Deconstructing Sales Funnels of 3 SAAS Companies

Create a winning sales funnel by deconstructing the sales funnels of those that are doing it right and learning from them.

I know many businesses and marketers who get themselves all tied up when it comes to planning a winning sales funnel and while it is no easy feat, you shouldn’t be getting tied up about it.

I have found 3 SaaS companies who have winning sales funnels which I am going to deconstruct so you can see how they have built them and why they work.

CrazyEgg

First up is CrazyEgg which is a SaaS company that provides heat mapping tools for online businesses.

It was founded by Neil Patel who left the company to start KISSMetrics but is still somewhat involved in CrazyEgg.

I have watched them optimize their marketing and website over the last few years and I’m sure they will continue to optimize well into the future… I would.

Stages in the Funnel

I am deconstructing their sales funnel based on their current strategy, but I am sure this will change again in time as they continue to optimize.

Essentially their sales funnel is in two stages; to get a user to click on their website and to convert that user into a sale.

However, I have broken their sales funnel down into five stages to get into it in a lot more detail.

1. Awareness – The first stage in the sales funnel is awareness.This means they will use the likes of paid search ads, organic search, content, organic social media and paid social media ads to get their brand out there. I saw one of their Facebook ads which captured my attention because of its simplicity and to-the-point message.The images showed exactly what their product is and they told how they could help in the first 8 words.

2. Homepage – The second stage in the sales funnel is the homepage. When a user sees the CrazyEgg Ad on Facebook and it piques their interest, they will click on it to find out more. Once they do that, they will land on the homepage where they will see a box where they can enter their website URL to get a heat map report.

3. Pricing – Once the user has filled in their website URL, and clicked “Show Me My Heatmap”, they will be directed to a Google Accounts screen that will ask them if CrazyEgg can view their email address and Google Analytics. Once the user has clicked “Accept” they will be taken to the Pricing page where they are asked to choose from one of the four price plans.

4. Nurturing – If a user leaves the website at the pricing page because they are not ready to buy, CrazyEgg has a number of autoresponders that will be sent to that user. These autoresponders aren’t pushy or sales focused, they are nurturing.For example they have an FAQ email that will be sent to educate the user about them and their product and a “How Can I Help You” email for reassurance and to build rapport.

5. Purchase – If a user returns to purchase after the nurturing process or straight after landing on the pricing page for the first time, they will be greeted with indications of further reassurance and trust. CrazyEgg displays recognised brands that use their product on the purchase form and also highlights that there will be no charge for the first 30 days.

Why it Works

The CrazyEgg sales funnel works so well because they have kept things simple and all the stages relevant to each other.

They offer something of value that will help resolve pain points of their target audience and also offer a lengthy free trial period which shows they are confident in their product.

They also use a smart sales funnel by setting cookies on the user browser so that when they do revisit, they can pick up right where they left off.

Basecamp

The second SaaS company on my list is Basecamp which is a project management tool that is used online.

It is great for companies who have employees or freelancers around the world, for companies who want to share project management tasks with their clients, or companies who want to use it so they don’t have to worry about losing information if systems crash.

Stages in the Funnel

Just like with the CrazyEgg sales funnel, Basecamp has kept their sales funnel simply by having just 3 simple stages; creating awareness about their product, attracting traffic to the website and converting that traffic into sales.

I have broken down their sales funnel into these 3 stages so as to explain more about each one and how it links onto the next.

1. Awareness – Basecamp aren’t as active on paid search or paid social Ads as the other two SaaS companies. They use their blog to share content and updates on social media and are very active with PR. They use more of an inbound marketing approach when it comes to generating awareness for their brand and product rather than outreaching using paid Ads.
2. Homepage – Once a user has either seen a social media post, a referral link on an article or a word-of-mouth referral that has piqued their interest they will then proceed to either click on the link or do an organic search with the brand term. They will then land on the homepage where they will be greeting straight away with a signup form.
3. Trial – After the user has submitted their details, they will be sent an email where they are prompted to start their free trial. When they click on that button, they will be taken back to Basecamp where they have the choice to start with a dashboard Basecamp have set up for them or to create their own.

Why it Works

This is one of the simplest sales funnels out there.

They have created a strategy that takes the user to a lead within 2 clicks; when they click on the link to land on the homepage and when they click the submit button on the free trial form that is in the centre of the homepage.

They have made it unbelievably easy for the user to convert while shutting out all noise.

Grasshopper

The last SaaS company on our list is Grasshopper which is a virtual phone system that businesses or freelancers can use to set up toll-free numbers and manage them online or by their phone.

They are known for their unique and brilliant marketing tactics and their sales funnel has certainly not failed them bringing in over $30 million annually.

Stages in the Funnel

Grasshopper has continually optimized their sales funnel like CrazyEgg has and actually removed a stage out of their sales funnel to make it simpler.

They used to have a Features page after the Pricing page but soon came to realise that they were putting an obstacle in front of the last stage in the funnel.

• Awareness – Just like the first two SaaS companies, they need to start the sales funnel by creating awareness about their brand and product. They use all possible channels you can think of to create this awareness such as paid search, blog, YouTube and Facebook. They create some very unique and creative content to generate traffic which you can see for yourself in the below YouTube video.

• Homepage – Once a user has seen their Ad, their video or their content, they will then click through to the homepage where they will find a short video that will explain how they can help and a stand-out CTA button that asks them to find out how it works. They have also bullet pointed key unique selling points.

• How It Works – Once the user clicks on the “See How It Works” button, they are then taken to a page where they can find all the information they need to make a decision as to whether they want to continue to the pricing page which is directed through by a CTA at the top and bottom of the page.

• Pricing – If the user does decide to continue, they are presented with a choice of 4 price plans with what each one includes and also which price plan is the most popular. Just like CrazyEgg, they have also placed recognised brands on this page to instil trust and reassurance into users.

Why it Works

Their product is clearly explained throughout sales funnel so as to weed out many unqualified leads.

By displaying videos and having a whole page dedicated to how their product works, the leads they will generate will mostly be qualified.

Because they display their most recognised brands on both the How It Works page and Pricing Page, users will believe this is a company that can be relied on.

How to Apply This to Your Sales Funnel

There are a few common denominators with these three sales funnels that you can implement into your own sales funnel:

1. Keep your sales funnel simple with two to three stages.
2. Make the journey as easy as possible for users by minimising clicks and having only one clear path.
3. Display any trust signals such as recognised brands, testimonials, case studies and awards.
4. Clearly explain what your product is and how it can help solve their problems.

How do you make sure your sales funnel is as clear and effective as possible? Do you use some of the strategies the SAAS companies we’ve looked at today use? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.