Sales funnels are awesome.
By following the right strategies and taking advantage of some automation tools – you can grow your business on autopilot (pretty much – it still takes work as you have to optimize and expand … but, I digress).
Building sales funnels takes time. You need to plan, write copy, setup automations, install tracking … you need to do a bunch of “stuff”.
Most businesses see the value in all of this; HOWEVER, most don't have the time or resources to do it all and they need “instant” results.
I get that.
Especially if they can use the revenue from these “instant” results to fund the development of the rest of their funnel *cough-cough* OR to invest in some training *wink-wink*
Alright, let's get into it!
1) Sell On The Thank You Page
One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was NOT selling on my thank you pages. (the page someone lands on after subscribing to an email list)
I used to say the usual, “Thanks for joining my email list! Check your email for the lead magnet!” … yeah, I literally told people to leave my site.
Dumb.
Then, one day, I saw someone was selling a low-end offer on their thank you page. I copied their idea and found, on average, between 3% to 10% of the people that land on my thank you page purchase the corresponding low-end offer (normally under $10).
Example
2) Modify Your Checkout Page
The checkout page is one of the most overlooked pages on a website – it's taken for granted.
One would assume that if someone winds up on the checkout page, they're there to checkout; however, this is not always the case.
There are several things you can quickly and easily do to increase conversions:
- Remove unnecessary fields. With more and more people purchasing via mobile devices, and the tediousness that comes with filling out a form while on a mobile device – you only want to ask for the essentials. Do you really need the person's birth date to complete the order? Unlikely. Ask for it later in a follow up email.
- Add testimonials. Instill one last lit bit of confidence; this can go a long way when it comes to your order form conversion rates.
- Remind people what they're ordering. Don't only mention the name of the product/service they're about to receive, but list some of the features and benefits to remind them of the greatness they're about to receive!
- Include your guarantee. Remind people that, should something go wrong, they're safe and have nothing to worry about.
As of posting this article, SamCart has a webinar that describes how modifying the checkout form can boost sales by up to 400%, it's worth checking out … at least the first 30 minutes or so.
Example
3) Add Up-Sells, Cross-Sells, Down-Sells, And Bonuses To Orders
“People who bought this also purchased this.”
“Don't Miss This Limited Time Offer!”
“Spend $3.37 more to qualify for free shipping.”
You've seen these lines used many times in many places. Why? Because they work … are you using them?
Depending on your business, how it's setup, and the platforms you use – the implementation method will change; however, it's certainly worth figuring out!
Fortunately, many shopping cart platforms have this functionality built in or have plugins that make this a piece of cake:
Down-Sell Mega Tip!
It can be hard to sell a $200+ product online as not everyone has a few hundred bucks lying around.
So, after making the initial offer for the $200+ product, if it's turned down, offer a down-sell by offering a payment plan!
Example
The page itself looks similar to the thank you page example I showed you above (there's a video and write-up explaining the payment plan).
4) Cart Abandonment Email Series
According to the Baymard Institute, 67.19% of shopping carts are abandoned.
67.19%!!!!!
While there are a hundred reasons a person doesn't finish checking out … their credit card is upstairs and they're downstairs, they're at work and don't want to enter their credit card info on a work computer, etc … one thing remains true, you're missing out on sales.
After reading through about 15 case studies on cart abandonment recovery, it appears roughly 10% or more abandoned carts can be “won back” by simply sending a few reminder emails. A plugin can handle this automatically.
Like the up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, and bonus options … the “how” will change depending on your system; however, being able to recover 10%+ of your lost sales makes it well worth figuring out!
5) Collect Email Addresses
While collecting email addresses won't add to your revenue “instantly” – you can start collecting addresses in less than an hour.
Having a list of people that are interested in what you and your business do is indispensable.
Email remains the #1 way businesses keep in touch with their customers, and if you don't believe it, read this page: http://www.emailisnotdead.com/
Anyway, collecting email addresses doesn't have to be difficult, I mean … how long do you think it took me to setup this page? (it converts at over 50%)
Plus, there are a ton of tools that make adding an opt-in form to any website a piece of cake. Here are a few:
Most of these offer a free version and even include options to store the email addresses within the tools themselves. You won't have to signup for an autoresponder service or anything like that. You could literally take the list of emails, plug them all into the BCC line of your email client and email your list straight from your personal email account.
It's literally that easy.
Final thoughts
Taking the time to setup and implement a full fledged sales funnel is certainly worth it. It will pay dividends for years to come. You can even boost revenue while you build your sales funnel with a few minor tweaks.