Too many businesses don’t grow despite the opportunity to generate revenue online because they have no plan for lead generation, which leads to a lack of consistent sales. 

Referrals only get you so far and can dry up fairly quickly. Sales through your warm network isn’t a complete lead generation strategy. Relying on social media for sales is putting your revenue in someone else’s hands — that’s a dangerous proposition. 

The key to increasing sales is knowing how to generate leads strategically. Growth happens when you prospect business using systems and software to push out a solid offer. 

That’s where sales funnels come into the picture. 

A sales funnel is a strategic way to build your audience, create consistent sales, and generate leads through automation. It’s one of the best ways to grow a business using the power of the Internet. 

You may have heard of sales funnels but have not fully understood their importance in building your business. Here are three sales funnel secrets beginners need to know and implement. 

Traffic creates the sale. 

When it comes to sales funnels, the first thing that comes to mind is software such as ClickFunnels, Kajabi, Kartra, etc. These software suites are what have revolutionized sales funnels.

However, creating sales funnels has been around longer than the software. A sales funnel is a system and a strategic way to bring in sales. Whether you use fancy software or not, the most important thing to understand is that sales won’t happen — in any funnel — without traffic to the funnel. 

No traffic means no sales — no matter how great your funnels are set up. With the offer, the software is a great start, but you’ll need traffic to put the sales funnel to use.

Whether that’s paying for advertising, leveraging social media, getting interviewed on a podcast, media appearances, or leveraging other people’s platforms — it’s that traffic that allows more consumers to see your sales funnel and make a decision whether or not to buy. 

Strong copy converts.

Before that traffic starts to see your sales funnels, it’s essential to make sure you have a strong sales copy. Too often, entrepreneurs will throw up a funnel with weak copy and then wonder why it’s not converting.

The messaging and the way that messaging is laid out will make the consumer want to purchase. 

Strong copy hits on the pain points of your ideal target customers and connects with them emotionally. It’s focused on the benefits of what your offer will provide consumers, and how what you offer can help their lives somehow. 

It’s not focused on the deliverables or filled with information about yourself. If you’re trying to sell the consumer on yourself too hard through copy, you’ve lost them. They are interested in buying the result — not being sold on you. 

Create copy that takes the reader — in their mind — to the place they want to end up. Show them how your offer can help get them there. Using strong benefits-focused copy and storytelling is one of the best ways to convert casual visitors into customers. 

There’s more than the initial sale. 

It’s great to get sales through a funnel. It does something for your mindset and helps you reach your business goals. However, that’s not where the process should stop. No matter what your price point is, there is always an opportunity to sell more. 

In sales, one of the best customers is someone that’s purchased from you. They trusted you enough to invest, assuming you add value, they’re a great target to invest more. 

That “more” investing happens with either an upsell offer within your funnel or an upsell offer at some point later. The point being, one of the best ways to increase sales is through the sales you’ve already gotten through your sales funnel. 

Sales funnels are a great strategy to build your business consistently. Remember, it’s not about any one software or strategy of implementing a funnel. It’s about creating a system that allows you to build your audience and make offers. 

The reality is that the revenue increase you’re seeking is already in your network. You have to show up and tell your network how to invest with you.