What is a sales funnel and why do you need one? Anyone who owns an online business or would like to generate leads online needs to create a sales funnel.

A sales funnel is needed in order to convert website visitors into paying customers. If you fail at that, then it will be hard for you to make any money. Imagine if you were trying to fill up a bottle of water with only a straw - filling up the bottle is going to take forever right? Well, what if you put a funnel in the top instead? Should be a heck of a lot easier and efficient right? Well this same principle applies when converting web traffic into paid clients as well!

So really - what is a sales funnel?

A sales funnel is a marketing system leading people towards purchase. It's your "ideal" process that you want your customers to experience as they go from prospect, lead, and customer.

The process usually involves several steps: advertising, converting someone into an email subscriber or agreeing to receive information about the company via other outreach methods; then moving the person through the sales process; finally getting them to make a commitment by buying something.

Diving Deep into the Sales Funnel

Your sales funnel is a set of steps that your customer goes through from the first time they hear about you to when they buy something. Depending on what type of business you have, there may be more than four different stages in this process:

1) Awareness; 2) Interested but not ready; 3) Ready for purchase and a decision.

1) Awareness

There are a few stages of awareness when it comes to your prospects. The first stage is "Unaware," the second stage being “Problem Aware”, after which they will shift into either third or fourth stages of either "Solution Aware" or "Product Aware" - depending on whether you offer solutions/products that are a fit for them or not. If you do then there's an increased chance that he/she'll move up from their current position and become more aware about the solution offered by your company; if not, then chances are high that he/she may never be fully cognizant with what you're selling.

Unaware: The prospects are unaware of the problems they face and what your company is offering.

Problem Aware: Means that he/she has a problem but doesn't know how to solve it or who can do so for them.

This is where you want to reach out, introduce yourself and let him/her know about the help (solutions) you offer. They need more information from which they'll then be able to make an informed decision on whether or not they're going to have their uncertainty alleviated by opting-in with whatever solution offered by this business in order for them to move forward with solving their issue(s).

Solution/Product Aware: Solution/Product aware means that he/she sees the solution you can provide whether with a service or product.

You have your prospect's attention and he/she is either ready to buy or can see the value of which you are bringing them and can move through the sales process.

Your goal with this step in your sales funnel is to warm up cold prospects and see where they fall on the scale so you can adjust accordingly.

2) Interest

As a marketer, it can be challenging to create content that is not only informative but also engaging. Your prospect has reached the stage of awareness and now wants solutions for their problems. They may stumble across your ad or search on Google and see the value you provide in solving these challenges they are facing today!

They are now ready to take the next step and it is time to engage with this prospect!

Again, it does not matter what industry you're in but prospects who have reached the level of interest will be interested in knowing more about your product or service.

3) Decision

At this stage, your prospect is both solution aware and product-aware. They are starting to compare what you have against other potential solutions in the market that they might also be interested in. This means there's an increased chance of them converting at this point as long as you can clearly present how much more valuable it will make their life!

This is where you as a loan officer really step in and help guide them through the process. You lay out all the different offerings/programs that can be eligible for and walk them through what the process is going to look like while working with you.

Wrapping Up

Now you can see how valuable it is to have a sales funnel in place. Now you are not expected to be an expert on this after reading one blog post but it is here so that you can at least think about what goes into a successful marketing plan. Creating funnels is only the first part of the equation as well - the real fun starts when the funnel moves into a nurturing sequence, which is what really makes conversion go through the roof! We'll save that for another time though ;)