5 Warning Signs That Your Sales Funnel Is Leaking Money

(Plus, How to Fix Them)

The key to success doesn't lie in perfection. It lies in evolution, in your ability to learn and improve.

And it all starts with identifying your weaknesses — the areas in which you need to grow. Once you know where you need to grow, you can put a plan in place to address those areas.

The same principle applies to your business, especially your sales funnel.

Your sales funnel will never be perfect. But, if you can identify the leaks in your funnel and take steps to fix them, you'll be well on your way to increasing your conversion rate and generating more revenue for your business.

In this post, we'll look at five warning signs that your sales funnel is leaking money. We'll also share some tips on how you can fix each issue.

1. Cross-Browser Compatibility Issues 

When we say “cross-browser compatibility,” we are talking about the user experience and the functionality of your website across all browsers, not the design. Even minor compatibility issues can kill your conversions.  

 

For example, consider the following scenario:

A potential customer goes to your website using Chrome. They fill out a form to download a piece of content. But, when they hit the submit button, nothing happens. They assume that the website is broken, and they leave.

In reality, the form submission works just fine in Safari. The problem is that your website isn't compatible with all browsers. As a result, you just lost a lead.

The best way to avoid this issue is to test your website on all major browsers before you launch. You can use a tool like BrowserStack to test your website on multiple browsers and devices.

Some other tools might include:

  • GhostLab: for synchronized web development, testing, and inspection.
  • Sauce Labs: for automated cross-browser testing.
  • BrowserShots: for taking screenshots of your web pages on different browsers.

You don't need to use every one of these tools to make a successful audit; just look through them and see which of them fit your business.

You can alternatively test your website manually on different browsers. This might take a bit longer, but it will allow you to try things that automated tools might miss.

2. Slow Page Load Speed

“If an e-commerce site makes $100,000 per day, a 1-second page delay could cost you $2.5 million in lost sales annually.” 

Most marketers are now familiar with the importance of page speed. In short, if your website takes too long to load, people will leave.

Many people focus on their overall website speed but forget to test pages individually. Sometimes, some pages might not work correctly, costing you money.

Now you might be thinking: “My website has over 100 pages. Are you saying I should test every single one of them?”

Of course not; we're talking about your sales funnel, remember? You only need to test the speed of the relevant pages in your sales funnel.

For example, if you're testing an e-commerce website, you should test your home page, pricing page, product page, and checkout page.

Or, if you're running a lead generation website, you should test your landing pages and thank you page.

Google's Page Speed Insights is a great tool to check your website loading speed at an individual level. Just enter the URL of the page you want to analyze, and the tool will give you a score and some practical recommendations to speed up that page.

3. Low Conversions Per Traffic Source

To get the most out of every dollar spent on marketing, you need to know exactly where the money is going and where your ROI is.

If you're spending money on a specific marketing channel just because “you're supposed to do it,” you're probably wasting your time.

Instead, you need to figure out which marketing channels are actually driving revenue for your business. You can do this by analyzing the conversion rate per traffic source.

If you see that your conversion rate is low for a specific traffic source, that's a warning sign. It means you're not getting the most out of that traffic source.

There could be several reasons for this, but here are a few to look out for:

  • The traffic source isn't relevant to your target audience.
  • The traffic source is relevant, but your campaign isn't targeted enough.
  • The traffic source is relevant and targeted, but your website design or copy isn't effective.

One of the easiest ways to improve conversions is to eliminate irrelevant, poor-quality traffic and direct your marketing efforts toward channels that work.

For instance, if your conversion rate is low for Facebook ads but high for Google Ads, it might be a good idea to focus more on Google Ads.

But, if your conversion rate is low for both Facebook ads and Google Ads, it might be a good idea to focus on optimizing your website design and copy before investing more money into paid traffic.

Ultimately, you want to focus on getting the most out of the traffic already coming to your website before spending more money driving more traffic.

4. You Aren't Nurturing Leads

Lead nurturing is the key to a successful sales funnel.

According to Marketo, lead nurturing is “the process of developing relationships with buyers at every stage of the sales funnel, and through every step of the buyer's journey.” 

In other words, lead nurturing is about developing relationships with your leads and providing them with the information they need to make a purchasing decision.

Lead nurturing aims to turn leads into customers, and customers into advocates.

Kern Lewis' 7 Steps For Lead Nurturing perfectly outlines the right way to nurture new leads:

  1. Be systematic: Set up a lead nurturing program, and stick to it.
  2. Track everything: Keep track of everything you do to see what's working and what isn't.
  3. Respond quickly to each received lead: When a new lead comes in, reach out to them as soon as possible.
  4. Stay in constant touch: Keep in touch with your leads regularly.
  5. Offer value during the process: Provide your leads with valuable information to help them make purchasing decisions.
  6. Ask for the business: Once you've built a relationship with your lead, and provided them with the information they need, it's time to ask for the sale.
  7. Learn from your mistakes: Keep track of your results, so you can learn from your mistakes and improve your lead nurturing program over time.

5. You're Not testing enough

We know the concept of “always be testing” has been beaten to death, but it's true.

The only way to know for sure what's working and what isn't is to test different versions against each other and see what happens.

This is especially important in your sales funnel because even a small change can impact your conversion rate.

For instance, changing the color of your call-to-action button from green to red could increase your conversion rate by 21%.

The question is, how often should you test?

The question might be tricky.

A rule of thumb is to base your testing upon the following criteria: 

  • Whenever you redesign your website: If you make any significant changes to your website, it's a good idea to run some tests.
  • When you change a plugin, service, or feature: If you change anything that could potentially affect your website's performance, it's a good idea to test it.
  • When you change your prices: If you're thinking about changing them, it's a good idea to test different price points to see what happens.
  • When you're thinking about making a change: If you're thinking about making any kind of change, large or small, it's a good idea to test it.

The best way to test is to use a tool like Google Analytics, which will allow you to track your results and see what's working and what isn't.

Another great way to test is to use a tool like Visual Website Optimizer, which will allow you to create different versions of your website and track your results.

Testing is an integral part of any sales funnel, so make sure you're doing it regularly.

Over to You

If you're not careful, your sales funnel can become a money pit, leaking money and costing you more than it's worth. Hopefully, this post has helped you identify warning signs that your sales funnel is leaking money.

Remember, a successful sales funnel is all about conversion rates. You'll never make any money if you can't convert your leads into customers.

So, if you're not happy with your sales funnel, don't be afraid to make some changes. Test different versions of your website, and see what works best.

And, most importantly, don't give up. With a little bit of effort, you can turn your sales funnel into a money-making machine.

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