how to earn money
The Sales Funnel
Plan of Action
CHAPTER 1
What Is A Sales Funnel
We make use of the metaphor of a sales funnel (wide at the very top, narrow at the
end) to monitor the sales process.
Towards the top of this funnel you've got 'unqualified prospects' - the people who you
believe may need your service or product, but to whom you've never spoken. At the
end of this funnel, many delivery and sales steps after, you've got those who've
received the service or product and have also purchased it.
The metaphor of a funnel can be utilized because prospects drop out of different
stages of an extended sales process.
Using the sales funnel, and by calculating the amount of leads at every point of the
procedure, you are able to predict the amount of prospects who'll, over time, become
clients.
A lot more than this, by taking a look at how these amounts change with time, you
are able to spot issues in the sales pipeline and just take corrective action early.
For instance, in the event that you spot that not many mailings were actioned during
a month, you may be expecting that, in a couple of months time, sales may dry out.
The following month, you can ensure that more mailings than usual are sent.
Utilization of the Sales Funnel shows obstacles and dead time, or if they're an
insufficient quantity of leads at any point. This knowledge enables you to decide
where sales agents should focus their attention and efforts to help keep sales at the
required level and, also, to satisfy targets.
The funnel may also explain where improvements have to be implemented in the
sales procedure. These might be as straight-forward as introducing extra sales
coaching or making certain sales reps put adequate emphasis on each step of the
process.
The very first stage in establishing sales funnel reporting would be to brainstorm the
sales process together with your sales and marketing people to make certain that it
is correct and comprehensive.
Out of this, find out the main sequential parts of the sales procedure and, from these,
generate status codes. Then, label your leads using these codes (this is easier when
you've got a sales contact management system). Finally, work-out the amount of
prospects of every status and calculate the change from the last month.
As you develop an image of a sales funnel from every month, you can begin to
comprehend where you are able to enhance your sales process. Obviously, a
product is required before you can start to sell anything though, and this is what we
are going to discuss in the following chapters.
CHAPTER 2
What is Internet Commerce
The idea of internet commerce is about going online to complete business better and
faster. It is all about giving clients controlled use of your pc systems and allowing
them to serve themselves. It's about making your organization commit to a significant
on-line effort and integrating your website with the essence of your business. Should
you do this, you will notice results!
The web is a feasible alternative to all of the conventional ways of conducting
business. Can't meet in person? Send an e-mail with a photograph attached. When
it's time for the customer to purchase the merchandise, make use of a secured
server for charge card and, sometimes even, digital cash payments! The
opportunities and situations through which internet business can be done are
limitless.
In the wonderful world of internet commerce, the area where you conduct business
are Websites. Most businesses exist already offline. Adding an internet site
represents a way to improve their business. For Online start-ups, the website may be
the only place they conduct business.
To do business, additionally, you need a method to accept orders and action
payment. In a store, clients simply discover the products and services they need,
enter a queue at the till and pay the shop clerk. In internet commerce, orders need to
be placed and items shipped. Orders are often handled through interactive, internet-
based forms.
Clients in a store pay by cash, check or credit / debit cards. Online clients can't pay
by check or cash, only through electronic means. Internet commerce transactions
have to occur through secure electronic connections and special merchant portals
for processing payment.
Delivery fulfilment, in the wonderful world of internet commerce, is harder than in
conventional stores, requiring shipping and transportation much like catalogue and
mail order companies.
In both regular commerce and internet commerce, you need to locate a method to
attract clients to you. This is epitomized by your online marketing strategy.
On the internet, one simple way to do this is via Google Adwords, where you
research keywords related to your site that attract significant numbers of monthly
searches. Google will then rank your site higher in their listings when a user enters
that keyword into a search and you pay Google a certain amount for every click you
receive.
You can also market your site by writing articles related to it and posting these (with
a link back to your site in your bio) on well-known article directory sites like
EzineArticles.com. These sites are free and usually rank well in the search engines.
