A Brief Guide to Sales Cycle Stages as Defined by Sales Funnels

About 80 percent of small businesses hardly make it past their first year. One of the issues that these businesses face is a lack of customers, making the business unsustainable. Whether you’re an upstart or an established business, understanding the sales funnel is the first step towards growing your sales.

You need to know the basic sales cycle stages and the impact they have on your business. Keep reading to learn more about these stages.

Sales Funnel Definition

It is essential to define a sales funnel before delving into its different stages. In its simplest definition, a sales funnel refers to the process in which a business attracts prospects and converts them into customers. You can learn more here on what is a sales funnel and how it works.

Just like the shape of a funnel, you will start with a relatively high number of potential buyers. Your audience will become smaller, which might end up being high-value clients. The goal of a sales funnel is to get long-term customers who will have lifetime value for your business.

Sales Cycle Stages

The sales cycle highlights the process of a customer’s readiness to buy into a deal. Through the sales funnel, the seller can establish when the deal is about to close. Here are the sales funnel stages commonly referred to as AIDA;

Awareness

The first stage of the cycle is awareness or attention. This step is the phase where a new audience discovers a brand. You need to place your marketing message in the right places to capture the attention of as many prospective customers as possible.

Interest

The interest stage is where your audience becomes leads. Your prospective customers are engaging more, and you’ll need to research widely to give solutions to problems raised. At this stage, you have an opportunity to engage more with the audience by creating value.

Desire

While all the sales cycle stages are essential, this phase is almost a guarantee that your leads will convert. At the desire stage, your leads understand their problem and are willing to get a solution. You will need to prove that your brand has the solution that the client wants.

Action

Averagely, eCommerce stores experience a bounce rate of 33.9 percent. Conversely, more than eight percent of these leads convert. The action stage is where you get to know the rate of conversion.

At this point, you might want to reinforce the benefit of your products and what the customer will miss by not purchasing. You need to be honest to avoid misleading the client. If conversion doesn’t happen, you can repeat the sales stages.

The Sales Cycle Stages Are Essential For All Businesses

The wake of digital marketing has prompted businesses to embrace different strategies to improve sales. The sales cycle stages are one of the approaches used by business owners to convert the target audience into sales and lifetime customers. Through the cycle, a business understands how to interact with potential customers at each phase.

You can create your sales funnel today once you map out possible questions or pain points your customers might have. The right sales funnel will increase the effectiveness of your sales process besides building a long-term relationship with customers.

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When your business really starts thriving, you might start considering taking it worldwide. Are you ready for the challenge? International expansion is a big step, but it’s a great way for a business to reach new heights and really achieve its full potential. It won’t be easy, but it does come with a lot of benefits that are worth considering. If expansion hasn’t been on your radar yet, you might not be thinking big enough. Are you underestimating your company and what you can do? If you’re curious, keep reading to learn about the benefits of taking the big leap and going global. 1. International Expansion Means International Talent You probably have a stellar team that’s been helping you build your business so far, right? When you go international, you’re naturally going to need to add a few new team members to pick up all of the extra work your going to be getting. You won’t be limiting yourself to the potential hirees in your domestic network. Different countries have different university systems that offer different specializations and programs. If you aren’t branching out, you’re missing out. There might be a superstar worker in Prague or Tokyo just waiting for the opportunity that your company can offer. Are you waiting for them too? 2. It’s an Investment in Your Business Any expansion is going to be an investment, but global expansion offers special investment opportunities. Some areas offer special incentives to businesses that are expanding there. Not every country is going to offer the same opportunities, but you could be missing out by deciding to keep your business exclusively in your home country. 3. Gain an International Market Your company might be taking your home country by storm, but do you think you could be doing better? Your customers know you, and you might be starting to reach the ceiling of your local potential. How can you break out of this bubble? Going international gives you access to a whole new group of customers who aren’t yet familiar with what you have to offer. It can be hard to connect with new audiences if you’re unfamiliar with the language, so make sure to hire a freelance translator when you start your post-expansion marketing efforts. 4. Compete With the Best How can you surpass your competitors if you’re all fighting for the same clients? Maybe you’re all great and evenly matched. This will make it impossible for you to gain an advantage while you stay domestic. Going international gives you an edge. You’re getting new growth opportunities and new access to talented workers that your competitors don’t have yet. Get there before they do. 5. Diversify Your Assets Let’s be realistic; sometimes an idea or product flops. Sometimes, though, it’s just the wrong market. Global expansion will allow you the freedom to experiment a little bit. What works for a Swedish audience might not work for an American one, but it will be a calculated loss. You’ll be protected by expanding. Is International Expansion for You? If your business is ready for international expansion, you’re ready for massive growth. It’s going to be a big step, but it’ll be totally worth it to see just how far your company can go. For more posts like this, visit the rest of our site.