Is the Sales Funnel Dead?
This article says so: http://bit.ly/pRGAjt, but I'm not sure I agree. Has social media changed the way we buy, sell, and interact with one another so much, that it no longer matters where we are in the pipeline? This article says that no matter where you are in a pipeline, you can interact with and influence others also regardless of where they are in the pipeline.
Answers (12)
Vincent V.
Breakthrough Coach | Global Ambassador at Shaklee Independent Distributor
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It's an excellent and interesting perspective Jennifer, and I tend to agree with yours. Social media has certainly made it easier for the educators/influencers among us (and I count myself in that category) to inform others, sometimes indeed before we have even used or experienced a (new) product or service ourselves - such are the power of brand reputation and gut instinct.
However, I believe there are many 'regular" (prospective) customers who still follow the same routine as before. There has been an occasion or two where I falsely associated social media users with the new "educator" type buyer, thinking that because these people have a presence and are exposed to the new SM paradigm they must be the "new" type of customer. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. "Slow down" I had to remind myself. For them, there is still the old fashioned pipeline. Don't we all have our own unique pace at which our brain gets reprogrammed?
Martin T.
Crisis Management§Interim Executive
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What a load of pretentious bollocks!
The internet in general and social media in particular have made it much easier for potential buyers to communicate with each other and given buyers access to a lot more dat.
Some is as tainted and biased as that from the manufacturer or service provider, some is neutral and some positive. But it is still only data that needs to be analysed and turned into information by the buyer.
The sales person's role has not altered one jot. It is still to find a match between what is on offer and what the buyer wants/needs and show that match in a convincing way.
The Sales Funnel - which the writer seems not to understand - hasn't changes. Targets still move through a filtering process from suspect to customer.
Curriculum? Oh please, get a life!
I posted a clickable link for you.
Links:
I love being called "pretentous bollock." Nice.
Just because your customers may not be active in social media, per se, doesn't mean they aren't influenced by the arrival and the impact of those tools.
To think otherwise is foolhardy.
90% of WOM still happens offline (Keller-Fay), so even if they aren't talking on LI/FB/Twitter, it doesn't mean they aren't talking.
What's more, they know how to use Google, so you're telling me that they aren't searching for the reviews of your product by others who ARE talking about you?
50% of people go to search engines as they get closer to a decision process. 49% consult their networks for input. The input of others like them increases as they get closer to the moment of purchase. According to McKinsey, close to 50% of all sales are influenced by WOM.
I just don't see how you can say that social (and mobile even more) doesn't change anything.
Now, that is bollock.
What's more...the salesperson's role has altered a LOT. Buyers are more educated about what they want before they even meet the salesperson. Think about the car buying process. YOu're telling me that it's the same now as it was 15 years ago?
As for the sales funnel (which I thought I understood, but I guess not!), has indeed changed. It used to be that "targets" (which is a great way to de-personalize those on the other end, but that's a subject for a nother day) didn't really know who each other were...now, they can, if they want to. That affects the entire process.
Go read the great new book from the folks at Google on this www.zeromomentoftruth.com
There is now a possibility to enage with target markets better than ever by narrowcasting and to be constantly in contact and helping - that's a change of emphasis compared with broadcast sales campaigns but funnels are not exactly dead - we always need to gauge the ratio of ongoing conversations with clients to purchases - that sounds a bit likea funnel me - if not a funnel then at least a filter.
Links:
Greg D.
Sales Leadership Zealot www.peaksalesperformance.wordpress.com
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Technology magnifies the value of relationships...but it does not replace relationships.
Shelly L.
Senior Marketing Manager at Dun & Bradstreet
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Social media has changed not only the selling process, but also the way in which sales professionals engage with potential buyers. The sales funnel is not exactly dead, but it must evolve to incorporate the changing sales landscape. More on this via the link to the BtoB online blog below.
Links:
Shelly L. also suggests this expert on this topic:
Flyn P.
TeleSales Skills Webinar – Last chance to register for Unique Selling Propositions webinar on 5/22►bitly.com/usp_webinar
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Right on Martin!!
The sales funnel and social media have nothing
more to do with each other than an Apple and
a boy.
The sales funnel is the set of targets (prospect)
moving within the salesperson's world.-- the
people he/she is in contact with.
Social media is a mechanism, one of many,
that would help one build a funnel just as the
apple is one of many ways to nourish the boy.
Maybe I'm crazy but this isn't revolutionary to me. Social media or not a Sales Funnel doesn't determine when a customer buys. A customer does!
The Sales Funnel is a tool for the express purpose of budgeting and planning. Provides guidance for sales professionals on where to focus their attention, but not to the exclusion of every other prospect.
Sales is dynamic and a sales professional who looks at their pipeline in a linear fashion will likely to fail. I have personally experienced last minute deals being lost while in the very same week a deal that had little visibility come through to save the day.
Social media affects the information a prospect considers and gathers, however the science of a sales funnel isn't impacted by social media.
In my humble opinion ;)
James Z.
ePartner Channel at eSalesTrack
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Hi Jennifer...
You are correct not to agree, but their intent was good.
The Funnel is not even close to being dead.
I find it amusing when I hear statements like "Is the Sales Funnel Dead?"
It is only dead if you don't talk to customers and you are in a constant "reaction" mode where all you do is answer the phone based on social media response. (Now that would be nice..but it's not reality, at least for me)
The Sales Funnel, based on your specific process, helps you determine where you have been, are, and need to go...and that doesn't happen without activity on your part. I don't ever see that going away...
Properly managed, that funnel will save everyone a lot of time and effort in targeting your best opportunities and helping you manage them.
Flyn's metaphor with the boy and the apple is a good analogy for how I view this question...Thanks Flyn!
To play off your analogy, Flyn:
"A social a day keeps the doctor away"...
Anyone reading this can feel free to call or email me with any funnel management questions as they pertain to CRM.
eSalesTrack is all you need to effectively manage your funnel.
jzeller@esalesTrack.com
Shawn G.
Savage and Greene
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Social media impacts sales -- often for the good of both parties -- but linking that to "the sales funnel" mostly reveals misunderstanding of what that funnel is for.
No offense to the author of the article intended at all; it's a very common misunderstanding.
The sales funnel was indeed originally reflective of a mostly linear process. That's because the concept was coined by sales experts Miller & Heiman who focused on the type of sale that was usually linear. These sales usually involved responding to a formal RFP, making a formal proposal and presentation, etc. This still often applies to enterprise-wide selling...but rarely to other types of selling. Most other types are rarely linear, as someone pointed out.
Those experts wrote some wonderful books and their very sound approach spread far and wide. But they'd be the first to say only use it if it applies.
If your sale doesn't necessarily flow in a linear way then don't use that as your "funnel." Use three things:
1) Separate prospects you're not yet selling with from those you are.
2) For those with whom you're selling, use a rating or points system connected to qualifying issues. Apply this to each prospect; whether you sell to consumers or companies.
DO NOT rate prospects you are not yet selling with.
3) The rating system helps identify where to focus your efforts and when. Use the sum of prospects with a rating at X, Y, Z, etc to show what's in your pipeline.
Links:
Social Media is usually just another form of communication that parallels Word Of Mouth.
Sales Funnels are a product of the human buying cycle, not technology.
Unless I have a need, or desire, I will not buy, but once I am in the market to buy, you need to be visible.
My first choice is someone that I've had a good relationship in the past.
Next choice will be either a friend recommendation (word of mouth), or a company that has positive Top of Mind Awareness.
If I still need to find a company to fill my need, I use to go to the phone book, now I Google it. This is why SEO is so important.
Sales Funnels and Pipelines are organizational methods to classify where a person is in their individual buying process, and I believe will always be relevant if properly understood.
Links:
think of the most complicated, expensive and emotionally involved purchase that you ever made. How long did you spend investigating the market and reaching a decison on the purchase? I think that answers the question. You may have used new technology to help you get a perspective on a purchase you were going to make but i would bet money that you dealt with someone you trust/developed a strong relationship with and had been dealing with for a while to get a full understanding of their capability.
