If your team doesn't work from a standardized sales funnel, check out our 6-step sales funnel template below.
A structured funnel sets top-sellers apart from the rest.
Are you one of them?
Works with Gmail, Google Workplace, and Outlook or Office 365 for Windows
There's a reason why a good journalist starts a new article with an outline before they start writing an
article.
With a defined outline, writers ensure they address each point in the correct order.
Without
an outline, writers sometimes forget to include a crucial argument, or construct their paper in an
illogical manner.
So, how can you make a sales funnel that works for your team?
Most organizations define it as a standardized, repeatable set of steps and the corresponding actions a sales team goes through to convert a prospect to a paying customer.
The difference with a sales cycle, is that a Sales funnel tells you what to do to turn leads into loyal customers, including activities, methods, and tools you should use.
Discover all definitions in our Ultimate Sales Jargon guide.
Sales cycles can differ depending on the type of business and product you sell. A B2B sales funnel is not comparable to that of B2C or retail organizations, and the SaaS industry is in a class of its own for a number of reasons (here's why).
However, there are certain standard steps (usually 5-7 steps) that most teams follow to some extent. For example, here is a typical 6-step sales funnel for B2B:
It is important to understand that the steps within each sales funnel do not always occur in the same order and may have different durations. After all, you can't expect every lead to act in the same way regardless of what they buy.
The SaaS sales funnel has several distinctive features compared to other businesses:
As a result, the SaaS sales funnel typically has a longer and more complex sales cycle and involves more touchpoints and decision makers along the way. It tends to be consultative sales - they prioritize sales engagement and nurturing as a means of building a long-term relationship with the customer.
What you measure is what you know. In a SaaS sales funnel (or any sales funnel), there is tremendous value in knowing the actions of your prospective customer so you can personalize and optimize their experience.
Start measuring todayA quick search will reveal several variations on the above funnel. Some sales funneles have three steps, others have eight. Despite the many variations, every sales funnel will take your deal through these steps of the sales funnel: finding prospects, qualifying them, getting them to commit to you and closing.
Here's the thing: no matter what you read on the Internet, there is no one perfect sales funnel that will work for every sales organization.
However, there is a perfect sales funnel that will work for your sales team, but you are the person who must design it.
When designing a sales funnel for your team, consider the following points:
The challenge is knowing which steps to include and which to omit when designing your sales funnel. Is it worth breaking down each step into its constituent parts (e.g., making contact in cold emails and cold calling), or is it more important for your team to have a quick, streamlined funnel with only five steps?
