It always helps to understand how you (and your sales strategy) compare to your competition…

For me, it all starts with The Purchase Funnel – and how you/they are creating awareness, capturing interest, turning that interest into desire, building confidence, and inspiring action.

If you’ve never seen this funnel before, it’s actually the modern version of one of the oldest marketing funnels ever created, known as the AIDA model.  

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action

Believe it or not, this funnel was widely adopted following its first publication way back in 1911 – and it’s still used by the most successful direct response marketers around. The only thing that’s changed from the 1900s to today is the addition of Confidence.  

We added “Confidence” to the funnel because it’s important to make sure your buyers know they’re making a smart decision.

After all, consumers (B2B and B2C) are spending more time researching the Internet before making a purchase. They know everything about you, your products/services, your competition, and all of their available options.

You may also notice that we added Retention at the end of the funnel to maintain focus on building loyalty.

Now, each step of the marketing funnel could take your prospect several days to complete, or they could rapidly pass through the funnel all at once in a sales letter, webinar, or VSL within a matter of minutes – and everywhere in between.

Here’s the thing:

Whether you’re sending an email or creating an entire multi-step funnel, you want (as much as possible) to have every step of The Purchase Funnel integrated throughout your sales process.

For example, if I’m writing an email, I’m sending to a list that’s Aware… Then starting with an opening sentence that captures their Interest… Following with content that heightens their Desire, building Confidence, and making a strong call to Action.

Here’s an example of a cold email we’re testing right now:

Hi {Name},

Don’t ask me how she came across {COMPANY NAME}; however, my mother asked me to reach out to you. INTEREST

Yeah, I know… 

No matter how old or successful I get, my mom still wants to lend a hand 😉

She thinks we might be able to help you scale your business…  

And I tend to agree.

I went to your website and noticed you were trying to {INTEREST}, and it’s possible you might fall within our sweet spot. DESIRE

We’ve coached many successful entrepreneurs (folks you might recognize), and have helped several of them double their businesses. CONFIDENCE

Can we do the same for you? Not sure yet…

You probably receive hundreds of emails a week from people you don’t know (so you might be deservedly annoyed); however, if you want to grow and you’re open to a conversation, I’d love to schedule a quick 15-minute call with you to see what’s possible.

At the very least, after you talk with me, you’ll get clarity on where the growth opportunities exist within your business.

I await your deservedly annoyed reply 😉 CALL TO ACTION

Zach “never too old to listen to mom” Burkes

Predictable Profits

And in case you’re wondering, here are the current stats for this funnel-oriented test:

With a 78.4% open rate and a 12% reply rate, it’s definitely showing promise (I highly recommend you don’t copy our email word for word – people are pretty quick to identify the copycats, and we receive emails – weekly – from subscribers who find others copying our emails, website, strategies, etc.).

But today isn’t really about cold email…

Actually, it’s imperative that we talk about an essential stage for giving you an EDGE… So you can maintain an even BIGGER advantage over your competition.

In the past, we talked about the importance of knowing your customer or client – and I mean you must REALLY know them – because if you don’t know what drives them to make a decision and take action, your message will fall upon deaf ears.

For example: for years, I always thought my market LOVED marketing and everything to do with marketing. 

Foolishly, I thought that because I loved marketing, they would too. So, I created marketing material designed around an offer that was based on their affinity for marketing…

ERRRRRRRRRRRRR. Wrong.   

Upon a deeper review and increased understanding, what I really discovered was actually quite the opposite.  

In general, most of my market hates marketing. You see, they like the strategies for bringing in more leads and sales – but they hate marketing.  

Now, some of you might be thinking: 

“Isn’t bringing in more leads and sales ‘marketing?’” 

…And if that’s what you’re thinking – you’re right.  

It is… 

However, this is what’s important: my market wants actionable “strategies.” They don’t want to learn about marketing.  

Sure, it might sound like a subtle difference, but that’s what determines getting a conversion and losing one.

Remember: consumers don’t buy what they need – they buy what they WANT. Hence, the sugar industry is 4 times larger than the vegetable industry. People buy what they want… Not what they need.

So, we changed our email message and experimented with ads, emails, and sales strategies that say something like: 

“Let me show you how to double your business without doing all the boring marketing stuff you hate.”

…And response went UP!  

Now, even though it’s still considered “marketing,” the difference between a higher converting funnel and a lower converting funnel is often about positioning.

Once my clients see the results the strategies produce – suddenly, they want to know everything they can about marketing, how it works, and why it works so they can establish an even greater edge.

Once again… Remember that you are not your market. Getting them through your funnel means taking great care with each step, especially interest, desire, and confidence.

If you truly know what people want, you can provide exactly that to them – and they’ll be thrilled to do business with you. 

It pays to do your homework. Don’t assume, just because you’re a customer or client of your own business, that you know and understand your market. Look, I thought I knew my market for years – and it was a humbling experience when I realized that I had missed the mark.  

If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.