If you’re not using sales funnels in your business you are LEAVING MONEY on the table! So if you aren’t sure if sales funnels are right for your business, our recent video will help you get crystal clear once and for all. Let’s dive in.
As someone who has spent the last 12 years designing custom websites, Cathy knows a lot about the pros and cons of both websites AND sales funnels, when to use one over the other, and pretty much everything in between.
One of the greatest “cons” of going the website route is that they serve as e-brochures, whereas funnels lead customers all the way through to the order confirmation page.
Even still, many people are quick to reject funnels. But we’re here to show you the path to funnel enlightenment. The first step in the road to recovery is recognizing that there’s a problem, which is exactly what we’re about to share with you!
These THREE common mistakes are ones that you’re likely making if you haven’t implemented a funnel in your business yet…and remedying them can make a WORLD of difference in your business!
These are the mistakes you’re likely making if you only have a website and NOT a funnel:
We hate to be the ones to break this to you, but putting every single product and service you offer on your website for leads to peruse at their leisure…is confusing them! And as everyone in marketing knows, a confused mind always says NO. If people aren’t sure of what you’re offering, what value you provide, and what problem you solve, they’ll just close the page. This is a HUGE problem with websites. As a web designer, Cathy has spent over a decade working TIRELESSLY to get people to stay on the page—despite being so confused and without just turning a website into a sales page. Even though you might not know it, people are leaving your page RIGHT NOW because they’re confused.
Sales funnels combat this confusion by leading customers and clients through the process, and making them aware of their solution. It gets them to understand “ok, this is what I’m missing” or “this is the problem I’m having”. Funnels walk people through the emotional side effects of this problem and the logical solution to it. Then, clear explanation of your offer really shows clients if it’s for them. If it is, then “wow I really AM having this problem” turns into “…and this is what I need to pull my credit card out for right now so I can do something about it!”, which turns into increased conversion rates for you!
Sales funnels guide people through your area of expertise and shows them the value of what you do. Websites, on the other hand, far too commonly use the often ineffective “spray and pray” approach of putting every single thing you can do on the table. This approach makes customers do all the work of figuring out what part of your business they’re interested in—if any part of it at all.
…But are you sure about that? Most e-commerce businesses do it wrong—since they’re all about volume, their goal is to get as many customers into their store in order to get the money out…but their conversion rates are still lower. Abandoned carts are a HUGE issue.
What Amazon does differently is that…it’s kind of a sales funnel! You can add stuff to your cart and checkout very quickly, they give you recommendations to add to your cart (order bumps), they offer upsells, and they offer downsells. There are even psychological elements like not being able to be distracted by anything else when you’re viewing your cart. It’s a sales funnel!
Amazon gives you three options once you’ve added something to your cart: Add more to your cart, edit your cart, or check out. And you know if you leave, then log back in, those products you put into your cart are still there!
At a basic level, that’s what sales funnels do. They give prospective buyers a very clear path to follow that ends with a conversion. They’re built to give leads tunnel vision…or should we say, funnel vision? ????
This is a TOTAL myth. And the longer you keep telling yourself this, the more you’re hurting your conversions. Our goal as entrepreneurs is to get people to land on our page, and then it end in a sale. And the truth is that NOTHING converts higher than a sales page. Going back to mistake #1, if someone lands on your page and has 10 options to choose from, they’re going to get lost and confused. Most of your website conversions come from people who come to your page already knowing about your offer. A sales funnel, on the other hand, does the work for them.
Instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater by swearing off sales funnels for being irreparably UGLY…just design them right! Pay attention to your brand style and brand guidelines and create a beautiful sales funnel. Design your funnel in a way that fits your brand, speaks to your business and your authenticity, and lets leads know what you and your offer are all about. It can look and feel just like you—it’s just structured differently.
If that’s a challenge for you because you already have a website and you don’t know how the heck to build a funnel, we got you covered! We sell gorgeous funnel templates that feature high-end design and beautiful branding, but also include the sales techniques that you need to increase your conversions.
A lot of people incorrectly assume that sales pages have to be over-the-top salesy, “buy now”, just in-your-face used-car salesmen level sleaze.
But that’s totally wrong! (Ok…maybe not totally wrong—there are definitely sales funnels that are like that.) But yours isn’t going to be like that.
The irony is that your website is actually helping people LESS than you think it is. The spray and pray approach of “let’s just show them everything we do and then the customers can navigate their way through our maze of our offerings and come to their own decisions” is not nearly as effective as you hope it is.
Think about when you go to a new department store. Sure, you can find your way around and maybe you’ll see something you like and maybe you’ll even buy it. But what often happens is that you get overwhelmed and exhausted by having to look through everything, having questions but not having anyone there to help, and you get frustrated because you can’t always find what you’re looking for.
Now think about when there’s a salesperson there to help you. Now the experience becomes easier, faster, and much more enjoyable. Instead of looking around fruitlessly, someone is there to help answer your questions, show you exactly what they have, and clarify if what they’re offering is something that you want.
There are some salespeople that, yes, are kinda sleazy and quite annoying. But that’s not you! You have a valuable offer that will change people’s lives for the better. You and your sales funnel will swoop in and save the day for confused customers looking for a solution! How can you be sleazy when you’re serving people who need your expertise and abilities?
Don’t be like a typical department store where people are mostly left to their own devices to figure it out. Instead, be like IKEA. If you’ve never been to IKEA then you won’t know what we mean, but those of you that have definitely do! IKEA is set up in a way that walks customers through staged rooms (literally walks…there are arrows on the floor so customers know which direction to go) that show you an aspirational version of what your living space could look like with IKEA’s products. There are also booths of workers that help answer questions and provide extra support. It’s an entire presentation and it’s AWESOME.
So be like IKEA. Walk customers through the shopping experience, show them how your offer could look in their life, entertain them with the extra value you provide, and WOW them all the way to the order confirmation page.
Sales funnels are just about the best thing you can do for your online business. There are stigmas surrounding the use of funnels and sales pages, but we’re here to tell you that it’s all BS. And we hope this blog post has demonstrated why!
Utilizing a sales funnel in your business is a great way to clearly demonstrate who you are and what you have to offer. And it’s one of the best things you can do to increase your conversions.
If you’d like to learn more about how to use funnels for your business, check out our Funnel Building for Beginners guide.
If you’re loving this post or are still unsure if funnels are right for you, we’d love to hear about it! Share in our Facebook group or tag us on Instagram, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more about sales funnels.
