Sales Funnel in Salesforce

The sales funnel is the glue between marketing and sales. Simply put it is the guideline for the process of converting prospects and leads into customers. It represents the methodology to follow in order to lead the customer towards a desired outcome. In reality, of course, a sales process never goes as smoothly as planned. Therefore, having a solid funnel is like bringing order to the madness of unpredictability. 

Following a set of predefined stages people in sales could get a far better chance for closing deals compared to following their instincts at the spot led by frustration or confusion. Moreover, the sales funnel is not a scammy sales tactic to close unqualified leads and trick them into buying. On the contrary, it is a qualification tool that ensures customers are served with the best possible solution for their unique needs.

Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action

The sales funnel, also known as purchase or conversion funnel, has been around for almost a century. The logic behind the concept is simple. At the upper end we have people who are qualified as leads based on the awareness they have and the interest they’ve expressed in our product or service. This is a great example of how marketing should feed sales with relevant data about the prospects' individual preferences and needs based on what has sparked their interest or curiosity. Desire is born as people learn more about our products or services and marketing content grabs their attention. Action is where sales happens. It’s the moment where a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) becomes Sales Qualified Lead (SQL).
The funnel is so important not simply because it lays down a process but also because it creates a culture of alignment between marketing and sales. Building up and developing a funnel requires efforts on both sides and agreement on when a lead should be transferred and under what circumstances.

The Importance of Alignment

The optimal alignment between marketing and sales is vital to the success of any business campaign. That’s why Salesforce brings data where it matters. Over the last decade the sales funnels have become increasingly complex due to the phenomenon of social media. New channels are created and they present further challenges to the successful alignment between marketing and sales. 

It’s only by working closely together that marketing and sales people get the chance to offer clients the seamless experience they want. Furthermore, spoilt by the increasingly personalised world of B2C, B2B buyers now expect the same level of service when they make a decision. There is zero tolerance when it comes to speed and accuracy of delivery. If our team could not keep up they simply don’t stand a chance.

Salesforce and the Sales Funnel

Salesforce offers a chance to both sales and marketing people to have a single, reliable source of data and meaningful information. That is in fact the biggest change when it comes to the sales funnel over the last two decades - the rise of data and its meaning for the business process. The way we use data becomes increasingly vital to the outcomes of sales and marketing team efforts. The less reps would rely on their memory for different deals and more on data the better overall results would be. It’s a cultural shift of work habits. 

The Salesforce platform and Sales Cloud empower organisations with the ability to generate dynamic and fully customized sales funnels depending on fully tailored sales processes. In order to be functional the sales funnel must feel “just right” to the customer - not too pressing nor unengaging and irrelevant. The ability to easily adjust different stages of this path allows people in marketing and sales to stay focused on communication with the client instead of the process itself.

At EnterCRM we can help you build and develop a suitable sales funnel in Salesforce for your business case, align it with your organisation structure and help your people get the best return on their continuous efforts. Furthermore, we can offer you more than just an out-of-the-box solution by developing a custom Salesforce component to suit your personal requirements. We’d be glad to learn more about your situation. Reach out here.