Review Your Sales Funnel

Have you ever wondered what might be slipping through the cracks in your sales funnel? What if refining just one step could unlock untapped potential and skyrocket your sales?

While every company's sales process is unique, a typical sales funnel consists of five main stages: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Desire and Action.

The key is to have a structured sales process that effectively guides prospects through your funnel, leading them to become paying customers. Without this, you risk wasting both time and money.

Companies that create an easy buying process are 62% more likely to secure high-quality sales. Additionally, businesses that excel at nurturing leads generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost.

Here’s a step by step guide to effectively analyse your sales funnel both online and offline:

1. Map Out Your Sales Funnel

To create an effective sales funnel, start by mapping out your sales process and identifying each stage, such as Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Desire and Action, for both your online and offline activities. It's crucial to understand your sales pipeline and how each step brings you closer to converting leads into customers.

Document how customers move from one stage to the next - online, this might involve website visits, email opens and clicks, while offline could include store visits, phone inquiries or in-person meetings. Knowing your ideal customers is key; once you’ve profiled them, personalise each step of their journey to ensure they have the best possible experience with your brand.

2. Collect Data

To effectively collect data, start by using online tools like Google Analytics, CRM systems and marketing automation software to gather insights on user behavior, conversion rates and engagement metrics. Analyse marketing metrics such as website traffic, social media interactions, customer surveys and sales data to uncover patterns and trends that will guide your strategies.

For offline activities, track sales calls, foot traffic, event attendance and other interactions. Implement digital tools like QR codes, NFC tags, SMS codes and call tracking to measure your offline efforts. Additionally, use surveys and feedback forms to gather valuable insights from your offline customers, such as brand awareness and preferences.

3. Analyse Each Stage

Traffic & Awareness

Evaluate online traffic and awareness. Assess your website traffic, social media engagement and the effectiveness of your online ads. Look at how many visitors are coming to your site, how they interact with your social media content and how well your ads are performing to gauge their impact.

Measure offline traffic and awareness by evaluating foot traffic, event attendance and other offline marketing efforts. Check how many people visit your physical locations, how well your events are drawing in attendees and how effective your offline marketing strategies are in attracting attention.

Are there significant differences in traffic and engagement between your online and offline efforts and what might be causing these variations?
How can you align your online and offline marketing strategies to create a more cohesive and effective approach to attracting and engaging potential customers?

Engagement & Interest

Measure engagement and interest online. Analyse metrics such as bounce rate, time on page and email open rates. Check if people are staying on your site, interacting with your content and opening your emails to determine how well you're capturing their attention.

To assess engagement and interest offline, consider how many people show interest by making inquiries, picking up brochures or attending presentations. This will give you an idea of how effectively your offline efforts are capturing and maintaining attention.

How can you adjust your online content or campaigns to better retain visitors and encourage deeper engagement?
Are there additional offline touchpoints or strategies you could implement to boost interest and interaction with your brand?

Consideration

Assess consideration online by analysing metrics like cart abandonment rates, lead magnet downloads and product page views. Check if prospects are progressing towards making a purchase decision by analysing these indicators.

To assess consideration in your offline efforts, evaluate the number of product demos, sample requests or consultations you’re handling. This will help you understand how well you’re nurturing leads and moving them closer to making a purchase.

Are there specific stages in your online or offline funnel where prospects consistently drop off and what changes can you make to address these issues?
How effectively are your current strategies engaging prospects and guiding them towards a purchase and what improvements could enhance this process?

Conversion

Examine rates for purchases, form submissions or signups to assess online conversions. Determine how effectively you’re closing deals online by evaluating how many visitors take the desired actions, such as completing a purchase or signing up for a service.

To measure conversion offline, track your sales numbers, contract signings or registrations. Assess whether your in-person efforts are successfully leading to sales and whether your offline strategies are translating into tangible results.

Are there any common points where customers drop off in your online funnel and how can you address them?
Are there specific stages in your offline process where potential customers seem hesitant and what can you do to improve their experience?

Retention

Assess online retention through tracking repeat purchases, subscription renewals and customer lifetime value (CLV). Look at how frequently customers return to buy again, how many are renewing their subscriptions and the overall value each customer brings over time. This will help you understand how effectively you are retaining your customers.

Assess retention offline by monitoring repeat visits, client referrals and long-term relationships. Check if your offline strategies are encouraging customers to return, refer others and maintain a lasting connection with your brand. Evaluate whether your efforts are effectively fostering loyalty among your customers.

How can you improve your online strategies to increase the frequency of repeat purchases and subscription renewals?
What specific changes could you make to your offline approaches to enhance customer loyalty and encourage more referrals?

“Engaging people is about meeting their needs - not yours.” - Tony Robbins

4. Identify DropOff Points

To identify drop-off points in your sales funnel, start by examining online behavior. Use tools like heatmaps and user session recordings to pinpoint where users exit the funnel - whether during checkout, after viewing a product or elsewhere. High drop-off rates often signal issues with your product or process averaging at 77.8% from cart to checkout.

For offline interactions, gather feedback from sales teams or conduct interviews to understand where potential customers lose interest. Determine if they’re dropping out after consultations or during negotiations and use these insights to address the problems and improve the conversion process.

5. Compare Online and Offline Performance

To effectively analyse your sales funnel, you should conduct a cross-channel analysis by comparing metrics between your online and offline efforts. For instance, if you notice high online traffic but low offline conversions, look into whether there’s a disconnect between the two channels. It’s important to have metrics that assess the effectiveness of different programs to guide management decisions consistently.

Additionally, gather and compare feedback from both online and offline sources to spot any inconsistencies in the customer experience. This will help you identify and address any gaps, ensuring a smoother and more cohesive journey for your customers across all touchpoints.

6. Optimise the Funnel

To optimise your sales funnel, focus on both online and offline improvements. Online, enhance your landing pages and calls-to-action (CTAs) by using A/B testing to fine-tune elements like headlines, images and forms. Even small tweaks, such as a 1% increase in checkout discounts, can boost your add-to-cart rate and significantly impact your overall conversion rate. Additionally, work on improving your website’s speed and usability.

Offline, focus on training your sales team to more effectively manage objections, refresh in-store signage and product displays and provide promotions or incentives to boost conversions. To enhance the shopping experience, you need to continuously develop and quickly implement technology-driven services and products. This will involve adopting agile methods for testing new offerings, events, services and swiftly adjusting based on feedback.

7. Integrate Online and Offline Efforts

Ensure your brand message stays consistent across all channels by aligning the online experience with what customers encounter offline. Making your brand recognisable to potential customers, wherever they come across it, is crucial for building a loyal audience.

To accomplish this, incorporate omnichannel strategies like “Buy Online, Pick Up In Store” (BOPIS) or leverage retargeting ads based on offline behavior. Since 72% of US consumers are more inclined to purchase online from stores offering BOPIS, this integrated approach ensures a smooth customer experience, strengthens your brand's visibility and boosts overall engagement.

"Don’t push people to where you want to be; meet them where they are.” - Meghan Keaney Anderson

8. Regularly Review and Update

Regularly review and update your sales funnel by setting benchmarks with key performance indicators (KPIs) for each stage and consistently measuring them. Make it a habit to periodically revisit and adjust your strategies based on the performance data you gather and any changes in market conditions.

Continuous improvement is essential to keeping your funnel effective and aligned with your goals.

9. Use Technology to Your Advantage

To maximise your sales funnel's effectiveness, use technology to your advantage. Integrate a customer relationship management (CRM) system to track interactions across both online and offline channels. Utilise channel integration services to provide consumers with a seamless experience, allowing them to engage in various activities across physical and digital touchpoints.

Additionally, leverage advanced analytics tools for deeper insights, including customer segmentation, predictive analytics and multichannel attribution models. These tools will help you better understand and optimise your customer journey.

10. Report and Share Findings

Create detailed reports for your team that focus on key metrics, insights and areas needing improvement, ensuring seamless information exchange and alignment on marketing strategies. Regularly hold meetings to discuss these findings with your sales, marketing and customer service teams, so you can collaboratively develop actionable strategies.

To make collaboration effective, define clear goals and processes, avoiding the common pitfall of meetings that merely serve as discussions without concrete outcomes.

“The best salespeople know that their expertise can become their enemy in selling. At the moment they are tempted to tell the buyer what "he needs to do," they instead offer a story about a peer of the buyer.” - Mike Bosworth

As you refine your sales funnel, the key to success is consistency and adaptability. Regularly reviewing each stage of your funnel helps you stay in tune with your customers' needs and behaviors, allowing you to make necessary adjustments. My personal advice is to stay customer-centric - always think about the experience from their perspective.

As you move forward, how will you ensure that every stage of your sales funnel not only captures leads but also turns them into loyal customers? What steps can you take today to transform your funnel into a powerful engine of growth?

Remember, whether online or offline, if your customers feel understood and valued at every touchpoint, they’re more likely to move through your funnel smoothly and come back for more. Keep testing, keep refining and never stop listening to your customers.