How to Set Up a Sales Funnel for your Handmade Business

When someone lands on your website or shows up at your craft fair table, you must lead them through a process that strengthens their belief it’s a good idea to buy and eases them into it.

An average 2% of shoppers will purchase. That means 98% of the people you work so hard to get to your online store or attract to your craft show table, end up leaving without taking action.

So instead of giving shoppers two options:

• Buy
• Don’t buy

You add a third option that requires less commitment and allows you to stay in touch:

• Buy
• Don’t buy
• Subscribe to my newsletter

You know that people who visit your sales channel (website, online shop, craft show table, etc. more sales channels listed here) are interested in your products. Some people will decide your products aren’t the right fit (e.g. not what they’re looking for, live in an area you don’t ship to, not a fit for their budget, etc.), but the others who are still interested but don’t buy are considered leads.

So you also need a sales funnel for leads, which helps them build confidence in your brand and the idea that buying is the right choice.

And once someone has purchased, you must continue to market to them.

It costs much less money to retain a customer than acquire a new one. Plus, repeat customers tend to spend more money, so it’s a win-win.

That’s why you need another sales funnel to keep sales rolling in from existing customers.

The process of a good sales funnel is:

• STEP 1: The job of your sales channel’s funnel is to either get a shopper to buy or to be interested enough that they’re willing to hear more about your product in the future.
• STEP 2: Your lead sales funnel’s job will be to convert those interested shoppers into buyers.
• STEP 3: And once someone becomes a customer, you need a funnel in place to encourage them to buy from you again.

To set up an effective sales funnel, you need a newsletter. It’s easy to put it off, but it’s essential for every business. These articles will help:

>> How To Start a Newsletter for your Handmade Business

>> How to Grow your Newsletter at a Craft Show (free printable signup forms)

>> 365+ Newsletter Ideas (for your handmade business)

 

How to create a sales funnel for your craft business

Once you’ve gotten people to your sales channel, your first choice is to sell to them. And the next best option is to get them onto your newsletter list and into your lead sales funnel.

 

SALE FUNNEL STEP 1 – Create an opt-in offer

Start with an incentive: why should people join your newsletter list?

Someone has made it to your website or listing page, they’re obviously interested in what you’re selling, but they’re not invested yet.

What might be their objections?

If someone likes your product but decides I’m not sure if it’s right for me or I’ll think about it and maybe come back later to buy, consider what it is they’re unsure of or need to think about.

It may be:

• Price
• Cost of shipping
• Length of time to ship
• Not sure if they need it
• Unsure of how it will work for them
• Unanswered questions (e.g. what are the exact dimensions)

Based on potential objections, you can brainstorm opt-in offer ideas for your sales funnel. For example:

• Price – sign up for a promo code for a discount on their first purchase, entry into a contest or a free gift with purchase
• Cost of shipping – sign up for a promo code for free shipping
• Length of time to ship – sign up for a promo code to rush their order or upgrade their shipping for free
• Not sure if they need it – sign up for 5 ideas on how celebrities are wearing this look
• Unsure if the item will be a fit – sign up to try this item risk-free

The most common type of opt-in form offered by e-commerce stores is the discount offer (e.g. sign up and receive 10% off your first order).

This isn’t always a good idea for handmade businesses and should only be done if your margins can cover the discount. Meaning, even with giving customers a percentage off their order, free shipping, etc., you still make a healthy profit.

Although the discount offer is most popular, it’s not the only option. Not to mention, it’s not always the best. Many people who subscribe to get a deal tend to unsubscribe once they get the discount or promo code.

A few other opt-in ideas for handmade businesses to encourage shoppers to join their newsletter are:

• A video showing the steps for an at-home, glowing skin spa treatment (for bath & body products)
• 5 simple changes that make our world more animal-friendly (for cruelty-free products)
• Printable packing checklist & tips for packing jewelry to avoid damage (for jewelry products)
• 5 nursery color schemes that don’t involve pink or blue (for nursery décor items)
• 10 tips for buying art online and how to know if a piece is right for your home (for art)

The more you tailor the offer to your exact customer, the better chance you have of getting them into your sales funnel.

Another popular opt-in offer is to keep shoppers up to date on new arrivals, exclusive items, deals, contests, etc.

 

SALES FUNNEL STEP 2 – Create a form

You not only need interesting opt-in offers but you also must find an interesting way to communicate them on your forms.

“Join my newsletter” won’t capture as many emails as a form that communicates the benefits of being a subscriber.

Join my newsletter to stay up to date on new product releases

Could turn into:

Don’t you hate it when you forget where you saw that awesome item? Join my newsletter for monthly reminders on where to find awesome items.

OR

Join my newsletter and be the first of your friends to know about new trends. 

Find a way to add personality to your opt-in form and tell visitors the benefits of subscribing.

 

SALES FUNNEL STEP 3 – Create a sequence

Sequences allow you to set up a series of emails that are slowly sent to subscribers (automatically) and designed to convince leads that it’s a good idea to buy from you. 

You can create different sequences for each form and the reason someone signed up through a form. 

A) A sequence for customers

A sequence can help you stay in touch with customers and make them feel appreciated, so they’re more likely to buy again. When someone purchases, you can offer the option to sign up for your newsletter.

You can create a specific form for the last page of your checkout process. This form can tag a subscriber as a “purchased” and trigger your PURCHASED sequence.

Consider your business and how it operates to determine the exact types of emails you send and when you send them but here’s an example:

• Email #1 (Immediately) – send an email right after the customer purchases to thank them and let them know their order has been received and when they can expect more information (e.g. if you’ll email them within 24 hours with a tracking number, shipping status update, etc.). Or state a general timeframe for order fulfillment, shipment and arrival. Include a note for them to contact you with any questions and how to do so (e.g. reply to this email, an email address, contact page, etc.). Nothing is worse than giving someone your money and not being able to get in touch with them.
• Email #2 (2 – 3 days after email #1) – depending on your turnover and shipping times, set the second email to send around the time most people will have received their order by. Use this email as a courtesy message to check in and be sure they’ve received their order and have a good initial impression. Include how to get in contact if they have any questions
• Email #3 (7 days after email #2) – ask for feedback. Reviews will be really important to help your business grow by encouraging others to purchase and discovering where you have room to improve. Send customers to a form, survey, comment section or ask them to reply to the email and answer a specific question. Are you happy with your purchase? likely won’t provoke an in-depth answer. Get them to go into specifics (without asking too much of their time), so you have a review that’s helpful to you and others. “Five stars” doesn’t say as much as “The color and size was exactly as pictured and I love the beautiful package I got to unwrap once it arrived”. Asking what they loved most about their order or how they’re going to make use of it will get a more detailed response than “please rate your purchase”.
• Email #4 (7 – 10 days after email #3) – follow up with a little bonus. It may be a tip on how to care for their purchase, different ways to wear, use, display, consume your product, FAQ’s or other product-related tips that help them get the most out of their purchase.

 

B) A sequence for shoppers who didn’t purchase

If a shopper doesn’t end up purchasing and subscribes to your newsletter through a form with an opt-in offer (e.g. Subscribe to receive 5 inspirational ideas for girl nurseries that don’t use pink), it can trigger your lead sales funnel sequence.

If a handmade vendor sells art for nurseries, their email sequence might look something like:

• Email #1 (immediately) – the opt-in offer sharing the 5 nursery décor ideas. The email might show inspirational images and the vendor’s art that would fit well in the rooms, images of their art in a variety of nurseries or perhaps a collage showing color schemes and décor items, with their art being included.
• Email#2 (7 days after email #1) – “How to decorate a nursery on a budget” which could share a few more tips on decorating a nursery, with one tip suggesting to buy prints instead of original art, with a link to the print section of their online shop.
• Email #3 (7 days after email #2) – “Decorating a nursery in a rental” which would go over ways to add color without painting the walls. It would show the color collections their art comes in and additional colorful décor items that match.
• Email #4 (7 days after email #3) – The last email would create a sense of urgency and encourage subscribers to purchase. It may be a promo code to offer subscribers a discount or free shipping, a free gift with purchase, a percentage of each sale going towards a charity for the week, alerting them to low stock levels, “order now and get it by ______”, etc.

 

Sequences should:

• Give more than they ask for – give your subscribers more value than you ask them to give you. Don’t push for a sale in every email; your items can be available to click on, but save the hard sell for the last email. Here are ideas for non-promotional emails to send your subscribers.
• Be high quality – take your time putting your sequences together. If your subscribers don’t find your email topics interesting, they’ll ignore, delete or unsubscribe.
• Build trust – if your emails are low quality, too pushy, too frequent, etc., you won’t strengthen your shoppers’ trust in you or encourage them to buy. Each email should slowly turn up the heat and ease subscribers into the idea of purchasing.

 

SALES FUNNEL STEP 4 – Set up automations

To correctly identify subscribers and know what type of a sequence to send them, you’ll need to tag them. When someone signs up for your newsletter, did they purchase or not purchase?

Imagine you just purchased an item and two days later you receive an email from the business asking if you want to purchase again.

You may not have even received your purchase yet. How could you possibly be ready to buy again? A promotional email would be more appropriate to send in a month.

But if you don’t purchase, going a month without hearing from a business would make you less likely to buy. You’ve probably forgotten about the item you were looking at and may have even forgotten the business’s name…who’s emailing me?

Choose an email service provider that allows you to set up automations (i.e. automatically send emails based on criteria).

 

SALES FUNNEL STEP 5 – Assess & adjust

Your forms, emails, sequences, rules, etc., are not set in stone. Make edits to them as you go based on:

• Bounce rates – a form that’s triggered too soon on a site may be annoying people and getting them to leave.
• Average time on page – this can be a good indication for when to trigger your pop-up form. If people tend to leave a page after 30 seconds, setting your pop-up to appear on exit or just before the 30-second mark may catch people before they leave.
• Newsletter open rates – low open rates may indicate you’re not attracting your ideal customer to subscribe or that your subject lines need work.
• Newsletter click rates – low click rates may indicate your email content isn’t compelling enough or the subject is misleading subscribers. If you misrepresent what’s inside to get people to open, most won’t click the link or might even unsubscribe. Also, be sure you’re actually providing a link to your website within an email. I’ve seen some people put a full blog article in their email instead of making me click a link and go to their blog. That’s lost website traffic and revenue.
• Newsletter conversion rates – if you have a way to track sales (e.g. through a promo code offered only in the email or a unique sales page only subscribers are sent to) pay attention to how many people who open your newsletter and click the link, actually end up buying. If it’s low, the problem may be your sales channel funnel.
• Unsubscribers – don’t worry too much about people unsubscribing; it’s inevitable. The average unsubscribe rate is 0.49%. If you’re much higher than that, consider if you’re targeting the right people, have the right opt-in offer, are sending valuable content, etc.

Use your website and newsletter stats to determine what’s working well and what needs to be adjusted so you can constantly improve your sales funnel to make it more effective.

 

*Be sure to check your country’s newsletter laws before setting up forms or sending out newsletters.