period of time
A lead magnet alone is not a sales funnel – it’s just the process of opening the door.
Because you know (from your ideal customer profile) exactly what they need, your email autoresponder series will tick all their boxes.
Deliver great value to them on an ongoing basis
If your lead magnet is followed up with a series of useful emails tailored to your ideal client’s needs, their opinion of you is going to grow positively.
Not only will they appreciate the useful tips and ideas you share, but they’re being educated subliminally about your expertise.
Persuade them to buy low cost items
Because you’re given them great value, they’ll be happy to buy in if you offer a low cost item, such as a book (you have written one, haven’t you?), a webinar that shows them how to do something that will help their business or an invitation to an event.
This is simply a part of your email campaign – either as part of your autoresponder series that follows up the original sign up or, for date-related events, a separate campaign.
Upsell them to higher cost offerings
Once they’ve got to know you and bought a low cost item, they’ve already demonstrated their interest. The next step is to offer them something in your main product or service range.
This may be by inviting them to a webinar which demonstrates a product or explains a service or by holding a Q&A ‘Ask the expert’ session where you also pitch your products or services.
Turn them into raving fans and loyal advocates
If your emails continue to deliver great value, useful advice or tips and interesting articles, your list will start to recommend you. You’ll become the first name they think of when anyone mentions your kind of industry.
So, those are the outcomes – are you ready to start building your sales funnel?
