79 percent of marketing leads never convert into sales. 

If you don’t currently have a sales funnel strategy in place, you’re probably missing out on the majority of opportunities to generate revenue that come your way. 

One of the best ways to close your lead conversion gap is to build out a targeted sales funnel that attracts, nurtures, and converts your leads– and not just any leads, but qualified leads that fit your ideal customer profile. 

Unfortunately, designing and implementing an effective sales funnel is a lot easier said than done for most businesses, especially smaller businesses that don’t have an in-house marketing team on hand. This is where a done-for-you sales funnel, or DFY sales funnel, comes into play…

Introducing Done for You Sales Funnels

As the name implies, a done-for-you sales funnel is one that a marketing agency specializing in sales funnel services completes for your business. It’s a turnkey marketing and sales solution, meaning the DFY sales funnel will be delivered as a complete package that’s ready for immediate use. It’s an asset your business will own and be able to leverage for years to come. 

A DFY sales funnel takes the burden off of your team to create an effective sales funnel on your own. This is incredibly valuable considering the fact that even the most simple sales funnels require a significant amount of time, effort, and specialized skills to build out. 

What is a Sales Funnel? 

Before you can determine whether a DFY sales funnel or DIY sales funnel is the right choice for your business, you need to have a clear understanding of what a sales funnel is and how it works. 

Put simply, a sales funnel is an interconnected series of marketing activities that work together to take your potential customers on a journey– one that ultimately ends with a successful sale. In other words, a sales funnel acquires qualified leads, nurtures those leads, and then converts them into paying customers or clients. Just like a plastic funnel that guides liquid from a large opening into a smaller opening, a sales funnel guides your leads closer and closer to the point of sale. 

Sales funnels are often broken down into three primary stages: Top-of-funnel, middle-of-funnel, and bottom-of-funnel. 

1. Top-of-funnel: This is the awareness stage, where the focus is on educating your target audience and piquing their curiosity about your product or service.
2. Middle-of-funnel: This is the consideration stage, where the focus is on nurturing your leads and establishing trust.
3. Bottom-of-funnel: This is the conversion stage, where the focus is on asking your leads to take action and closing the sale. 

Sales funnels are not a one-size-fits-all marketing solution. They vary from one industry to another and always involve a lot of moving parts. That being said, simple and effective sales funnels typically include at least these 5 major components: 

1. Brand Messaging: For your sales funnel to generate awareness and entice qualified leads, you need a clear, concise, and consistent message that invites your ideal customers to be curious about your product or service. This message should demonstrate how your product or service can help your ideal customers overcome their problems and make their lives better. Having one clear message that you use across all of your sales funnel content (website copy, lead magnets, emails, etc.) will ensure your sales funnel is cohesive. 
2. Website: Your website should be thought of as an integral piece of your sales funnel, not something that stands on its own. Your targeted sales funnel messaging needs to be incorporated into your website. If you speak directly to your ideal customers on your website, the leads you acquire will be better qualified and more likely to convert. Sales funnels often funnel leads to a targeted landing page where the final transaction takes place. 
3. Lead Magnet or Lead Generator: This is an enticing and valuable resource, promotion, or experience that you offer up in exchange for your potential customers’ contact information. It could take the shape of a special discount code, a how-to resource, a toolkit, a free consultation, or a webinar recording… the possibilities are endless! 
4. Nurture Emails: These emails provide you with the opportunity to nurture the relationship with the leads you acquire. Nurture emails help you stay connected and top-of-mind for your potential customers, offer value so that they continue to subscribe, and establish trust over time. 
5. Sales Emails: Once your leads are nice and warm, it’s time to make the hard ask and close the deal! Sales emails focus on converting your leads and generating revenue with clear, direct, and actionable CTAs (calls to action). 

Sales funnels often include other marketing components, such as paid advertising via Google or social media, but the components above make up the basic building blocks to get you started. 

How Hard is a Sales Funnel to Build?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: sales funnels involve a lot of moving parts. If you’re thinking of creating and launching a sales funnel on your own, you’ll need a range of marketing skills in order to accomplish your goals. 

In addition to a more general understanding of sales funnels and how they work, specific skills like brand messaging, web design, copywriting, branding, graphic design, technical skills, and email marketing will come into play as you plan out the different components of your sales funnel(s). 

When it comes time to build out the funnel components, you’ll also need to know how to work with different technical platforms including your website software, email marketing automation platform, and lead generation software. For example, you may need to work with WordPress, MailChimp, and OptinMonster. 

If you do decide to create and roll out a sales funnel in-house, you will probably want to bring in several team members with a variety of marketing and sales skills, especially when you’re developing your sales funnel strategy. Building out and implementing the sales funnel isn’t something that can be done overnight– it will require a series of team meetings and work sessions to accomplish the following important tasks:

• Put together a sales funnel strategy with specific goals and objectives 
• Create a profile of your ideal customer or target audience 
• Come up with compelling brand messaging that speaks to your ideal customer 
• Create the content for your website (and landing page, if applicable) 
• Brainstorm and create an enticing lead generator 
• Create your lead nurturing email sequence 
• Write your sales letter or sales pitch 
• Set up and launch your sales funnel 
• Monitor your funnel performance 
• Analyze funnel results and make adjustments and refinements over time 

Although templates for DIY sales funnels can be found online, the whole point of a sales funnel is to target your ideal customer and mirror your specific customer journey. Different people react to different triggers, so different industries require different approaches. A generic approach can be more harmful than no approach at all, attracting the wrong types of leads and wasting valuable company resources. Overall, the more you can customize your funnel, the better your results will be. 

Types of Sales Funnels & Lead Magnets 

There are countless types of sales funnels and lead generators to consider. As mentioned above, for optimal results, your sales funnel(s) should be targeted to speak directly to your ideal customers and mirror your typical sales cycle.

To help get your ideas flowing, we’ll highlight some of the more popular types of sales funnels and lead generators below. But keep in mind that your only real limit is your imagination! 

• Free Consultations: This is a very popular type of lead generator among B2B (business-to-business) companies offering financial or professional services. The key to success here is to frame the free consultation as a valuable opportunity for your potential customers to gain one-on-one insight or advice from an expert in the field rather than just a sales pitch. Once you have a qualified lead on the phone, converting them will be so much easier! You can answer all their questions, demonstrate your expertise, and overcome any objections they may have.
• Special Promotions: This type of lead generator is common among e-commerce businesses. For example, many B2C companies have a pop-up offering new website visitors a certain percentage off of their first purchase in exchange for their contact information. This is a simple, straightforward, and effective way to shorten the sales cycle and quickly funnel visitors toward making a purchase. Deliver the discount code to their email address so that you can follow up and stay-top-of-mind after they make the purchase. 
• How-To Guide or Toolkit: Many businesses acquire new leads by offering a PDF resource or guide that helps their potential customers solve a problem on their own. It might seem counterintuitive to give them the information required to tackle the problem themselves rather than hire you, but this is a great opportunity to position yourself as the expert on solving said problem. If they hit a roadblock or don’t end up having the time or energy to handle it on their own, they will soon be knocking on your door for help! 
• Calculator: A calculator is another helpful tool that targets potential customers in the consideration stage and helps them make a decision. For example, a price calculator lead magnet could be used by a home improvement company targeting homeowners trying to budget for a new project. ROI calculators are another effective lead generation tool, more commonly used by B2B companies trying to demonstrate how their services will pay off over time.
• Webinar: A free webinar is a great way to attract and connect with potential customers, especially if the service you’re selling is more complex or difficult to understand. The webinar can then be used to educate and nurture your leads. This type of sales funnel is another popular one among B2B companies.
• Sweepstakes: Raffles, giveaways, and sweepstakes are commonly used by B2C companies. Although this type of lead generation can bring in some frivolous leads just looking for freebies, it can be an effective way to generate excitement and build your email list more quickly.
• Surveys or Polls: This is a great way to gain more information about your leads so that you can follow up with more targeted information and messaging. For example, a marketing agency could pose a question like, “what is your biggest marketing challenge?” and then share helpful tips and tricks to help respondents overcome the specific challenge they are facing.

Other types of sales funnel lead generators include free templates, whitepapers, eBooks, interactive games, free trials, product samples, free inspections or evaluations, loyalty programs, free quotes or estimates, case studies, and training videos. 

DFY Automated Sales Funnel: What’s Included

What exactly is or isn’t included in a DFY sales funnel will vary depending on the sales funnel services you employ. Here at Flyrise, we offer complete and customizable sales funnel services that typically include:

• An ideal customer profile
• Brand messaging that targets your ideal customer 
• Mapping of your buyer’s journey
• Strategic planning 
• Goals and metrics for each stage of the funnel 
• Lead magnet design and copywriting 
• Landing page web design and copywriting 
• Email template design 
• Automated email sequence setup 
• Email list segmentation 
• Creation of an opt-in campaign 
• Sales funnel implementation 
• Conversion tracking and Google Analytics integration 
• Testing and launch 
• Sales funnel campaign management and performance monitoring
• Adjustments and optimizations as needed 

If you need some of these services but not all of them, we can create a custom DFY sales funnel package to meet your specific needs. 

DFY Sales funnel vs DIY Sales Funnel  

If you have the required skills and time to tackle a DIY sales funnel in-house, it can certainly save you money on the upfront cost of the funnel. However, if you think of a sales funnel as an investment that will pay for itself (and then some) over time, it may be worth seeking the support of a sales funnel specialist. 

When you go the done-for-you route, your sales funnel will be based on proven lead-generation strategies and industry best practices. You can rely on the expertise of a sales funnel specialist, which will give you more confidence in the strategies you employ.

Most of the time, a done-for-you sales funnel will be tailor-made to your specific needs and goals, which leads to higher conversion rates and better ROI. If the DFY funnel is designed to target your ideal customers, you will improve the quality of your leads and attract more qualified leads. 

Of course, going with a DFY vs DIY sales funnel will also save you a significant amount of company time and resources. You’ll be able to roll out the sales funnel faster, which means you can start earning additional revenue faster. 

DFY sales funnels often include not only sales funnel strategy and implementation, but also ongoing technical support and maintenance. Many DFY sales funnel services will monitor your sales funnel performance for you and make periodic adjustments and improvements as needed. That way, you don’t have to worry about optimizing your sales funnel on your own. 

Lastly, even though you’re outsourcing the design and buildout of the funnel, the ownership of that funnel will rest with your business. When all is said and done, you’ll own an automated sales funnel– a valuable asset that will continue to grow your business for years to come. 

Do Sales Funnels Really Work? 

If you’re still on the fence about whether a sales funnel is a worthwhile investment, consider the fact that companies that excel at funneling and nurturing their leads have been found to generate at least 50% more sales-ready leads at about a third of the cost. 

Beyond increasing the number of qualified leads you acquire and lowering the cost per lead, a well-designed and executed sales funnel can help your business:

• Communicate the right message with the right audience at the right time 
• Streamline and automate your lead acquisition processes 
• Establish a flexible, long-term solution that will serve you for years to come 
• Gain measurable results and a more nuanced understanding of your audience(s)
• Build trust and credibility with your audience(s) 

Once you have your sales funnel(s) in place, you’ll have much more control over your lead flow and overall business growth. Say you have a special discount sales funnel that effectively generates qualified leads whenever it’s running– you can simply turn on or off the funnel whenever you need more clients or max out your capacity. This allows you to grow strategically at your own pace. 

Invest in a Sales Funnel from Flyrise

Ready to close your conversion gap with a DFY sales funnel? Our professional yet affordable digital marketing packages will help you attract qualified leads and convert those leads into loyal customers who keep coming back for more. 

Whether you’re looking for complete done for you sales funnels or just a results-driven sales funnel strategy to set your team up for success, we’ve got you covered. Our sales funnel services are flexible and customizable to meet your specific needs and marketing goals. 

With years of experience creating sales funnels for small and midsize businesses across a wide range of industries, we’ve perfected our process of developing an effective sales funnel. Book a one-on-one call with our sales funnel specialists today to get the ball rolling!