The Digital Sales Funnel: How to Increase Revenue
Track the full sales funnel to find weak points and improve conversions.
A full-funnel sales process has two parts: the external journey from an advertising campaign to an enquiry, and the internal journey from enquiry to sale. It starts with an audience that does not yet know your company and ends with the interaction between a sales manager and a buyer.
Connecting both parts can increase sales. Analyse where sales come from, identify problems at each stage and address them.
Digital means moving the sales process into a digital environment. Analytics tools help evaluate how you attract audiences both online and offline. A CRM system can bring this analysis together, automate sales-team workflows and improve productivity by:
- adding enquiries to the sales pipeline;
- assigning tasks to managers and reminding them when to act;
- integrating with analytics tools, social networks, email and your website.
Problems it can solve
Weak execution at any stage of a digital funnel can cost you customers and revenue. Here are common problems and ways to address them.
Problem |
The solution |
| Managers lose track of enquiries. Several factors can affect a sales team: a manager may forget to follow up, or fail to answer calls and emails in time. As a result, some enquiries are lost. |
Automate the process. Every funnel stage has an action that moves a manager closer to closing the deal. A CRM system can automatically assign that action and a reminder to each manager. |
|
You cannot see how deals are progressing. Without analytics, it is hard to evaluate sales-team performance or see where customers leave the funnel. |
Track your sales. A CRM system can reveal weak points in the sales funnel and help you identify and solve problems in your sales team. |
|
Sales are not profitable enough. In our experience, low sales conversion is often linked to distributing enquiries by manager activity rather than by deal-closure rate. That is the wrong approach. |
Analyse sales performance. Use a CRM system to evaluate managers by sales results and distribute enquiries more effectively. |
|
You do not know where customers come from. Analytics that stop at the enquiry stage do not show which leads generate revenue. That makes it difficult to allocate budgets effectively and focus communication channels on sales. |
Connect web analytics to your CRM system. Knowing which channels and tools generate more profit helps you shift budgets to effective promotion and stop investing in unprofitable areas. |
How a digital funnel supports sales
A digital funnel helps you engage with customers at every stage of the sales process and guide them towards a purchase. A manager joins the conversation when the customer is ready. The system can turn “cold” enquiries into warmer leads by showing people what they want to see through the channels they already use. In other words, it helps them move towards a purchase without pressure.
A digital funnel lets you plan different sales journeys based on how long customers take to decide.
For a longer decision cycle |
For a shorter decision cycle |
|
Build an ongoing conversation with your audience: learn their preferences, test creative, demonstrate your expertise and earn trust. This strengthens loyalty and increases the chance they will come back. |
Make it easy to process orders quickly and send proposals faster than your competitors. Task automation, instant notifications and quick-order forms can help. |
For businesses with repeat sales, a digital funnel affects customer lifetime value (LTV) by supporting repeat and additional purchases. A sales cycle helps you plan regular communication through advertising, email and calls. Staying in touch builds loyalty and makes customers more likely to recommend you.
How a digital funnel can increase sales
Improve advertising performance. Identify which channels generate more profit, evaluate their return and allocate your budget more effectively. This can bring more qualified enquiries at the same spend and improve marketing return on investment (ROMI).
Improve sales performance. Optimise the funnel, distribute and automate tasks effectively, reduce the cost of sales, and encourage repeat and additional purchases.
Improve the brand experience. Respond to enquiries and objections faster, reduce mistakes and plan how your team works with customers. Better service makes your advantages clearer and builds confidence in your expertise.
Read more
Get in Touch