SALE FUNNEL

A sale funnel is the marketing term for the journey potential customers
goes through on the way to purchase. It represents the stages
customers go through until final purchase is done.

 There are several steps to a sales funnel, usually known as the

top, middle, and bottom of the funnel, although these steps may
vary depending on a company's sales model. The top of the funnel
is where new leads, or prospects, enter the buying journey, while
the narrow bottom reflects how many of those leads are
converted to customers by the end of the sales process. The
stages of a sales funnel can vary, but a traditional model follows
these phases from top to bottom:


Awareness – prospect become aware of a brand or
product/service

 Interest – prospect shows genuine interest in a product or service

  Desire – prospects shows desire to purchase when it becomes
clear the product/service meets a specific need

 Action – prospect decides to purchase product/service

DIFFERENTIATING MARKETING FUNNEL AND SALES FUNNEL

Definition

The sales funnel refers to a system that guides a prospective customer

from the marketing stage to the conversion. On the other hand, the
marketing funnel refers to the process of converting a lead or a
prospective into a customer.

Focus

While the sales funnel focuses on making more product or services

sales, the marketing funnel focuses more on brand recognition and
image.

Interest

While the sales funnel maintains the consumers’ interest, the

marketing funnel creates the consumers’ interest.

CONVERTING LEADS TO CUSTOMERS

 Communicate the value- firstly aim to communicate the value to

the customer and don’t focus on making a sale. Focus on the
customer and how his/her will improve.
 Identify the problem- one needs to identify the problem the lead
is the experiencing. Have a different perspective on how to ask
 the questions. This will lead to a conversation which leads to the
next point.
 Make it a conversation- this will help open up and uncover
questions and concerns. The dialogue makes the lead engaged. Yu
are able to understand hoe the product will feature into their
lives.
 Keep them warm- the prospects may have an interest so one
needs to keep them engaged especially if you’re on a call with
them. The general thumb rule is to tell them to hear you for at
least 7 times before they make a decision.
 Ask for a sale- ask your prospect if they want to make the sale and
watch them say yes.
 Follow up- keep your leads by sending emails or by phone calls.
This is a great way to convert them into customers before time
passes.
 Gain their trust and remember them- not all conversation should
sound like a sales pitch. Being genuine and trustworthy makes a
great difference. And always remember them.

A CASE STUDY

NETFLIX

It puts their money where their mouth is by offering a 30 day

free trial of their streaming services. These sales funnel works
particularly well for subscription-based models since most
people do not want to sign up for a monthly charge when they
do not know what they are getting out of it.
 These entire sales funnel works on the idea of giving people the
ability to test-run the software before they sign up. Here is a
breakdown a basic sales funnel.

 Awareness- Netflix is a pretty well-known brand in general but

advertisements on various platforms like social media, television,
podcasts, and more only further improve their reach.

 Interest and Evaluation- As people get more attached to

technology in general, Netflix’s streaming service brings in a ton
of interest. This stage is the most crucial. People can choose to
pursue their interest and learn more or give up on the product.
Netflix seals the deal by giving people the free trial month as a
test run. Another smart move is they start users off on the most
premium model (the most expensive model) as part of the trial.
Users can downgrade later but giving people the best of their
service is what gets people attached.

 Desire/ Decision- Once the user finishes their 30-day trial, their
card will be automatically charged for the next month. However,
Netflix once again makes a great marketing decision by
mentioning how they will remind you your trial is ending 3 days in
advance so you can cancel if you so wish. The company’s belief in
its own product is what gets them tons of clients. They do not try
to push people into continuing with their service or not mention
any details. Their upfront, no BS marketing is what people love.

 Action- Now, it is out of Netflix’s hands at this stage. The

customer will now decide whether they want to continue with the
service or not.
 Loyalty- If they do continue with the Netflix streaming service
(their card will continue to be charged every month), Netflix has
gained a loyal customer.

Other than the traditional free trial month, Netflix has also
been experimenting with trial days that need no credit card
information. Rumor has it that they plan on testing it out for
the first in India with a 2-day trial that needs no card
information registration.

This is a really smart idea because in Asian countries in

particular people are much warier about adding their card
information to websites. This gives those people a chance to
take Netflix for a ride.

In short, Netflix is winning the sales funnel game.