If you’re losing leads in your sales funnel, don’t despair! Check out these successful sales funnel examples and learn how to fix yours.
Sales funnels are essential for any business that wants to make money online. They provide a way to track and nurture prospects until they’re ready to buy. But what happens when your sales funnel starts losing leads?
Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world! There are plenty of ways to fix a leaky sales funnel. In this post, we’ll share some sales funnel examples and show you how you can use them to improve your own results.
Sales Funnel Examples
A sales funnel is a great way to think about the path that potential customers take on their way to becoming actual paying customers. It helps businesses to focus on creating a great experience for each step of the process, from the initial marketing through to the final purchase.
Whether you run an online business or a brick-and-mortar store, you need a way to attract potential customers and turn them into paying customers.
The purpose of a sales funnel is to take potential customers through the steps necessary to make a purchase. By moving them through a series of stages, from awareness to interest to decision, you can increase the likelihood that they will eventually buy from you.
Importance of a Sales Funnel
The sales funnel is an important tool for understanding the customer journey and identifying areas for improvement. By analyzing your sales funnel, you can improve your conversion rate and increase revenue.
It is important to identify the holes in your sales funnel so that you can improve your conversion rate. By understanding where prospects are dropping out of your funnel, you can make changes to improve your chances of converting them into customers.
Understanding how your funnel works can help you to influence how your prospects move through the stages and whether or not they convert to paying customers.
As you move prospects through your sales funnel, it’s important to have an understanding of what they are thinking and doing. This way, you can invest in marketing activities that attract more prospects, develop messaging that is relevant at each stage, and convert more prospects into paying customers. By having a solid grasp of your sales funnel, you will be able to improve your customer’s buying journey and increase conversions.
As a business owner, it is essential to have a strong understanding of your sales funnel to identify any potential gaps and invest in the most effective marketing strategies. By having this knowledge, you will be able to better understand your customers’ buying journeys and cater your messaging to each stage of the funnel. This will ultimately lead to more prospects converting into paying customers.
4 Stages of a Sales Funnel
The prospect will go through the four stages of a sales funnel, from when they initially hear about your product until they buy (or decide not to).
The different stages represent a prospect’s mind, and at each stage, you should adjust your message accordingly.
You can easily remember the four stages of a sales funnel through the acronym AIDA:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Decision
- Action
Awareness: The first stage of the sales funnel is Awareness. In this stage, potential customers become aware of your product or service.
If the prospect is interested, they might become your customer by responding to your call to action and clicking through to your website.
Although you may have to convince them, it is more likely you will have to persuade them or make them, visit your shop or website or call you, to engage with you.
Interest: The second stage in the sales process is Interest. At this stage, a prospect has heard about your business, brand, and products, and has decided to evaluate it based on the level of their interest.
At this point, you should focus on publishing content that will inform and educate your prospect without selling to them.
If you’re too pushy or aggressive with your sales approach during this stage, you could turn off the prospect and lose their business.
Your content should show that you know what you’re talking about and help the person make a decision.
Now, your customer is ready to make their decision and is weighing their options.
Decision: The third stage of the sales funnel is Decision. This is the stage where your potential customer will be comparing pricing, packages, and other factors to find the best option for them.
At this stage, you should make your best offer to the prospect. This could include free shipping, a discount code, or a bonus product when they place their order. By making a great offer, you can compel the prospect to make a decision and choose your company.
The key to making an offer that compels a prospect to say yes is to make it so compelling that they can’t say no. Your content is what will convince them to take the next step.
A sales page, webinar, or phone call could all help convert a prospect into a paying client.
Action: The fourth and final stage of the sales funnel is Action. In this stage, potential customers take action, such as purchasing your product or service.
If they decide to leave without making a purchase, then that is also considered part of the final stage.
If the customer makes a purchase, they are now part of your company’s ecosystem and can be marketed to in the future.
Although you’ve closed the sale, your job isn’t done. Your focus should be on retaining customers so they continue to buy.
Your content should help to build customer loyalty and keep them coming back for more.
For example, thank the customer for their purchase, ask them to provide feedback, offer aftersales support, invite them to sign up for your newsletter, or enroll them in a rewards program. By providing this type of valuable content, you will create customers for life.
10 Examples of Sales Funnels That Convert Like Crazy
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s look at a few real-world examples of funnels in action.
This is not a qualitative ranking of sales funnels. However, they are listed in alphabetical order for your convenience.
1. Basecamp
If you’re a remote team, then you should check out Basecamp. This tool helps your team stay organized, and get things done.
They guide their prospect through their sales pipeline with SEO, blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, and webinars.
Awareness: Basecamp shares blog content and books that help prospects solve pain points and achieve goals related to managing remote teams. The goal is to provide helpful resources that make it easier for people to work together, no matter where they are in the world.
Interest and Decision: Basecamp creates free, downloadable guides and ebooks that instruct readers on how to build and manage effective virtual teams and accomplish their business goals.
They also share case studies and testimonials from their clients to build authority, show that they’re the best project management solution, and help prospects understand how Basecamp can benefit them.
Action: Basecamp’s sales funnel starts with a free trial that allows users to experience the value of their tool. They also build trust by providing newsletters and educational content packed with valuable tips and tactics. By providing a free trial and helpful content, Basecamp can convert free users into paid customers who see the value in their product.
These strategies work together to motivate your prospects to purchase.
The Basecamp sales funnel is effective at providing value to potential customers at every stage of the journey.
Basecamp uses helpful and educational content to lure in potential customers. By demonstrating how its tool can resolve pain points and achieve goals, Basecamp can show prospects why its product is worth considering.
Basecamp’s free trial makes it easy for prospects to convert by reducing friction. Additionally, Basecamp helps prospects get as much value from the tool as possible so they are more likely to convert to a paid plan.
2. ConvertKit
ConvertKit is an amazing tool that helps bloggers and creators easily create landing pages, sign-up forms, and emails. It’s super simple to use and makes creating beautiful forms and emails a breeze.
Awareness: ConvertKit creates content that educates prospects on how to build and convert an audience. Their blog posts and digital marketing webinars provide this valuable information in a helpful tone that makes it easy for readers to understand and implement.
By offering a generous affiliate program to every existing customer, ConvertKit can magnify the number of people promoting their software. This not only helps them market their product more effectively but also allows customers to share in the success of the company.
Interest: Using their webinars and videos, they walk interested users through building their audience while teaching them how to apply what they’ve just learned.
Decision: ConvertKit’s extensive case studies and testimonials prove that they’re the best email marketing platform. Their freemium version is also very enticing for prospects, as it allows them to try the tool before making a purchase.
Action: ConvertKit’s free trial is the perfect way to show prospects the value of the tool. The educational content is also a great way to showcase the features, power, and versatility of ConvertKit. By testing out the free trial and consuming content, prospects become more comfortable with the tool and are more likely to buy.
When prospects test out ConvertKit’s free trial and consume its educational content, they become more comfortable with the tool. This comfort level leads to an increased likelihood of purchase.
ConvertKit’s sales funnel is effective because it uses word-of-mouth marketing from its army of existing customers, provides prospects with everything they need to use ConvertKit, creates micro-targeted case studies for their audience, and gives a free trial so prospects can experience the value of their tool.
3. Daily Stoic
DailyStoic is a website that sells books and courses on applying Stoicism to modern life. They sell their merchandise on their website, as well as through Amazon and iTunes.
Through their blog, social media posts, and email newsletters, they guide their readers through their buying journey.
Awareness: Daily Stoic publishes articles and videos that provide examples of how to use Stoicism to overcome everyday problems. They then use Facebook and Instagram to promote this content to potential subscribers.
Interest: DailyStoic.com website provides readers with stories and lessons about Stoic philosophy. They encourage visitors to subscribe to their email list to get these free, daily emails.
Decision and Action: The Daily Stoic newsletter is a great way to learn about Stoic principles and how they can help you in your life. Each newsletter focuses on a different principle and shares stories that illustrate how the principle can help readers become stronger, happier, calmer, and more successful.
The Daily Stoic’s sales funnel is so effective because they use their blog and social content to convert prospects into newsletter subscribers. In the newsletter, they share short stories about the importance of Stoic principles and how to apply them, which nurtures prospects to take action.
4. Groupon
Coupon databases like Groupon help consumers save money and plan their vacations.
They use referral programs, email, and search to move people through their sales funnel.
Groupon also offers 10% commissions to affiliates.
Awareness: Prospects are searching for deals online or referred by a friend. Referrers earn $10 per referral while affiliates receive a 10% commission on sales.
Interest: People can either search for specific products or activities on groupon.com or they can sign up for their email list, where they’ll receive emails with offers on things they’re interested in.
Decision: Groupon makes it easy for you to get the best deals on products and activities that you’re interested in. With Groupon, you can purchase coupons for great savings easily and conveniently through the app.
Action: After a customer purchases a deal, they are sent a confirmation email with instructions on how to redeem their deal. After that, they are sent more deals based on what they purchased.
Groupon also rewards customers with Groupon bucks based on how much they spend. This is just one of the ways we show our appreciation for our loyal customers!
Groupon’s sales funnel is effective because it is simple and easy to use. Prospects can easily find deals they like and purchase them in the app. Groupon also uses tailored content and loyalty rewards to keep users coming back.
5. Grow & Convert
Grow & Convert creates blog content that helps companies generate leads and grow their business.
Grow & Convert’s sales funnel is designed to attract prospects through search marketing and long-form content. They then provide case studies and a strong value proposition to move prospects further down the funnel.
Awareness: G&C creates articles that target pain-point-focused keywords their prospects are likely to search and articles that take a unique stance on content marketing issues.
Interest: By sharing client success stories, they build authority and demonstrate their value to potential clients.
Decision: G&C helps prospects make informed decisions by offering a course that teaches their content marketing methods. This way, even those who can’t afford their services can implement G&C’s strategies.
Action: On their landing page, they walk visitors through every step of their service and its benefits.
G&C’s value proposition of accountable content marketing that drives measurable leads is very enticing to prospects. This makes them want to take action and inquire about G&C’s services.
G&C’s sales funnel is effective because its content drives targeted traffic, provides value, and establishes credibility in the industry.
G&C’s articles are designed to rank for pain-point-related keywords that their prospects search for. By reading these articles, prospects can learn how to resolve their pain points effectively.
And as you read, you’ll see examples of how we implement each tip and get results for clients.
6. Harvest
Harvest is a great tool for businesses, consultants, and freelancers who want to keep track of their time, send invoices, and more.
Harvest moves prospects through its sales funnel by providing educational content, testimonials, webinars, live training sessions, user support, and a free trial.
Awareness: Harvest helps prospects resolve issues related to time management and invoicing. This type of content is designed to attract potential customers and show them how Harvest can be the solution to their problems.
Interest: Harvest moves prospects through the interest stage by providing guides, templates, webinars, and live training sessions. This content helps prospects resolve pain points and get the most out of their tool.
Decision: Harvest makes it easy for prospects to decide with their 30-day free trial and by sharing testimonials and case studies that establish social proof.
Action: The free trial is designed to give prospects a taste of what Harvest has to offer so they can make an informed decision about whether it is the right tool for them. Webinars, training sessions, and a user support database full of helpful information are all available to help users get the most out of their experience and increase their chances of converting to paid plans.
Unlike other CRMs, which rely on their free-trial period to do most of the heavy-lifting, the paid version of Harvest is most effective because of its extensive customer support, webinar, and in-person training.
The marketing materials from Harvest are extremely helpful for prospects trying to get a handle on their time-management and invoicing pain points. Not only do they demonstrate how the tool can be of assistance, but they also provide valuable tips on how to get the most out of the free trial period so that users will be more likely to convert to paid plans.
7. Mailshake
Mailshake is a powerful lead generation tool that makes it easy to capture, qualify, and convert leads on autopilot. With Mailshake, you can quickly and easily create targeted email campaigns that reach your ideal customers and prospects.
Mailshake’s sales funnel begins with blog content that drives awareness and interest in its products. Next, affiliate marketing and webinars are used to generate leads. Finally, segmented product descriptions and product demonstrations are used to close sales.
Awareness: Mailshake helps prospects solve problems related to lead generation by creating blog content that is both informative and helpful. Additionally, Mailshake has several affiliates who help promote its products and services, which helps increase awareness of the company.
Interest: Webinars teach people how to generate better sales leads. During these webinars, they promote their software, showing how it can enhance one’s ability to generate quality business.
Decision: Mailshake’s website provides clear and concise descriptions of their product, which are tailored to the different needs of their user segments (sales, PR, link building). By doing this, each segment can learn about the Mailshake features that would be most beneficial to them. This makes it easy for prospects to decide whether or not Mailshake is the right platform for them.
Action: By scheduling a 1:1 demo, prospects can get a tailored tour of the features that are most relevant to them. This also allows Mailshake to help the prospect select the user plan that will best fit their needs.
The Mailshake sales funnel works because of its ability to target specific people.
The blog posts and webinars are created to address the specific pain points and needs of each of their target markets.
The product descriptions help different segments understand how the service can help them.
The 1:1 demonstrations that Mailshake salespeople give allow them to show each prospect exactly how their tools can be used to solve that individual’s specific needs. This makes it much more likely that the sale will be successful.
8. Mixergy
Mixergy is a company that helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses by providing access to courses and interviews. Mixergy uses social media sites, ads, influencer marketing, free content, and email marketing to move prospects through its sales funnel.
Social media sites, Facebook ads, influencers, content marketing, and email campaigns are all methods used by mixergy.com to generate leads.
Awareness: Mixergy uses a variety of marketing channels to reach its target audience. Social media and paid ads are the primary means of attracting prospects, but the company also takes advantage of influencer marketing. This involves featuring famous entrepreneurs in interviews and courses, which helps to broaden their reach and attract new customers.
Interest: To allow potential customers to experience the benefits of Mixergy’s membership, the company offers access to 9 free interviews in exchange for signing up for their email list. This is a great way for prospects to get a taste of what Mixergy has to offer and decide if it’s right for them.
Decision: Mixergy’s email marketing strategy is two-fold. First, they share helpful and inspirational content to nurture leads. Second, they promote their courses and interviews so prospects can better understand what they offer. This approach helps them build relationships with potential customers and eventually convert them into paying customers.
Action: Mixergy’s emails always include a CTA inviting customers to join their community. By doing so, they gain access to over 200 courses and 1,700 interviews. The landing page describing the benefits and value of a Mixergy membership is very clear and concise.
The Mixergy sales funnel is highly effective because it uses the power of influencers and emails.
Mixergy taps into the audiences of entrepreneurs who teach their courses. These audiences are already fans of the entrepreneurs and want more access to them, so they are likely to convert when they see that their favorite entrepreneurs have courses in the community.
Many of your subscribers are very likely to convert because they see other successful entrepreneurs who are teaching online courses.
Mixergy also uses lead nurturing emails to educate prospects on the value of membership. This primes them for conversion and makes them more likely to convert into paying customers.
9. Netflix
Streaming service Netflix has over 15,000 movies available for subscribers to watch.
Its marketing funnel uses word of mouth, influencers, and ways to reduce the friction between a prospect and a sale.
Awareness: Because it was the first of its kind, the name “Netflix” has become synonymous with online streaming.
When potential customers hear that Netflix has the movies and TV shows they love, they’re more likely to sign up. This is because Netflix uses a type of marketing called influencer marketing.
Interest and Decision: The primary way that Netflix keeps its subscribers interested is by publicizing new titles that are coming to the service.
When Netflix shows and movies are talked about in pop culture, it’s the perfect time for its ideal customers to join so they can see what all the buzz is about. By being a part of the conversation, they can stay up-to-date on the latest trends and be in the know about what everyone is talking about.
Action: Netflix’s sales funnel is designed to make converting easy for members. There are no hidden fees or long-term commitments, and Netflix promotes the value of more expensive plans to get prospects to convert to higher membership tiers.
The Netflix sales funnel is highly effective because it utilizes multiple forms of social sharing.
Because it was the first to enter the market, Netflix has pervaded pop culture. It has been able to capitalize on the buzz generated by the movies hosted on its service and the shows and movies it creates. This has allowed Netflix to build a large customer base and become a household name.
All of these features work in tandem to drum up interest in the product. And signing up is quick and easy.
10. Rankings.io
Ranking-io is an SEO firm that assists attorneys in using search engine marketing to grow their business.
It relies on blog posts, podcasts, and newsletter content to generate leads, which it uses to then move its buyers through the sales funnel.
Awareness: Rankings.io’s guides, blog articles, and social media posts are extremely helpful in teaching prospects about how SEO works and how to execute various SEO tactics.
It attracts new leads into its sales funnel by converting them to email subscribers and podcast listeners.
Interest and Decision: If you’re looking to improve your law firm’s SEO, Rankings.io is a great resource. The company shares case studies in its newsletter that show how its effective use of SEO can help grow your practice.
When you hear someone’s voice and see their face, it creates a stronger connection than just reading the words they wrote. So Rankings.io shares images of the people behind its organization in its newsletter and speaks to prospects directly through its podcast. This way, you can get to know the team and feel more comfortable trusting them with your business.
Action: After establishing authority with its content and gaining familiarity, rankings.IO sends its subscribers a monthly newsletter inviting them to book a consultation with them.
For service-based businesses, two goals must be met:
- Convince prospects that they are experts in their field
- Get prospects to buy into the idea of working with their organization
The sales funnel of Rankings.io is effective because the case studies meet goal number one and the podcast accomplishes goal number two.
Each monthly newsletter includes a picture and bio of the CEO and the podcast gives listeners a chance to get to know him and other company executives.
How to Fix a Sales Funnel That’s Losing Your Leads
While your funnel can be a source of success in your sales department, it can also be a frustrating source of failure if you realize that your conversion rate is low, the sales cycle is too long, and many leads are unresponsive or not interested.
If you’re losing leads somewhere in the funnel, there are simple ways to fix it.
Here are some tips to help you fix a sales funnel that’s losing your leads.
1. Check your lead quality – One of the first things you should do is check the quality of your leads. Make sure they are qualified and interested in your product or service.
2. Evaluate your offer – Take a close look at what you’re offering and make sure it’s something that potential customers actually want.
3. Improve your website – Your website is often the first interaction potential customers have with your brand. Make sure it’s up to date, easy to navigate, and provides all the information they need to know about your product or service.
4. Review your sales process – Make sure your sales process is efficient and effective. Are there any steps that can be streamlined or eliminated? Are you using the most effective selling techniques?
5. Train your sales team – If you have a sales team, make sure they are properly trained on how to use your sales funnel and close deals effectively.
Go back and review your sales funnel from lead to close. Are there any potential flaws that may prevent customers from doing business with you?
Break down communication barriers that prevent you from engaging with your prospects more easily.
If you want to make sure you’re not losing leads, review your initial response time. According to InsideSales.com, 35-50 percent of sales go to the vendor that responds first. Make sure you’re not missing out by being too slow to respond.
The benefit of having a sales funnel is being able to tailor your message to your prospects based on their position in the funnel.
Conclusion
If your sales funnel is losing leads, it’s important to figure out why. There could be any number of reasons, such as pricing, market immaturity, or a lengthy product implementation schedule. Knowing these issues is the first step to finding ways to address them.
If you’re looking for some inspiration, be sure to check out these 10 sales funnel examples. With a little bit of effort, you can fix your sales funnel and start generating more leads and conversions.
