One of the most crucial skills to dealing with drop points more efficiently has to do with your ability to look for and recognize patterns. As much as we would like to believe that customers sever ties for reasons completely unrelated to how we run our businesses, that is usually not the case. There is almost always a pattern surrounding their decision. Maybe they feel like they weren’t given enough information in the sales funnel and are unable to move forward. Maybe they purchased from you once and never heard from you again, and don’t feel valued as a customer. Or maybe it was a poor customer service interaction that left them feeling ignored. Whatever the reason, the faster you identify why you are losing customers at a specific moment in your sales cycle, the quicker you can start making improvements to fix the drop points in question.
Another key drop point in the sales cycle may begin before you even know your customer’s name. From the moment they land on your website, there are a multitude of opportunities for them to get up and leave. And it can be difficult to know how and where to make the improvements to your website without a little bit of espionage.
Consider using heat maps and session recordings to get a feel for where your customers are going on your site, and at what point they decide to leave or “bounce.” You may notice that a certain landing page isn’t powerful enough to keep them interested. Or maybe there isn’t enough information on a page to help them make a purchasing decision. All of which can, and should, be A/B tested to make it stronger.
Another great option is to user test the site itself. There are many services available that will have users browse your site and answer some questions, all while recording their thoughts and feelings about your website and the sales process. With this knowledge you will gain valuable information on how to eliminate the drop points on your website.
Last, but certainly not least, you will want to monitor your nurture funnels on a regular basis. Find out what emails work, which would be decided by open and click-through rates, and which ones are falling short. Are there any emails that lead to a high unsubscribe rate? Those emails should be adjusted or eliminated from the funnel altogether to help keep your clients engaged.
Finding the drop points isn’t difficult. With deliberate attention and time, you can easily start to see the places that need a little more attention in your own sales process.