Welcome to this comprehensive guide on the stages of a B2B sales funnel!
As businesses continue to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing marketplace, it becomes increasingly important for companies to understand how to effectively sell their products and services to other businesses.
That’s where the B2B sales funnel comes in.
The B2B sales funnel is a framework that helps companies identify the various stages of the buying process and create a strategic approach for guiding prospects through each stage.
By understanding the stages of the sales funnel, businesses can tailor their marketing and sales efforts to meet the specific needs and preferences of their target audience.
In this article, we’ll explore each stage of the B2B sales funnel in detail, including the key characteristics of each stage, the typical buyer behavior, and the most effective marketing and sales tactics for engaging and converting prospects.
Whether you’re a seasoned sales professional or a new business owner, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and strategies for optimizing your B2B sales process and achieving your business goals. So let’s dive in!
Determine Traffic Temperature
The first stage of the B2B sales funnel is determining traffic temperature.
This refers to identifying where a prospect is in their buying journey, based on their level of familiarity with your company and their specific needs.
There are three main types of traffic temperature:
- Cold Traffic: These are prospects who are completely new to your company and have not yet engaged with your brand. They may have just discovered your website through a search engine or social media platform.
- Warm Traffic: These are prospects who have shown some interest in your company, but have not yet taken any significant actions such as filling out a contact form or requesting a quote. They may have downloaded a piece of content or subscribed to your email newsletter.
- Hot Traffic: These are prospects who have expressed a high level of interest in your company and may be actively considering a purchase. They may have reached out to your sales team or requested a demo of your product.
To effectively move prospects through the sales funnel, it is important to understand where they fall on the traffic temperature spectrum.
This will help you tailor your marketing and sales efforts to their specific needs and preferences.
For example, if you are targeting cold traffic, your focus may be on building brand awareness and establishing credibility through content marketing and social media.
On the other hand, if you are targeting hot traffic, your focus may be on providing in-depth product information and personalized sales support to help them make a purchasing decision.
Creating A Pre-Frame Bridge
Before diving into the lead generation stage of the B2B sales funnel, it is important to touch on a key concept that is often used in sales funnels: the pre-frame bridge.
The pre-frame bridge is a strategy that is used to connect a prospect’s current situation with the solution that your product or service provides. Essentially, it involves setting the stage for the sales pitch by establishing a common ground and building trust with the prospect.
It can be anything from an email to social media content or a blog post.
To create a pre-frame bridge, you should start by understanding your prospect’s pain points and challenges. This will help you identify how your product or service can help them overcome these obstacles and achieve their goals.
Once you have a clear understanding of your prospect’s needs, you can use various marketing tactics to establish credibility and build trust. For example, you might create content that addresses their pain points and provides valuable insights or offer a free consultation to demonstrate your expertise and willingness to help.
By creating a pre-frame bridge, you can establish a strong foundation for the sales conversation and increase the likelihood of converting the prospect into a customer.
Lead Generation
The next stage of a B2B sales funnel is generating new leads. That is done by creating a strong lead magnet and offering it in exchange for contact information of your dream customers or sometimes scheduling a call or other action like that.
Usually in the B2B sales funnel, it is done through two pages:
- The Lead-Squeeze (Opt-In) Page (when giving the lead magnet away right away)
- The Registration Page (when the lead magnet is going to be some form of a presentation that will act as a sales tool to get people to buy, like a webinar)
Depending on the funnel you are going to build you’re going to pick which one of these pages you are going to use.
For example, in my B2B affiliate sales funnel, I used this registration page to collect the contact information of my dream customers and get new leads.
Once you have captured the contact information of a lead, it is important to nurture the relationship and move them through the sales funnel.
And now, let’s move on to the next stage of a B2B sales funnel which is qualifying buyers…
Turning Leads Into Buyers
Once you get new leads, it is time to turn those leads into customers. This is probably the most important stage of the B2B sales funnel and you must be careful about how you create it.
First of all, it is important that you pick the right sales tool for your B2B product or service.
If it is a more expensive product or service ranging usually above $300, then it might be a great idea to instead of a conventional sales page deliver the sales presentation through a webinar or close the deal on a phone.
If it is a more low ticket offer, under $300…you should do well with things like a conventional sales page if you know how to write great sales copy.
Here are some tips for writing a sales page that converts:
Start with a Compelling Headline
The headline is the first thing visitors see when they land on your sales page, so it’s crucial to make it compelling and attention-grabbing.
Your headline should clearly convey the benefits of your product or service, and highlight the pain points that it solves for your target audience.
For example, if you’re selling a project management tool, your headline might be something like “Simplify Your Workflow and Boost Productivity with Our Project Management Software.”
This headline clearly highlights the benefits of the product and speaks directly to the pain points of the target audience.
Use Subheadings to Break Up the Content
Once you’ve hooked visitors with your headline, it’s important to keep them engaged with subheadings that break up the content and make it easier to read.
Subheadings should be concise and descriptive and should highlight the key features and benefits of your product or service.
For example, if you’re selling a marketing automation tool, your subheadings might include “Automate Your Marketing Tasks,” “Improve Lead Generation and Nurture,” and “Save Time and Increase ROI.”
Create A Persuasive Body Copy
The body copy is the heart of your sales page, and should provide visitors with all the information they need to make an informed decision. Your body copy should be persuasive, and informative, and should clearly explain the benefits of your product or service.
To create persuasive body copy, it’s important to focus on the benefits, not just the features of your product or service.
Instead of simply listing the features, explain how those features will solve the pain points of your target audience.
For example, instead of saying “Our marketing automation tool includes lead scoring,” you could say “With our marketing automation tool, you can easily identify your most qualified leads, so you can focus your efforts on closing more deals.”
Include Social Proof with Testimonials
Testimonials are a powerful form of social proof that can help build trust and credibility with your target audience.
Include testimonials from satisfied customers who have benefited from your product or service. Testimonials should be specific and should highlight the key benefits that your product or service provides.
For example, a testimonial for a project management tool might say something like “Since implementing this tool, our team has been able to increase productivity by 30%, and we’re now able to deliver projects on time and within budget.”
Create a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
The call-to-action (CTA) is the final step in your sales page, and should be clear, concise, and persuasive. Your CTA should clearly communicate the next step that you want visitors to take, such as “Start Your Free Trial,” “Get Your Free Demo,” or “Sign Up Now.”
It’s also important to make your CTA stand out by using contrasting colors or bold text. By making your CTA visually appealing, you can increase the chances of visitors taking action.
Optimize Your Sales Page for Mobile
With more people browsing the internet on their mobile devices, it’s important to optimize your sales page for mobile users.
Make sure that your sales page is mobile responsive and that all elements are easy to read and navigate on a small screen.
In addition to optimizing for mobile, it’s also important to optimize your sales page for search engines by incorporating relevant keywords and meta descriptions. This will help improve your visibility in search results and attract more traffic to your sales page.
Focus on Benefits, Not Features
When creating your sales page, it’s important to focus on the benefits that your product or service provides, rather than just the features. While features are important, it’s the benefits that will ultimately persuade visitors to take action and become customers.
To effectively highlight the benefits of your product or service, put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and think about what pain points they’re experiencing.
Then, explain how your product or service can solve those pain points and make their lives easier.
Use Visuals to Enhance Your Message
In addition to written content, visuals can also be a powerful tool for enhancing your message and persuading visitors to take action.
Consider including images, videos, or infographics that showcase the benefits of your product or service and provide a visual representation of how it works.
However, it’s important to use visuals strategically and avoid cluttering your sales page with too many images or videos. Make sure that your visuals are relevant, high-quality, and enhance your message.
Create a Sense of Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency is a powerful tactic for persuading visitors to take action and become customers.
Use phrases like “limited time offer” or “only a few spots left” to create a sense of scarcity and encourage visitors to take action before it’s too late.
However, it’s important to use urgency sparingly and avoid using false or misleading statements.
Creating a sense of urgency should be a legitimate tactic that motivates visitors to take action, not a cheap trick to pressure them into making a purchase.
Continuously Test and Refine Your Sales Page
Finally, it’s important to continuously test and refine your sales page to improve its performance and drive more conversions.
Use A/B testing to test different headlines, CTAs, or layouts, and monitor your analytics to see which elements are driving the most conversions.
By continuously testing and refining your sales page, you can improve its effectiveness and drive more revenue for your business.
Ok, I hope you found these tips for creating a sales page that works helpful, and now let’s move on to another important B2B sales funnel stage…
Upselling Customers
Upselling is the practice of encouraging customers to purchase additional products or services beyond what they originally intended.
In B2B sales, this stage typically involves identifying opportunities to sell add-on products or services to existing customers.
Upselling is an important stage of the sales funnel because it can help businesses increase revenue, deepen customer relationships, and improve customer satisfaction.
The key to successful upselling is to focus on providing value to the customer.
It’s important to understand their specific needs and pain points, and to offer relevant solutions that can help them achieve their goals.
This requires a deep understanding of the customer’s business, as well as a thorough knowledge of the products and services being offered.
Usually, you’re going to upsell your dream customers through upsell pages or in case you’re closing the sale on a phone by telling the dream customer to get some form of an add-on to the offer that will help them get the results they want faster, more comfortably, etc.
This step alone can double or even triple your revenue when done right and easily turn a funnel that breaks even into a highly-profitable one.
And that’s it for this article. Thanks for checking these B2B sales funnel stages and I’m going to see you in another article.
Filip Konecny 