by Adam Basheer, on 04-Dec-2017 16:22:00
Understanding the sales funnel and the different stages that potential customers travel through can help you dramatically increase the amount of customers your business receives. A sales funnel is the process that customers travel through when considering a purchase from your company. This sales funnel is divided into different steps which require different strategies to progress customers further through the funnel.
How many steps there are depends on the sales strategy you are using, however there are three main steps that any potential customer will progress through:
Suspect
A sales suspect is typically at the top of the sales funnel. A suspect is essentially everyone in your target market who could potentially buy your product. As suspects tend to sit at the top of the funnel, there tends to be a lot of them. Not all of them will turn into prospects and eventually leads, but you can help this process by providing them with valuable information about how to accomplish the tasks that they are trying to achieve. One of the best ways of spreading this information is through blogs that are centred around the core issues your potential clients may have.
Prospect
A sales prospect is a suspect who has moved further down the funnel. This means that they have either taken action on their own, or in response to your marketing efforts to research solutions to the problems they are experiencing. Prospects tend to need more information on how to solve their issue, rather than just what issues may occur. You can provide this to them through blogs, downloadable eBooks, or even just great landing pages that show premium content about your product or service.
Leads
A lead is a prospect who has taken it upon themselves to research more about the issue they face and how your product or service can help them. Leads typically have identities, as it is possible for you to get names and email addresses of prospects when they download material you provide. A lead will require more personal attention as they are towards the bottom of the sales funnel and therefore they are looking seriously at buying your product or service. This can include customising deals to suit their specific needs or even just a phone call to try to build a relationship with them.
All of these steps that a customer will potentially travel through are important, and knowing how to identify customers in these stages as well as how to communicate with them can greatly increase the amount of sales your business makes.
Talk to the marketing consultants at Fit 4 Market to find out more. Fit 4 Market can provide advanced B2B sales lead strategies to help your business acquire more customers.
