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What Is A Sales Funnel? Plus 10 Everyday Sales Funnel Examples

Have you ever wondered what is a sales funnel?

In this article, I’ll explain exactly what a sales funnel is and give you 10 of the best sales funnel examples from companies that use the sales funnel technique.

You’ll probably be surprised that you will have already encountered some of these in everyday life, often whilst being completely unaware you were in a sales funnel.

What Is A Sales Funnel?

Sales Funnel Diagram

A sales funnel is a strategic selling process, a series of steps if you will, that takes someone from being a first-time website (or brick and mortar store) visitor and turning them into a lifetime customer.

The basic steps of an effective sales funnel are:

  • Awareness: You become aware that a particular product or service exists
  • Discovery: You discover where this particular product or service is available from
  • Evaluation: You evaluate whether that product or service may be right for you
  • Intent: You’re realising that this thing is for you so you intend to try it out
  • Purchase: You purchase said product or service and try it out
  • Loyalty: You’re so happy with what you got that you trust this service provider implicitly and become a loyal customer

A traditional website has loads of distractions, think of it as a multi-lane highway, whereas a sales funnel is a one-way road where you know exactly where you are going. By guiding your customers into a sales funnel, they are much more likely to make a purchase and become a loyal customer.

A sales funnel, or marketing funnel usually goes along the lines of:

  • Landing page: Your leads give their contact details and join your email list in exchange for something free or heavily discounted
  • Sales page: Your leads enter their credit card details
  • Upsell page: You offer additional products at a price that is too good to say no to with only a “Yes please” or “No thank you” option. Statistic show that as your lead has already entered their payment information on the previous page they are more likely to press the “Yes please” button
  • Checkout page: Your lead confirms their order
  • Thank you page: Obviously, you thank your new customer for their purchase

10 Best Sales Funnel Examples

That’s the sales funnel explained, I’ll now show you 10 examples of sales funnels, and why the sales funnel works.

I’m sure you’ll be familiar with most of them and have been in at least one of them at some point in your life.

Sales Funnel Example 1: Purchasing A New Car

 

New Car Sales Funnel Example

  • Industry: Automotive sales.
  • Funnel Steps: 4

This is one sale funnel that most people have been, or will be, in at some point in their life, so is a great place to start.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You enter the showroom, see a car you like, and take a test drive. Whilst out on the test drive the salesperson accompanying you talks you through the various features this particular car has, how great they are etc.

Step 2: Once you agree to buy the car you’re then offered various upsells such as gap insurance, service, and maintenance plan, upholstery protection, etc.

Step 3: You drive your new car away.

Step 4: You then have the option of joining the car dealers maintenance club.

Why the sales funnel works:

If the whole experience was pleasurable and you received good customer service, when you look to buy another car in the future you are much more likely to return and purchase from them again.

Sales Funnel Example 2: McDonald’s

McDonalds Restaurant Sales Funnel Example

  • Industry: Fast food service.
  • Funnel steps: 3 +

Again, who hasn’t been to, or know at-least someone who has been to McDonald’s.

This isn’t just specific to McDonald’s, most fast food outlets have the same funnel in place.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You order a BigMac.

Step 2: You’re asked if you’d like fries and a drink with that for a small increase in price.

Step 3: You’re asked if you want to go large, or super-sized for another additional cost.

Why the sales funnel works:

They offer you these ‘upsell’s’ as you are already in the buying mindset and hungry, thus much more likely to ‘go large’.  The more you buy the more profit they make, yes it may only be an extra $1 on your transaction, but multiply that by all the transactions that McDonald’s make per day and that adds up to a heck of a lot more money and profit each day!

Sales Funnel Example 3: Apple Music

Apple Music Logo

  • Industry: Online streaming
  • Funnel steps: 3

I’m sure you know Apple Music is one of the biggest players in the online streaming industry. The days of buying or renting CDs could soon be a thing of the past due to services like this.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You click on the call to action button for the 30 day free trial.

Step 2: You choose the plan you want to go on to after the trial ends.

Step 3: The trail ends and you are now a subscriber.

Why the sales funnel works:

You can download or stream unlimited music from apple to your Apple Music compatible devices, and you don’t have to wait for your CD’s to arrive.

Sales Funnel Example 4: Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime Logo

  • Industry: e-commerce
  • Funnel steps: 2

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you who Amazon is and what they do. Whoever thought of this idea is a genius, yet it’s such a simple thing to offer your customers.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You create your Amazon account

Step 2: You take the 30 days free trial of Amazon Prime and enjoy unlimited next day delivery’s, Amazon Video, and Amazon Music for the en next 30 days

Step 3: You realize just how convenient Amazon is for your online shopping you pay the Prime subscription fee. Because you’ve now paid for your Prime subscription you feel obliged to buy from Amazon, even if they’re slightly more expensive than elsewhere.

Why the sales funnel works:

Unlimited next day delivery for a small subscription fee once per year. As a Prime customer myself, I love the convenience of ordering today and getting it tomorrow, all without having to leave my couch.

Sales Funnel Example 5: ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels Logo

  • Industry: Digital marketing.
  • Funnel steps: 4

ClickFunnels is an online software for building sales funnels.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You click on the call to action button for the 14 day free trial.

Step 2: You choose the plan you want to go on to after the trial ends.

Step 3: You create your account.

Step 4: You sign up and are now a subscriber.

Why the sales funnel works:

ClickFunnels is great value for money when you consider the number of tools at your disposal. They have a ton of resources to help you implement sales funnels into your business, including training courses, but I’ll get to that a little further down this post.

Sales Funnel Example 6: GetResponse

GetResponse Logo

  • Industry: Digital marketing.
  • Funnel steps: 4

GetResponse is a landing page builder and email autoresponder service for email marketing.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You click on the call to action button for the 30-day free trial.

Step 2: You choose the plan you want to go on to after the trial ends.

Step 3: You create your account.

Step 4: You sign up and are now a subscriber.

Why the sales funnel works:

Like ClickFunnels, GetResponse is a great value online marketing tool. They will email you about new features, how-to articles, etc so that you keep subscribed to them.

Sales Funnel Example 7: Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg Sales Funnel Example

  • Industry: Website analysis.
  • Funnel steps: 4

If you have a website and want to know how it’s performing regarding traffic, sales, etc, then Crazy Egg is a software that can take care of that for you.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: You visit the home page and can either enter your site’s URL or click on learn more. If you enter your URL you go to the sign-up page.

Step 2: You sign up for the 30-day trial.

Step 3: You choose which plan you want to be on when your trial ends.

Step 4: You become a subscriber.

Why the sales funnel works:

Crazy Egg is one of the biggest names in website performance analytics. Understanding your analytics is vital if you are to grow your business. They keep delivering results for you, you keep paying for their services.

Sales Funnel Example 8: Audible

Audible Sales Funnel Example

  • Industry: Online sales.
  • Funnel steps: 3

Operated by Amazon, audible is a monthly subscription service where you download audiobooks.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: Click to start the 30-day free trial.

Step 2: Sign in with your Amazon account.

Step 3: Become a subscriber after the 30-day trial ends.

Why the sales funnel works:

Not everybody enjoys reading a book, some prefer to have it read, or maybe they’re vision impaired and need to have an audio version of a novel. Another great quality product from Amazon.

Sales Funnel Example 9: PlayStation Now

PlayStation Now Logo

  • Industry: Gaming
  • Funnel steps: 3

Sony PlayStation, one of the biggest known brands out there. They now have a streaming service that you can subscribe to and use on your PS4 or PC.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: Click the call to action button and enter your credit card details to begin your 7-day free trial.

Step 2: Play as many of the 700+ games PS2, PS3, and PS4 games as you like.

Step 3: You become a subscriber and pay the £8.99 per month fee.

Why the sales funnel works:

Like Amazon Prime, this is all about convenience and value for money. Why pay out $50 for a game, have to wait for it to be delivered, and then when you get it you may think it sucks!

Sales Funnel Example 10: Hulu

Hulu Logo

Industry: Movie & TV streaming service

Funnel steps: 4

Hulu is a streaming service for movies and TV.

Steps in the funnel:

Step 1: Sign up for the free one month trial.

Step 2: Choose a plan to subscribe to.

Step 3: Enter your payment details.

Step 4: You become a subscriber unless you cancel your trial before it ends.

Why the sales funnel works:

With thousands of movies and TV shows to pick from, Hulu is one of the online streaming giants. You can also watch Disney+ and ESPN + through Hulu if you upgrade your subscription.

How To Make A Sales Funnel For Your Business

If you’d like to know how to set up a sales funnel in your business, you’re going to need an online sales funnel builder. The best online sales funnel software is, without a doubt, ClickFunnels.

Creating your own landing pages and sales funnel is a breeze with ClickFunnels as it works on a drag & drop system, so you don’t need any tech experience to use it. If you can edit text and upload an image, you’re tech-savvy enough to use ClickFunnels!

You can either use a pre-built sales funnel template or build your own from scratch.

You only have to look at how many entrepreneurs just like you have made a success of their business by using the ClickFunnels software.

I have a What Is ClickFunnels article that you can read here: What Is ClickFunnels?

They also have some great resources to help you on your journey with them.

The Secrets Trilogy Box Set

The Secrets Trilogy Books Set

The Secrets Trilogy is a box set of books from ClickFunnels co-founder Russell Brunson which contains four books:

DotCom Secrets

Dot Com Secrets will teach you everything you need to know about sales funnels and help identify which type of sales funnel will work in your type of business.

Expert Secrets

Expert Secrets teaches you how to use sales funnels and email marketing to keep your customers engaged with you and give you their business time and again.

Traffic Secrets

Traffic Secrets teaches you how to flood your website and/or sales funnel with your dream customers.

Getting traffic from social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, etc, to running Google ads, it’s all covered in Traffic Secrets.

Unlock the Secrets

Unlock The Secrets is a ‘fill in the blanks’ workbook to accompany the other three books in this box set. As you figure out which part of each book you can implement in your business, you note it down in Unlock The Secrets. By the time you’ve read all the books and made your notes, your Unlock The Secrets book will be your business’s battle plan.

You can read my review of The Secrets Trilogy here.

One Funnel Away Challenge

One Funnel Away Challenge Banner

Maybe you’d like more of a hand than just three books, what if I told you there is a 30 day training course to get your first, or next, sales funnel up and running in just 30 days?

For the sum of just one month’s subscription fee, that’s exactly what you can get. This course is fast-paced and designed to make you take action.

Check out my review of the ClickFunnels One Funnel Away Challange

Brick & Mortar Summit

ClickFunnels Brick & Mortar Summit

Maybe you own a brick & mortar business and would like to know how you could use ClickFunnels to improve your business?

This totally free training will teach you just that. You’ll get a series of interviews with brick & mortar entrepreneurs who have used ClickFunnels to grow their business, and they tell you how they did it!

Check out the ClickFunnels Brick & Mortar Summit now.

Best Sales Funnel Examples Conclusion

As you can now see, most of the biggest companies out there use a sales funnel technique and the reason they use it is that it works! We are constantly in a sales funnel without being aware of it.

Whether you have an online or brick and mortar business I hope you can now see the benefit of how a sales funnel can improve and scale your business.

If you are looking to implement a sales funnel into your business, but don’t know where to start, check out the above offering from ClickFunnels.

Thank you for reading my best sales funnel examples article, I hope you found it helpful.

Disclaimer: I am an independent ClickFunnels Affiliate, not an employee. All views expressed on this blog are my own based on my own experience of using the ClickFunnels software. I use affiliate links on my blog and may earn a commission from any links you click on and make a purchase.

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