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What Is a Sales Funnel?

There’s a lot of sales-y language in the marketing world you might not be very familiar or comfortable with.

Sales funnels are a huge component of that marketing jargon.

Simply put, a sales funnel is the process by which new leads are converted into paying customers or clients. It follows a general four-step process that shows how to approach your leads depending on what stage of the process they are in.

Generate Brand Awareness

To get people into your sales funnel, you need to make them aware of your existence. This is the main point of inbound marketing. Things like blogs, social media, and ads raise awareness about what you offer.

Make sure you provide plenty of ways for people to sign up and contact you once they are aware of you. Forms, newsletters, and downloads are great examples of how you can capture their information. Once you have someone’s email, phone number, or address, you’ll be able to stay in touch with them and sell directly to them.

This moves them into the next stage of the sales funnel.

Foster Their Interest

The best way to keep in touch with those who have subscribed to your business is through email. Not only is it the easiest way to reach people, but it establishes a personal connection between your business and potential clients.

Email marketing is an essential part of inbound sales because it keeps your new subscribers invested and excited to hear from you. Provide helpful and informative ideas in your emails as well as personal information about your company, like employee spotlights or awards received.

You want to have a call to action (CTA) in all of your emails, either leading them to your website to learn more or to schedule an appointment.

Help Them Decide

Fostering your followers’ interest will definitely help them desire to choose your business, but there are other methods that can push them in your direction.

Drum up your reputation through reviews on sites like Google and Facebook. People almost always check out how highly rated a company is so they know if it is trustworthy or not. Just think about when you make a decision to buy from a certain business: You want to make sure you are choosing the best possible option, right? Ratings help quantify that.

Get a Commitment

The final part of the sales funnel is the commitment or action stage. During this period, you’re able to close the sale with the potential client. They’re now a paying customer. Whether they’ve decided to come in for a consultation or get braces, you have convinced them to do what you want them to.

There is a significant difference in the number of those who actually commit versus those who are just aware of your practice. This might seem disheartening at first, but keep your return on investment (ROI) in mind. You will usually be able to cover the expenses of advertising to a large audience with the commitment of only a few customers.

Ortho Sales Engine specializes in marketing solutions for orthodontists, combines more than 20 in-house services to create customized, repeatable marketing systems, and serves as a trusted partner to doctors and their teams. To learn more or schedule a free consultation, visit orthosalesengine.com.