The sales funnel versus the sales process

The Sales Funnel. It’s been around for a long time.

It gives a feeling of reassurance. Prospects and suspects are entered into spreadsheets. Analysts calculate projected revenue. They slice and dice by region, time period, and product line.

But that reassurance is illusory. Knowledge about the funnel doesn’t give you the information you need to manage your sales process.

What information do managers and sales professionals want to know about potential buyers? They dream of knowing:

• How many people or companies are expressing interest in what I have to offer?
• Where are they in their buying process?
• Is the value we are creating for them in the marketing and selling process causing them to move forward in their journey?
• How much work is needed to help them move forward in their journey toward becoming our customer?

If you’ve used the funnel and wondered why it hasn’t helped you, it’s not your fault. Michael Webb points out that the funnel has some shortcomings (page 69) and only becomes useful when you add additional information.

Here are the shortcomings.

The funnel does not describe a process that creates value for buyers

The funnel describes the actions that sellers take to describe and promote their product, but it doesn’t specify how to create value for potential buyers. It doesn’t tell you what questions buyers have and what problems they are trying to solve.

The funnel ignores the buyer’s journey

Buyers go from being unaware that a problem exists to awareness of the problem, defining their needs, and taking action to solve the problem. The funnel ignores this journey.

The funnel makes unwarranted assumptions about the volume of work in each phase

The funnel might indicate that there are lots of opportunities to close, but it can be an illusion. It doesn’t tell you where the buyers are in their journey or how qualified they are to become a customer. Until you measure the quantity and quality of your leads, the funnel prevents you from planning for the volume of work that needs to be done.

A true sales process is one that creates value for your potential buyers and current customers in measurable ways. It tells you how many people are in each stage of the buying process and how much work is needed to help them move to the next stage.

It gives you more predictability and control over the process, improves the effectiveness of converting buyers into customers, and increases your profitability.