Kill the sales funnel: Why you should rethink this marketing method

Summary

What is wrong about the sales funnel?

The sales funnel is a marketing staple, especially in companies with digital offerings designed to generate and nurture leads with engaging content.

However, from both a sales and marketing perspective, it does have its downsides. Firstly, some professionals (and brands) develop tunnel vision regarding the funnel, keeping prospects on hold since they haven’t advanced from the middle to the bottom, for example.

Secondly, it can create an accidental overemphasis on one stage over another. Many brands focus mostly on generating leads at the top of the funnel, leaving their middle and bottom of funnel prospects hung up to dry.

The sales funnel is a metaphor for a lead’s readiness to buy and it should be seen as such rather than a best-practice set in stone to guide your campaigns. In other words, your marketing should focus more on its audience and their needs rather than moulding campaigns to fit nicely in the funnel and its stages.

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Are your nurtured leads advancing to a sales conversation?

If not, find out how to effectively nurture leads in this month-by-month breakdown of the sales cycle

How the sales funnel misleads marketing and sales teams

We previously mentioned some of the issues that can arise from following the lead funnel with tunnel vision, but how else does it mislead salespeople and marketers?

Here are a few misconceptions the sales funnel might cause:

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Are your leads taking months to move onto sales?

Learn the correct way to move leads down the funnel quickly

Should you kill the sales funnel?

How to perfect the imperfections
of the sales funnel

The sales funnel can cause problems, especially when taken at face value. To solve the issues that it causes, you must precisely not take it at face value and use other signals to measure sales readiness.

For example, buyer intent data helps you gain an understanding of leads’ behaviour that can signify a propensity to buy. Intent data allows you to gauge a lead’s sales readiness with more precision than with a sales funnel, since it tracks real-time engagement and actions that signal interest in your brand.

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INFUSE has a suite of demand generation solutions to research key accounts, engage leads, and cultivate long-term interest in your brand.

Talk with our experts to plan your unique strategy

Alternative models to the sales funnel

Flywheel

Inbound methodology (the buyer’s journey)

Here are the details of each step, inspired by HubSpot:

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Discover the best media channels for B2B marketing in 2022

SPIN selling

Solution selling

With the solution selling method, you follow these steps:

MEDDIC

The idea is to qualify and identify buyers by utilising the following steps:

The holistic approach

To adopt the holistic approach, follow these steps:

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Transform your sales with recommendations from 20 demand generation experts for 2022

Conclusion

letstalk

PLAN OUT YOUR SALES STRATEGY WITH A GLOBAL TEAM OF EXPERTS

Our team of experts in five continents is available on your schedule to discuss the sales funnel and how to grow your revenue in 2022 and beyond.

Contact the team at [email protected] so we can build a successful sales strategy for your business

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