The sales funnel

This month, Business Support Specialist Heidi Green considers the best methods business owners can implement to develop their sales leads.

Pour your leads from marketing into the funnel, but do not expect every single one of them to turn into a sale or a new customer. It can take time for those enquiries to come to fruition, and some just never will.

Once upon a time people bought face-to-face, but now, more than ever, people research you and your competition before you even get the chance to meet them. Therefore, it is essential that you provide information at the first opportunity to attract the right customers and start building a rapport with them.

Have a contact page on your website with a phone number and email address both easily visible as it needs to be simple for people to get in touch. Offer them a call to action such as ‘ring now’, ‘visit our premises’ or ‘email’ – sometimes this is just the prompt someone needs.

You can then start to answer their questions, and they will become a solid prospect. They will then become an opportunity once you provide a quote or an estimate. Not until they have assessed this and ensured you are the right person to buy from do they actually become a customer.

Ideally, you will have delivered such a great service and/or product that they will come back again for other services, or repeat their original purchase. Never shy away from asking a lead or an opportunity why they haven’t engaged with your services. Act upon the information given, and continually testing and improving your offers will help you convert those enquiries to customers.