We have all heard,” Do you want a profitable business? −use funnels.” Sales funnels illustrate the steps that someone takes to become your customer.

For example, the first step is when people above your sales funnel walk by your store and walk-in. A customer sees a rack of T-shirts and thumbs through; this is the second step. Then the customer selects three T-shirts and heads to the checkout; this is the last step. If all goes well, the customer finishes the purchase and gets to the bottom of the funnel.

This applies to every business, be it a retail store, sales team, website, email, coaching, personal consultation, products, and services.

Importance of Sales Funnels

Funnels illustrate the paths potential clients and prospects follow. The essence of understanding your funnel is to find the holes in the funnel. These are the places where prospects drop out and never convert. Understand how your funnel works and you will influence how visitors move through the funnel, perceive value, and if they eventually convert.

How it works

When a visitor lands on your website through a Google search or social link, s/he is now a prospect. Usually the visitor checks a few of your pages, blog posts, service, or product listings. Sometimes you offer the chance to subscribe to an email list. If the prospect fills out your form, s/he becomes a lead, allowing you to market your website through newsletters, email drip campaigns, phone, or text.

As your messaging becomes increasingly targeted, more prospects will lead to more buyers. Use the AIDA acronym to remember the four sales funnel stages: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action. These stages represent your customer’s mindset. Each stage requires a different approach from you, the self-marketer, to avoid sending the wrong message at the wrong time to the wrong person.

Sales funnels focus on the customer experience, leading to retention, conversion, and what you want to achieve.