The classic sales funnel that we have all seen many times in our business lives with the top being focused on driving traffic to your website, email or phone.
Now, the question is what are you doing regularly to keep your sales funnel full? … With, or without the Internet and websites, one thing hasn’t changed. Sales is a numbers game. If you are working a warm, referred market where people come to you, or you are working a cold, non referred market, the only difference is the numbers you need to work. But the principle is usually the same. If you work enough numbers, if you do things that keep the top of your funnel full, then sales will happen as a result – even if your conversions are terrible. Improving conversions is another topic for another day.
Your goal should be to never stop prospecting – never top pushing prospects into the funnel. Even if you have all the referred business you can handle, you should never stop filling the top with new leads, because eventually, that wonderful referral market you are making your living on will start to dry up and if you haven’t replaced those referral sources, you will eventually go out of business, or you will go into panic mode, and prospects and leads can smell panic mode a mile away. That’s a Fact Jack! – LOL
How to fill your funnel? (a few ideas to get you thinking)
- Newsletters – Once a month or twice a month at most (it’s the easiest, and cheapest way to stay in front of your clients and prospects).
- Facebook Ads – Target the exact market you want to reach. Not cheap and the algo is not a fair sliding scale of opportunity and cost.
- Google Ads PPC – Target people searching your keywords – Can be very expensive unless you know how to highly target your keywords, and Google will not teach you that.
- Bing Ads PPC – Same as Google Ads, but with less results and the targeting isn’t nearly as accurate.
- LinkedIn Ads – Target people that fit a business profile – Can be very expensive.
- Craigslist Ads – Only $5 for an ad in the Services area and it stays live for 30 days to get new prospects – Not saying it works great, but it’s only $5.
- Post regularly on Social Media.
- SEO Strategy – Includes Blogging for SEO (sort of like Dialing for Dollars, for those that remember)
- Local SEO – Getting yourself listed in numerous directories, online mapping sources, and review sites, and making sure all your info is exactly the same.
- Exchanging contact lists with business relationships. Build a circle of business relationships where you share your client and prospect lists with each other.
- Attend a few Networking groups that allow open membership for business verticals – I prefer groups that are larger and meet only once or twice a month.
- Attend a business conference that attracts your market, as a Vendor with a booth – Most will provide you the list of all the attendees – if they do not, don’t participate.
- Print Ads (Newspaper Ads, Magazine Ads, Mailer Ads) still work for many businesses.
- Find informational websites in your industry and purchase ad space on them.
- Get involved in a community organization that gives back to the community – business relationships will come naturally from this — and your community will benefit from your time and involvement.
- Visit a few different Chambers of Commerce and find one that is a natural fit for your personality and business and get involved.
- Join your local political party – become an active Precinct Chairman at a minimum to increase your circle of influence and friends.
- Get more involved with your Church – Not for business reasons alone, but good things and referrals will eventually come from it.
- There are many others – The list could go on forever.
What are you doing to feed your funnel?
Image from: https://www.revechat.com/blog/sales-funnel/