A sales funnel is the cornerstone of any business, and understanding the five stages of the B2B sales funnel is essential for success. From awareness to post-purchase engagement, this comprehensive guide will help you understand how to create an effective sales funnel and grow your B2B sales. At the top of the funnel, potential customers who don't know your company will become aware of who you are. This is your chance to start building a relationship of trust with your potential customers.
To generate engagement for the middle of the sales funnel, you'll need to build trust with a more direct approach. Use informational content to demonstrate that you have authority in the industry, such as case studies, how-to guides, and explanatory product videos. When customers become more aware of a brand to decide on their purchase, the number of potential customers decreases. It's estimated that customers make the decision to buy at your company 75 percent before they start paying, so it's crucial to address all website issues so that customers can easily move from consideration to decision.
Product guides, exhibitions, and solutions to common “problems” are some of the tactics you can use to provide potential customers with the information they need to make a purchasing decision. Now that you have the attention of potential customers, it's time to inspire and encourage them to learn more about your business. Prospects are aware that they have a problem and a viable solution arouses their interest. They need more information to move to the next stage of the sales funnel.
Start talking about why your product is better than what your competitors offer and focus on the benefits of your product or service instead of explaining the features. Whether your industry is competitive or not, there's always the option to buy from someone else. Do you offer free shipping when your competitors don't? Is your purchase price lower than that of your competitors? What after-sales support do you offer your customers? All of these issues could influence your customer's decision to stick with you or buy a similar product from a competing brand. Use loyalty programs to retain hard-earned customers and enjoy the benefits of repeat business. Give them special deals and discounts to reward them for supporting your brand for a long time. Work with a growth marketing agency to design appropriate customer retention strategies to make customers feel part of their inner circle. At this stage of the funnel, a B2B customer will be looking for answers.
The problem can be simple or complicated, such as a new vendor for manufacturing problems or software that integrates your front-end and back-end operations. In the interest phase, they start researching your products to gather more information about them. This is the initial stage of the buying process, where trust is built. At this point, encouraging leadership is mainly focused on increasing the customer's opinion of your brand. During the evaluation phase, you have solidly captured the buyer's attention.
Now is the time to focus on showing how your solution is suitable for customer needs. When your potential customer is in the engagement phase, they'll interact with your sales team. This may include a product demonstration, a sales pitch, and clear communication to understand the buyer's pain points and help them find a solution. Once again, the relationship and trust that are created at this level are crucial for leadership to move to the last stage. Post-purchase engagement keeps the customer happy, further feeds the funnel, and is key to creating a strong B2B sales portfolio. That's because 84% of B2B sales start with a recommendation from a friend or colleague, and these referral leads generate 30% more revenue. While traditional B2B sales and marketing funnels are still commonly used strategies, advances in account-based marketing (ABM) are changing their traditional function.
Your sales and marketing teams should be familiar with understanding where action is being taken and where opportunities are located in order to grow their B2B sales funnel. A Google study revealed that 89% of B2B researchers use web research when looking into their B2B customers and 81% use it when researching B2B companies. So why use an outdated model when modern digital businesses exist? Your customers have countless options and limited time to explore them all. The average person spends just 37 seconds scanning content about products and services before making their decision - so make sure yours stands out! Improve email reach through email signatures instead of attaching PDFs; use PPC ads, SEO, videos, and blogs for engagement; and create loyalty programs for repeat business. By understanding each stage of the B2B sales funnel - from awareness through post-purchase engagement - you can create an effective strategy that will help you grow your business.
