The Story of Two Sales Funnels

From a distance they look remarkably similar. Both belong to lubricant businesses.

Both have websites, LinkedIn pages, sales teams and products they’re proud of. Both invest time and money trying to attract new customers. Yet one consistently creates better conversations than the other.

The first opens with a message we’ve all seen countless times.

“For all your lubricant needs.”

It sounds logical. After all, why would you want to limit your audience? Surely speaking to everyone creates more opportunity. But does it?

Over the past two years, we’ve been asking lubricant buyers how they actually buy. Through The Buyer Revolution research, one theme has emerged time and time again. Buyers aren’t looking for another lubricant supplier.

They’re looking for someone who understands the problem they’re trying to solve. That distinction matters more today than ever before.

Our research found that 93% of buyers begin their journey using search engines. By the time they contact a supplier, three quarters already understand what they need, while almost 78% have a good idea of what they’e going to buy. They aren’t waiting for a salesperson to educate them from scratch. They’re looking for confirmation that they’re talking to the right business.

Now imagine a second sales funnel. Its message isn’t about serving everyone. Instead it says something much more specific.

“We solve lubrication reliability challenges for mining companies.” 

Or perhaps…

“We help food manufacturers reduce lubrication-related
contamination risks.”

Immediately something changes. The funnel becomes smaller, but far more powerful. The people entering it aren’t simply looking for lubricants. They’re recognising themselves in the message. Before they’ve completed a contact form, downloaded a guide or spoken to Sales, they’ve already started qualifying themselves.

Instead of asking, “Can you help us?”, they’re asking, “Can we have a conversation?”

That’s a completely different sales opportunity.

Too many businesses still judge the success of their marketing by the number of enquiries arriving at the top of the funnel. I think that’s becoming an increasingly dangerous measure.

A large funnel filled with poorly qualified prospects doesn’t create growth. It creates activity.

A well-positioned funnel filled with buyers who already believe you understand their business creates momentum.

The Buyer Revolution research reinforces this. Buyers told us they engage suppliers for application knowledge, industry insight and validation of the decisions they’ve already made. More than half even told us that price is one of the least important reasons for making contact.

They’re not searching for products. They’re searching for confidence. Confidence that you understand their industry. Confidence that you’ve solved this challenge before. Confidence that your experience will reduce their risk.

This is why messaging has become such a strategic advantage. The businesses that continue describing themselves with generic statements like “quality products” “excellent service” and “or all your lubricant needs” are asking buyers to work hard to understand why they’re different.

The businesses that define the problems they solve, the industries they specialise in and the outcomes they consistently deliver are doing the opposite. They’re making it easy for buyers to recognise themselves before the first conversation ever takes place.

Perhaps that’s what modern sales funnels are really for. Not attracting the most people. Attracting the right people. Because the best sales conversation is often the one where the buyer has already decided, long before they reach out, that you’re exactly the kind of business they’ve been looking for.