If you are business that is selling online or in the process of marketing for leads and new prospects online, it is guaranteed that you have a sales funnel.

Many businesses assume that online sales and lead generation is easy with immediate results, the hard truth is that you have to understand how effective your sales funnel is? Here are some helpful points that I wish to share to assist you as a business grow an effective sales funnel.

1. Build a strong strategy along lead flow.

Build a community by providing your customers with special offers, competitions and giveaways. Utilize targeted advertising (gmail) and expect a 50% drop on each stage, have a positive outlook whilst prospecting and looking for potential customers, the key to building your lead flow is to understand that not all leads convert into sales. 

You need to educate your prospects. In other words, you need to teach people why they need your product/service and how it works.

2. Focus on the correct people, 

Focus your attention on leads that convert and most importantly can lead to repeat customers. It is important not to forget to add value, solve problems and nurture quality relationships.

Understand that people do business with people they like, trust and respect. Have a genuine focused relationship with your customers and allocate resources to the dedicated and responsive prospects in your pipeline.

To date email is more responsive and used more than that of Facebook. Connecting with and building relationships is a core value when staying in touch with quality customers.

3. Tailor make subject lines, create interest

When communicating with prospect, ensure that your Subject lines are straight to the point, create an interest and a personal experience for your customer (I,e. Name).

Lead with verbs with high calls to action, what is the outcome for the client? keep it short and to the point. Avoid unsolicited bulk email and give the prospect the opt out. don't trap people. Always be clearly identifiable and approachable to your prospects and existing customers.

According to a recent Forrester report, the key to maintaining customer interest is resonance. A brand that resonates well with your contacts is committed to enrich the customer experience, and has value-driven engagement opportunities drives 6x higher conversion rates.

4. Quality lists are key

Once quality prospects are attained, segment them in groups, these can include and are not limited to demography, behavior and nature. Be proactive, research your prospects and make contact with quality people to build a sturdy profile.

Take time to split prospects into two groups (people who might buy) and non-prospects (people who won’t buy). Research new methods and ways in which you can increase the percentage of people who buy sooner so you can keep them moving down the pipeline into the final sale process.

It is recommended to utilize reporting software and metrics to gauge open rates, click through rates, deleted mails, bounce rates and device types used by your quality prospects. Know what content is working and understand where your customers came from, and what was their behavior on your sites and adverts.

5. Take your prospects on a nurturing process

Having an outlook that quality is better than quantity is beneficial when building a successful pipeline. Having 1000 interested customers is great, if only ten of those clients are of a quality nature and actually buy your products this is a negative effect on any successful pipeline.

Take the life cycle of the customer into consideration I.e. how long does it take for the customer to find you and purchase a product.

Make your leads feel special. No one likes to feel like a number and unappreciated. The key is to communicate often with your customers not in an annoying or disturbing manner, but make sure you stay top of mind, the customer might not want to buy now, but at a later stage when the opportunity arises he will remember you as the preferred supplier who provided him with information, product specials and value added service.

Be extremely helpful to your customer base learn how to become an expert in your industry, so you’re seen as an authority. That way, your recommendations and referrals gain weight and mean more.

Businesses who follow a nurture strategy are expected to at least expect a 45% ROI from leads. Nurtured leads produce on average 20% increase in sales opportunities. A business following a successful nurturing campaign can generate 50% more sales leads at 33% lower cost.

[Source: Demandgen]

6. Sale and Offers

Offer something of high value to your customers. Take into consideration as to what is your unique selling point and how you differentiate yourself from your competition. Generate paying customers through high value attractive offers.

Appreciate your existing goldmine of existing customers database. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%, whilst the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5 -20%.

One of the absolute best ways to generate leads is to give away something for free. Ask the person to provide their email address or other contact information. Offering different pricing segmentation's to accommodate the varying customer levels will grow and benefit your pipeline substantially.

7. Follow through

Prospective leads are nine times more likely to convert if you follow up within the first five minutes of the prospect expressing interest? If you wait more than 30 minutes, then your lead is 21 times less likely to turn into a sale.

Follow up with all the new customers you have acquired and ensure they are happy with their product or service. For example offer a membership-based rewards program to stay in touch with your customers and provide a value added service.

Reward your loyal customers, loyal customers that are appreciated are more likely to provide you with a quality referral which can generate additional income for your business.

[Source: Leadresponsemanagement]