Flipping The Sales Funnel

You may think the most important aspect of your sales force is your sales reps. Well, you’re wrong; it’s your customers. And the people who are really growing are the ones turning that traditional sales funnel on its side!

As a salesperson, you are used to seeing the world as a funnel. Your focus each day is to get more prospects in (via tactics such as cold calls) at the top and funnel them through, with hopes you will produce a warm lead. Sometimes funnels are leaky though, and you only get one or two commission opportunities. Another problem with the funnel in regards to growth is that the people you are trying to sell to have already bought from you. Salespeople are running out of new people to put at the top of the funnel, running out of people willing to take your call and listen to them; this is resulting in the warm leads drying up.

Now, back to the flipping of the funnel. By turning it on its side you create a “megaphone,” which you then give to the people who already love you – your regulars, your new customers, any people who you have previously sold to and who will say good things. Now that you have given these people the megaphone, watch the warm leads multiple!   ** Warm leads are critical. As less and less cold calls are landing, it’s important to target those you’ve already gained permission from.

The megaphone lives largely online, within product review sites such as “Skiddoo” and in more traditional review sources such as Google or Facebook. These platforms are organized around the idea of a person telling a story about a salesperson, brand, product or service etc. If you show up in these places (in a positive context), people will find you.  

So start targeting those warm leads, give them that megaphone along with incentives to provide to their social circle (i.e. coupons for a free visit), and direct them to those platforms. It’s less about landing a particular sale, and more about attracting new potential customers who will then spread the word about you even more!