There is no doubt that the internet has become the great equaliser in the business world. From one man, small business entrepreneurs to multinational corporations and international franchises, everyone has a chance of success on the internet.
The secret is building a business website that works harder than the competition. A website that brings you customers and clients, engages them, convinces them to do business with you and then enables you to close the deal and deliver the goods, whether a product or service in a timely manner.
It sounds like a lot to ask for, but there is a science behind the process that once learned can make it easier than you would imagine. It is basically a 5 part process that when properly implemented and maintained can almost guarantee your success.
Building a Sales Funnel that Works
The 4 elements or steps of a hard-working sales funnel are:
- Attract
- Engage
- Convert
- Retain
1. Attract
The first step in building your website is, of course, to attract your target audience. It does you absolutely no good to build a beautiful site if no one is ever going to see it. To accomplish this, you need to think like an old school fisherman. You need to cast your net wide and hopefully into your prey’s home.
This means you need to study your target audience learn what language they speak, what issues keep them awake at night, where they hang out, every possible thing you can to help you understand them and the best way to reach them.
The main point to remember: It is about the audience, not you.
2. Engage
Now that you have found your audience and understand their pain points, it is time to start selling to them.
You need to make them understand how you can help solve their problems, why you are the best choice to do so, what advantages you offer over your competition and why they should believe any of the above.
To do this you need to build authority and offer proof of what you say. There are a number of ways to accomplish these dual goals.
- Articles
- Customer testimonials
- Case studies
- Examples and displays (pictures, videos) of past work
- References
Once you have gathered your proof, it is time to put it in front of your audience. Some of the best tools to accomplish this are:
- Blogs
- Lead generation pages
- Newsletters
- Search engine optimisation and Search engine advertising
- Video marketing
- Paid social media advertising
3. Convert
You have found your audience, explained why you are their best choice and why they should trust you. Now it is time to turn these readers and lookers into buyers. To do this, remember these key points.
Make their lives easy.
Offer them scheduling and easy contact methods straight from your website.
Create a clear call to action so they don’t have to think about what to do.
Explain pricing or package options in a clear, easy to understandable way.
If possible, give them a one-click option to buy from or schedule services with you.
4. Retain
According to the latest research, 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customer base and it will cost you 5 times as much to reach a new customer or client than it will, to make the extra effort to retain an existing one.
Just a few ideas on how to accomplish this are:
- Offer value added services to returning customers.
- Offer customer loyalty discounts.
- Offer automatic reminders or even repurchase for recurring needs.
- Send out a no sales informational letter with helpful hints to make their lives easier.
