Learn to build and optimize your SaaS sales funnel while converting high-quality leads and monitoring your churn rate. Find out everything you need to know about this process from the industry’s top experts.
Marketing is foundational for any good sales funnel. The process usually starts on your target’s preferred social media platform. Effective SaaS marketing refines each stage of the client’s experience. The messaging should tell a story about how the product addresses the main pain points for existing customers.
Think of the marketing funnel as the route toward the first stage of the funnel. These activities and investments in advertisement campaigns also factor into the total customer acquisition cost.
Building a successful sales funnel might mean the marketing or sales team takes a back seat to the customer’s preferences. This strategy works best for building SaaS sales funnels. There are several tools to help you follow the lead set by your audience. Reports and data trackers allow you to anticipate conversion rates, for example. Retargeting campaigns direct relevant ads to visitors who have already interacted with your website.
Ultimately, the goals you set determine the shape and structure of your sales funnel. Retargeting campaigns are typically more effective than launching new campaigns. They can be up to seven times more successful, and this is significant for any content marketing strategy. Your team also needs to decide whether to sell directly to customers or to partner with another company.
This is a broad concept; for clarity, it’s summarized in the three steps below:
1. Prospect identification: Targeting your specific market requires your sales reps to understand prospective buyers’ interests. Ideally, sales reps will use this information to establish a rapport with buyers and build trust in the product.
2. Developing strategies for sales: The product you offer should solve a specific customer problem. Communication and messaging are integral during this process. Potential customers respond best to ideas and language that address their pain points directly while building confidence that the product provides concrete solutions.
3. New leads: Sales leads spring from many sources, and each point of contact creates the potential for a referral. Keep these opportunities in mind during every activity. Build a new campaign for lead generation immediately after identifying your market and crafting the messaging. Leads can be inbound or outbound. Inbound leads attract customers who contact you independently of prompting. Outbound leads require you to initiate contact through email, phone, online events, or an existing account.
Companies offering B2B SaaS are often overly confident in a product’s ability to sell itself. This is even true for individual members of a sales team. The problem intensifies when the target market is other businesses. In most cases, it is not easy to move potential customers toward the bottom of the funnel.
Case studies show that demonstrating an app prematurely inhibits the sales process. A promoter must establish a connection during the first stages of the customer journey in order to upsell in the next stage. New customers need to believe the product will relieve their pain points before the demo, or the demo won’t achieve its full impact. The SaaS marketing rep’s questions should reflect an understanding of the customer’s problem to increase conversion rates.
The SaaS funnel has four stages. The conventional funnel for making conversions is the basis for the SaaS funnel; however, the successful SaaS funnel has some distinct qualities. The main difference is customer retention in the sales process.
Upgrades and regular payments are the basis of a customer retention strategy and what help build monthly recurring revenue (MRR.) Customers that pay monthly are more loyal than those who sign up and make a one-time payment. These customers are also part of an integrated marketing strategy that taps into referrals from existing customers who are happy with the software.
Consider the four stages of the sales funnel design for SaaS:
This stage has the highest engagement with customers. There is usually a volley of questions that must be answered adequately to establish trust. It’s important to delay the demo app until rapport exists and the customer indicates you are a reliable contact.
During this stage, the customer feels more comfortable describing their underlying problem. They show a willingness to explore various aspects of the product and visualize how it might help them. Case studies and convincing testimonies by other users increase conversions.
In the final stage of the conversion funnel, previous efforts have primed the customer. The product demo seals the deal. The customer signs up and makes their first payment. Have a follow-up plan in place to avoid refund requests.
Introduce your product at the top of the funnel. This is where you convince a prospect that you have the solution to their problem and that experts produced your site. Do this by producing high-quality text and video content.
This might include blog topics, explainer videos, or animations addressing the problem. You can also offer free how-to manuals in exchange for an email address. Remember, the TOFU area is best utilized to build interest. The potential customer is researching a specific problem, and you need to convince them to trust your resources.
The content in the middle of the funnel is significantly different. It can build on everything you’ve presented in the TOFU area; however, now it’s appropriate to get into more detail. Potential customers are now open to thorough information, so you can introduce full presentations and app demos with maximum impact.
Case studies enhance the level of detail, but only reference these in passing as to reinforce credibility. Assume your customer is also researching your competitors. This is an information-gathering stage, which they may be doing for another individual or organization. Present the materials accordingly.
The bottom of the sales funnel is where the closing action takes place. The customer is sold on making the purchase by this time, so make sure it’s easy to complete the sale. Details on pricing, customer reviews, testimonials, and comparison tables should be clear to facilitate a final decision. Place a strong call to action, or CTA, here for maximum impact.
Leverage social media sites like Facebook and Instagram in addition to LinkedIn, which is the most popular outlet for businesses when selling to other businesses. Track various activities to discover the most viable options for future investments.
Funnel metrics and key performance indicators, or KPIs, measure the success of your efforts. Customers are often happy to provide feedback about your product and their experience interacting with your company. The right KPIs and other metrics give you insights to adjust your sales funnel. Learn more about your customers by using the best metrics and KPIs. Iterate and refine based on this valuable data.
Getting the customer to convert is the ultimate goal. However, there are smaller goals along the way to reach the moment of conversion. Don’t overlook these. During the sales funnel, each stage can be evaluated by the number of app demos, sales, and free trials initiated.
The sales funnel’s purpose is to market to leads, attract visitors, and convert them into customers. Once you understand what the customers want, it’s easier to build the trust you need to get them to convert. A successful sales funnel is defined by the number of customer retentions, which means customers continue to pay monthly.
Integrating the best ideas from marketing experts might not click with the sales team. To illustrate this, consider the developments in digital marketing in terms of the reporting on conversion ratios. Studies show a strong correlation between the audience’s preference and the actual outcomes of the campaign; however, this can go against preferences within the company.
Companies can determine pricing strategies based on the sales funnel’s metrics. The sales team guides the SaaS business to move SaaS product by onboarding potential customers, crafting quality landing pages, generating qualified leads, and actively recruiting referrals. The marketing team ensures that customers’ pain points are addressed through a convincing pricing page. This increases monthly recurring revenues.
The timing of the demo is the key difference between the typical sales funnel and the SaaS sales funnel. The quality of the software demonstration needs to convince the customer. Timing is critical for the SaaS sales funnel because conversion often hinges on this aspect of the presentation.
Digital marketing introduces new customers to your product through digital media. This is how you convince the customer that the product will help solve their problems. The next phase involves the sales team helping the customer overcome any learning curve involved in implementing the software, which improves loyalty. The final phase involves scaling up previous efforts, and this can give you a good idea of how successful the first phase was.