The way new customers enter your business is often referred to as a sales funnel. Others call it a lead pipeline. Either way, it’s a way of describing the process of taking someone who barely knows who you are (top of the funnel) and turning them into an active customer (bottom of the funnel).
Sales Funnel Anatomy
While most sales funnels have the same basic structure, every industry, business, and even lead source has a unique sales funnel. It should also be noted that not every lead enters your funnel at the top. Some people are already middle or even bottom of the funnel leads when they reach you.
- Top: People who don’t know much about your business, are just looking, or are at the beginning of their home improvement search are the kind of leads you’ll typically find at the top of your sales funnel.
- Middle: Potential customers who know how you can improve their home and are likely to do a deal with you in the future will often be found somewhere in the middle of your sales funnel. These customers may have some objections, may be working on putting together funds for their project, or may have other factors preventing them from closing a deal with you right now.
- Bottom: People who know what you do, who are in active contact with you, and who are ready to move forward with their home improvement project are at the bottom of the funnel. At this point, it’s time to reach out to finalize estimates, close the deal, and schedule a project start date.
Figuring Out Your Sales Funnel
Don’t underestimate the value you can get from tracking where your customers come from. Doing so can help you identify how many top, middle, and bottom of the funnel customers you are collecting and how efficiently you’re converting them.
It all starts with asking customers how they heard about you during your first contact with them so that you can compare the number of customers who close for each lead source. Consider using a CRM to keep track of where each lead comes from, what stage of the sales funnel they are currently in, and how far along the funnel they make it.
You can use this information to figure out what you’re doing right and areas you can improve on to successfully move more of your customers through the funnel. For example, if you notice a large percentage of Facebook leads closing compared to those you generate from LinkedIn, there may be content, a call to action, or an advertisement you’re running on Facebook that could be adapted to LinkedIn leads to help improve the close rate.
This information can also help you move leads through the funnel more efficiently. If you know your website leads are mostly bottom of the funnel, you can go right into offering them project estimates and financing options. However, if most of your website leads are top of funnel, you may want to start with more basic information. Having this sort of insight can also help you create more effective automated email campaigns.
One of the biggest reasons leads get stuck in the funnel is project affordability. Get those leads moving again with home improvement financing! Foundation Finance makes it easy to close sales with free APRs starting at 7.9% and approvals for customers with FICOs as low as 600. Learn more or enroll in the Foundation Finance dealer network today. Contact us for more info: 1-855-241-0024, [email protected].
