Small Businesses

Follow these 4 steps to build a successful sales funnel

  • 4 min Read
  • August 23, 2021

Author

Escalon

Table of Contents

A sales funnel refers to the series of steps you strategically set up to gently guide visitors to your platform from browsers to buyers. 

It usually starts with a free offer, like a downloadable guide or a live webinar invitation. Then, through a series of nurturing emails, you help your potential customer better understand your brand and how you can help them. Eventually, they realize how much they need your business in their life, and they make a purchase decision. That’s the mark of a working sales funnel. It isn’t pushy and isn’t complicated, it just takes some strategic planning. 

Follow these four steps to develop your own successful sales funnel:

  1. Build a great homepage

Your homepage tells your customers what your business is all about. It should communicate what you have to offer, why you’re the best choice, and how customers can take the first step with you– all as quickly and concisely as possible. 

Your homepage is the most critical component of a working sales funnel. If your home page is confusing, cluttered, unclear, or boring, your site visitors won’t engage with your business! 

  1. Offer a valuable free resource

Now that your homepage has informed your site visitor, it’s time to offer them an incentive to engage with you. This is commonly referred to as a lead magnet, because it motivates site visitors to share their contact info with you and engage with your brand. 

Offering a free how-to guide, weekly newsletter sign-up, downloadable template, webinar invitation, or other resource related to your business begins to build a relationship with your future customer. You show yourself to be generous and helpful. Your future customer sees that you know what you’re talking about and how you offer the solution to their problem. 

Note: put this resource offer on every single page of your website. The more chances visitors have to sign up, the more will actually take this step. 

  1. Create a series of nurturing emails

Now that your future customer has provided their contact information in exchange for the free resource you offered, you can begin your email campaign. 

There are hundreds of email strategies you can follow to teach your readers about your brand, engage their interests, and encourage them to buy. The best strategy for you depends on your industry. As a general rule of thumb:

  • Start by thanking them for downloading your resource. Remind them about the product or service you offer and why it might help them solve their problem.
  • In the second email, establish why you’re the expert in this field. You can include testimonials, a case study, or a success story here to show why your brand is worth their attention.
  • Finally, encourage action in your third email. Offer a way for readers to click right into your sales page, add your product to their cart, or schedule their first appointment. The purpose of this third email is to build on the relationship you established and offer customers a next step.
  1. If it works, repeat! If not, tweak.

The final step in building a successful sales funnel is to analyze your results. Is your homepage holding viewer’s attention? Are visitors to your site engaging with your lead magnet? Are you seeing a spike in sales after you send your third sales email with the action step included? If you notice that you’re losing engagement at any step of your funnel, it’s time to make some adjustments. 

It takes a bit of planning ahead to build a working sales funnel. But once you have it in place, new leads and sales will start rolling in. Get ready to get busy!

Talk to our team today to learn how Escalon can help take your company to the next level.

  • Expertise you can trust

    Our team is made up of seasoned professionals who bring years of industry experience to the table. You gain a trusted advisor who understands your business inside out.

  • Quality and consistency

    Say goodbye to the hassles of hiring, training and managing in-house finance teams. You will never have to worry about unexpected leave of absence or retraining new employees.

  • Scalability and Flexibility

    Whether you’re a small business or a global powerhouse, our solutions scale with your needs. We eliminate inefficiencies, reduce costs and help you focus on growing your business.

Contact Us Today!

Tap into the latest insights from experts in your industry

People Management & HR

The Cost of a Bad Hire: How to Improve Your Recruiting Process

Hiring is one of the most pivotal processes in any organization, particularly for a medium-sized business looking to scale. Yet...

Read More
People Management & HR

Key Insights from the 2025 CBIZ Not-for-Profit Pulse Survey 

At Escalon, we are committed to keeping our clients informed about the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities across the industries...

Read More
People Management & HR

Scaling Culture: How to Keep Employees Engaged as Your Business Grows

Growth in headcount brings exciting opportunities for a business, but it also poses a key challenge: How do you maintain...

Read More
Accounting & Finance

Managing Multi-State Compliance as Your Workforce Becomes More Distributed

Rapid expansion and remote work trends have empowered medium-sized businesses to hire talent nationwide. Yet with multi-state operations come multi-layered...

Read More
Leadership & Growth

How to Build Leadership Pipelines to Sustain Growth 

Growth often hinges on capable leadership at every level. Yet many medium-sized businesses focus on filling immediate management vacancies rather...

Read More
uncategorized

How to Avoid Operational Bottlenecks When Scaling Beyond $10M ARR 

Reaching $10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is a major milestone, but scaling further brings new operational hurdles. From...

Read More
Press Releases

Escalon Achieves SOC 2 Type II Compliance

April 30, 2025– Escalon Services, a leading provider of back-office solutions for startups and SMBs, proudly announces that it has...

Read More
People Management & HR

From 25 to 100 Employees: The HR Systems You Need to Stay Compliant

Moving from 25 employees to 100 is a tipping point for many businesses. What worked with a lean, close-knit team...

Read More
uncategorized

Compensation Strategies for Medium-Sized Businesses: How to Stay Competitive

Compensation isn’t just about paying people to show up and do work; it’s a strategic tool that can attract top...

Read More