What is a marketing funnel. They are processes, basically. Plus this new term is the latest in a long line of descriptive terms that describes the sales process of taking cold leads to sales. But why call it a marketing funnel? Well, why did we call them quality circles in the 1980’s. Some of you might not have been born yet when that term was super hot. Next came TQM or total quality management. There always seems to be a new phrase that supposedly pays. Buckle up wizards, it’s gonna get rough for you newbies.

If you have a fantastic product, like a mini-breathalyzer, you probably won’t need a funnel. Why? Because branding is dead. It died when e-commerce was invented. Yup. That’s right. I said it. Branding is dead. How do you know it? Well, next time you want to buy a new gadget, and you see the first advertisement, but then comparison shop, you may find it priced elsewhere for less. Then you will search for the product on more than 1 website and find it cheaper still!

At that point you’ve made yourself really excited that you just saved yourself 50% off in some cases and you’ll probably get out your credit card to buy it online and have it shipped right to your door. Boom. You bought it. It took 2 minutes. You didn’t talk to anyone, you didn’t need a video, and you didn’t need to download some form or even give an email. You just decided to buy it. And what’s more, you didn’t care about the brand that made it. Who cares, right?

So the process of buying, can be short. You saw the ad, had the need for the product, and bought it without alot of convincing. In short, the customer or you, bought the product because you had a need that outweighed the cost. What is the cost of not having a mini-breathalyzer? About $10,000 on a DUI charge including court fines, taxis, lawyers, and penalties.  And the price of these gadgets can range from $60 to $30 bucks. So if you need to save $10 grand, you can pay $30 bucks. So did you need a big long consultative sales approach? No, you didn’t.

But the concept of taking you from being unaware of the product to being a sold customer could be described as a marketing funnel in some cases, in simple terms, like the visual image in blue. That’s the short story.

Consultative Sales Process

When you ask questions about a marketing funnel in terms of the longer consultative sales process, you can also think about buying a car. The more expensive ticket items might have longer stages of contemplation. This is where a sales person used to nudge you along in the sales process to make the decision to buy the car. Many times they will say,”what can I do to put you in a new car today”, because they want to make the commission and don’t want to manipulate you too much. They just want to know what factor will make the sale. Sometimes it is a discount, or test drive, or finance percentage.

The longer consultative sales approaches also include information stages if the item being sold has options, like a time share. Even then they give free BBQs if you buy today. Been there done that?

So the process of taking you through your mental gymnastics before you buy could be considered a marketing funnel. And sometimes the description of the funnel can have multiple holding areas for up-selling. This is giving too much credit to the sales process. For example, if you have problems with your car and need a break job and new tires, the auto shop that is nice to you can be so busy that you’ll walk away in contemplation of making the purchase. But the day you can’t stop because your master cylinder fails and you are scared out of your mind….you’ll have the car towed or drive it back to the shop ASAP to get the break system fixed, right? You won’t need a video, PDF, or personal visit to your house to make the decision to fix your car. You’ll do it because the need to avoid a $15,000 auto accident will outweigh the cost of a $300 break job.

Sales without a Marketing Funnel

So even if you are in the business of performing expensive services, like being a lawyer or doctor, if someone gets in an auto accident or has a heart attack, they will not need to download a PDF or watch a video to decide to have open heart surgery. In some cases the doctor will have to operate on the patient immediately, and then explain later if you didn’t get that procedure you were gonna die, today. So you woke up without being a part of a funnel. That’s a $200,000 ticket item.

Want another example? Ok. Let’s say you and your spouse want to buy a new $850,000 house. And you haven’t signed up with a real estate agent. But let’s say you have a very “active” mother-in-law. She may know of someone who has to move to another city to take a job who has to sell their house. So the property is not even advertised on MLS yet. She drives by, let’s them know, you and your spouse go to look at the house and love it. Boom, you make an offer. So the marketing funnels didn’t even have an advertisement in the process. It just happened organically. Sorry all you real estate agent newbies, it does happen and that example is from real life. I told you it was gonna get rough.

So we’ve explained what a marketing funnel is and we’ve given simple examples in different industries. If the product is gonna sell itself, the customer does not need alot of convincing. They’ll just buy. If you get in front of the motivated buyer with a critical need, the invoice can get paid in a few minutes especially if you have electronic billing and accept MC/Visa.

In all honesty, if your product needs explaining, like cosmetic surgery or a new pillow that is designed to help you sleep better, then the customer may need some educating. So that may require the need for some videos and supplemental information.