Is your sales funnel broken?

The only reason any company goes into business is to make a profit. The only way to do that, of course, is to make sales. You have your SEO and social media marketing up and running and your branding efforts seem to be going well. The challenge is that most companies don’t even bother measuring their sales funnel process. In fact, according to research done at SalesForce, nearly 70% of the companies they spoke with don’t bother to measure the effectiveness of their sales funnel. So, how will you know if it is working? How to tell if it has broken down?

• Your sales funnel is, quite likely, the most important cog in the machine of your company’s success. If it isn’t working the way it should, you are losing a ton of money to your competitors. The old “keep it simple” adage has never been more relevant than at your sales funnel. Consumers these days don’t really want to have to think all that much after they have decided to make a purchase. If there are too many proverbial hoops to leap through or getting to the checkout is to long and involved, they are leaving. Too many steps from shopping cart to checkout means too many potential sales are escaping.

• Another sign of a broken sales funnel is that your sales are not anywhere near your projections. Do you have enough calls to action? Are your directions simple and an easy step by step process? Are their enough incentives? Are you prospecting enough? Are you using some manner of analytics to measure things? Are you doing any A/B testing?

• Finally, are you neglecting your current customer base? Even far too many of the giant companies and corporations do this. You always see specials from many companies for new customers. But what about your long time loyal customers? What are you giving them? Likely nothing just like the big boys and girls. Recent research at Business.com revealed that previous customers spend and average of around 70% more than new customers do. Besides, it takes far more effort to recruit a new customer than it does to retain an old one. Take a lesson from the telecom and cable companies who offer free this and free that and discounted prices to new customers while their long time loyal customers get nothing. You can’t afford to churn and burn like they do. Giving your long time customers a nod to their loyalty will do wonders for your sales funnel and your bottom line.

-Written by Kevin Sawyer