Intro to Adam Bensman: The following article is written by a contributor, Adam Bensman from Brain Hickey. Adam is a master copywriter, who knows how to grab an audience’s attention by creating fun-to-read, conversion-focused copy. He and I have worked together on several projects and he’s one smart guy worth listening to.
You’re about to learn the secrets behind high converting sales funnels.
Successful sales funnels have 3 ingredients. Master all three ingredients and you’ll have a high converting sales funnel.
Miss the mark on any one of these ingredients and your conversion will drop dramatically. You’ll slowly sink like a ship taking on water.
Think of it like this… a well designed, well-executed sales funnel acts like a set of blueprints. Master it once, and it becomes easier and easier to replicate in the future.
The general flow of a sales funnel looks like this:
There are several ways to work visitors through your sales funnel. You can use a combination of landing pages (squeeze pages), video sales letters, email, or retargeting. But today, we’re less focused on the structure of the sales funnel, and more focused on the finishing touches of the sales funnel.
Truth is, your sales funnel could be set up perfectly and still fail. Why? Think of it like this. Imagine walking into a brand new custom home, but the house is still just bare wall studs.
Does it have the same wow factor and appeal as the fully finished home? Why not? It’s the same house, the same structure, and the same floor plan?
Your sales funnel is built into the studs of the fancy custom house… it’s the bones… the structure… the integrity of the flow, but visitors can’t see that once the house is finished. People don’t care much about how the house is built, they care about what they can see, touch, and feel.
Since the only thing visitors see is the finished product, it’s all that matters… not what’s in the walls.
Focusing first on the 3 secrets to sales funnel success allows you to build your sales funnel around it. Using the house analogy – sketch your dream home layout first, then draw the blueprints.
Let’s hop to it. Here are the 3 secrets to building a successful sales funnel.
1. POSITION your offer to your prospect’s greatest desires.
Focus everything you talk about on the number one greatest benefit to your target market. What do they want? ← Fulfill that, and you’re golden.
People don’t really care about the why, they care about fulfilling their own desires. Do most people care how fresh, clean drinking water made it to every tap in their house? NO. They just want fresh, clean water on demand.
Position your product around what people want from your product or services. How does it make their lives better?
2. CONTINUITY of message. Build upon the story through each stage of the funnel.
Failing to have continuity will destroy your conversion. This is probably the most important part of your sales funnel… continuity of message.
Imagine clicking on an ad: “Free Template To Increase Sales Using Email!” and the next offer you see is trying sell you a $400 class on logo design, you’d probably scratch your head in confusion and leave, right?
Unfortunately, I see this time and time again. What you need to do is this. Build your story along each stage in the sales funnel. Example:
See how the message is linear and consistent? Each stage builds upon the previous stage offering more and more… providing solutions for the visitors desires. If a visitor wants to increase email sales they are going to walk themselves through the buying process.
3. AUTOMATION of follow-ups using email autoresponders.
Every single sales funnel should be using email automation. Period.
When a visitor clicks to download the free offer, you need to send an email instantly.
Subject: CONFIRMATION: Your Email Sales Template
Remind them of what they downloaded, link to it again, build trust, and explain the problems your products or services solve.
Of course, this is just the first email from an entire series. Remember, these are pre-written emails that are in cue to send out automatically at predetermined times. You’ll want to stay in touch with your prospect via automation for about 30-45 days.
This is the golden ticket to automating your online sales. Do it.
Of course, sending the right emails at the right time is essential. I walk you through how I do it in my Podcast Episode 005 (it’s free, obviously).
Wrapping It Up
Now it’s your turn. You have, or are going to build, a sales funnel. It’s the only way to thrive in online sales and lead generation.
It’s time to build your custom house. Start sketching your floorplans before putting together the blueprints. After all, you wouldn’t want to put the doorway in the wrong place. No one likes dueling doors.
Start with the 3 secrets to sales funnel success. Positioning, continuity, and automation. Now that your floor plan is sketched, you can build your funnel around it.
Start with the end in mind. Take your upsell and ask yourself,
“What free or low cost offering could I make that someone who buys my highest end product would want?”
Boom. There is your free/low cost entry opportunity. Now build your call-to-action around enticing your reader to redeem your offer.
Now build your landing page, blog, or copy around that concept.
