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A funnel that shows where it leaks
A sales funnel splits the road to a purchase into stages. At the top are many people who just met you, at the bottom a few who sign. The image of a funnel shows where you lose the most people, and so where an improvement pays off most.
Most models use four stages. Awareness: someone finds out you exist, through Google, Instagram or a friend. Consideration: they compare, read your prices, look at your work. Decision: they request a quote, call or buy. Retention: they stay, leave a review, refer you. A marketing funnel is the same thing with the weight on the upper stages.
An idea from around 1898: the AIDA ladder
The idea goes back to the AIDA model, attributed to the American advertising man E. St. Elmo Lewis around 1898: a seller first has to catch attention, then raise interest, create desire and prompt action. Marketers later drew those steps as a funnel. Online, the funnel became measurable: every step leaves traces in your analytics, from impression to completed form.
Four numbers are enough
Put a number on each stage. Visitors come from your analytics, as do visits to a price or service page. Requests you count in your form or phone log, customers in your books. Divide each stage by the one before and you have the pass-through rate. That is the main lesson of a funnel: a small gain in a leaky stage returns more than more visitors at the top.
An installer in numbers, stage by stage
One month at a heat pump installer (worked example)
- 4,000visitors
Awareness: via Google, Instagram and the grants guide on the site.
6 percent read on
- 240read the price page
Consideration: what does it cost, which grant do I get?
25 percent ask for a quote
- 60quote requests
Decision: a site visit and a tailored quote.
20 percent sign
- 12new customers
Retention: maintenance contract, review, referral.
Twice the visitors gives 24 customers. Lifting the quote rate from 20 to 30 percent gives 18, without a single extra euro on ads.
What helps at each stage
| Stage | What the buyer does | What helps | What you measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Looks for a solution, scrolls, hears about you | SEO, guides, reels, search ads | Impressions, visitors |
| Consideration | Compares, reads prices, looks at work | A clear price, finished work, reviews, retargeting | Visits to price and service pages |
| Decision | Asks for a quote, calls, buys | A short form, a fast reply, a landing page per service | Requests, cost per request |
| Retention | Becomes a regular, refers others | Follow-up, maintenance, asking for a review | Repeat orders, Google reviews |
Six more customers without extra ads
Take a heat pump installer with 4,000 visitors a month. 240 read the price page, 60 ask for a quote and 12 sign. Two fixes stand out. A price page with real amounts and the current grants keeps more people in consideration. A quote form with three fields instead of twelve, and a reply within the day, lifts the decision. Raise the quote rate from 20 to 30 percent and that is 18 customers instead of 12, without one extra euro on ads. Doubling the visitors instead would soon cost double the ad budget.
One funnel per market
Sell in several countries and draw a funnel per market. Buyers in the Netherlands, Germany or France compare differently, trust other review sites and expect other payment and contact options. A stage that leaks in one market can be fine in another. A multilingual website with the same structure per language makes those funnels comparable.
Where the leak usually sits, by kind of business
| Kind of business | Biggest leak | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| Service business with quotes | From request to customer: quotes that take days | A quote within 48 hours, with a fixed follow-up after a week |
| Online store | From basket to payment: shipping costs that appear only at the end | Shipping costs on the product page, checkout without an account |
| B2B with a long decision | From first visit to request: nobody comes back | Retargeting and a newsletter with real substance |
| Local business | At the top: too few people find you | A Google Business Profile and a page per service |
Always start at the stage with the largest percentage loss, not at the top: more visitors in a leaking funnel costs money without bringing customers.
Fixing leaks costs less than more traffic
Drawing a funnel costs nothing: a sheet with four numbers a month. What it returns is focus: you see which stage is weakest and spend your time and budget there. Advertising without a funnel often buys more visitors for a funnel that leaks at the bottom. Whether your ads make a profit shows in your ROAS; click prices are in Google Ads cost.
Fixing the leak in four steps
- Count every stageVisitors, visits to price or service pages, requests, customers. One month is enough to start.
- Find the biggest dropDivide each stage by the one before. The lowest pass-through rate is your first job.
- Change one thingA price on the page, a shorter form, a faster reply. One change at a time, or you will not know what worked.
- Measure againCompare the next month with the same period. If it works, keep it and move to the next stage.
About funnels and leaks
What is the difference between a sales funnel and a marketing funnel?
A marketing funnel puts the weight on the upper stages: awareness and interest. A sales funnel runs through to the sale and retention. In a small business it is usually one and the same funnel.
What are the stages of a sales funnel?
Usually four: awareness, consideration, decision and retention. The older AIDA model speaks of attention, interest, desire and action.
What is a good funnel conversion rate?
It depends on your sector and price. Compare with yourself above all: the same month last year, or the month before a change. A stage that does much worse than the rest is your first job.
Do I need software for a sales funnel?
Not to start: your analytics, your form and a spreadsheet are enough. As requests grow, a CRM helps you follow up on each one.