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At its core, a marketing funnel is a structured journey that takes your prospects from “just browsing” to “sign me up.” Each stage of the funnel is designed to guide potential clients through their decision-making process, helping them build awareness, interest, and trust in your staffing services before they even speak to your sales team.
Unlike cold calling – basically a shot in the dark – a funnel lets you meet prospects where they are, addressing their pain points and nurturing them along the way.
But how do these stages actually work? Let’s break it down.
The 6 Key Stages of the Marketing Funnel
A well-designed marketing funnel includes six main stages:
1. Awareness
This is the starting point of the funnel, where prospects first discover your company or realize they have a staffing problem that needs solving.
In this stage, your goal is simple: get noticed.
- Prospects may stumble across your blog post, social media content, or ad.
- They’re not ready to buy yet—they’re just starting to learn about you and their challenges.
Your role: Focus on educating, not selling. Offer helpful, informative content to spark interest without being overly promotional.
2. Interest
Once you’ve captured a prospect’s attention, the next step is to build their interest in what you can do for them.
At this stage, prospects are starting to explore solutions, but they’re still weighing their options. They might download a salary guide, attend a webinar, or sign up for your newsletter to learn more about staffing trends and best practices.
Your role: Provide valuable insights that position your staffing firm as an expert. Remember, you’re still not selling—this stage is all about developing trust.
3. Evaluation
Here’s where the real decision-making begins. Prospects are narrowing down their options and evaluating:
- What makes your company different?
- How will your services solve their specific problems?
- Is the ROI worth the investment?
This is the stage where you begin sharing your differentiators – whether it’s your personalized approach, deep industry expertise, or track record of success.
Your role: Present your unique value proposition clearly and demonstrate how you can solve their challenges better than the competition.
4. Decision
By now, your prospect is serious about working with a staffing firm. They’ve likely narrowed their options to one or two choices – including you.
At this stage, they’re asking:
- Can I trust you to deliver results?
- How does your process work?
- What kind of guarantees do you offer?
This is where your sales team takes the reins, answering questions, addressing concerns, and making the case for why your firm is the right choice.
Your role: Equip your sales team with the tools they need to close the deal – case studies, testimonials, pricing breakdowns, and onboarding information.
5. Purchase
Congratulations! Your prospect has decided to become a client.
Even though the hard work of closing the sale is done, this stage is still critical. Your goal now is to provide an exceptional onboarding experience that sets the tone for a long-term partnership.
Your role: Make the onboarding process seamless and reassuring. Offer guarantees and address any lingering questions or concerns.
6. Retention (The Bonus Stage!)
Most funnels stop at the purchase stage – but not in staffing. In this industry, retaining your clients is just as important as acquiring them.
Retention is about delivering ongoing value to your clients. It’s not enough to simply place great candidates; you need to stay engaged and help clients meet their long-term goals.
Your role: Think about ways to upsell, cross-sell, and deepen your relationships with existing clients. Regular check-ins, quarterly business reviews, and personalized solutions can go a long way in keeping your clients happy.
Need a website? Digital marketing? Job spend management? Something else?
Want to Build Your Own Funnel?
This post is part of our blog series based on the eBook, “The Secret to Skyrocketing Staffing Sales: 10X Your ROI with Marketing Conversion Funnels.”
Get the full details and step-by-step guide to building your funnel by downloading the eBook today.
Check back soon for Part 4, where we’ll show you how to create a funnel that delivers qualified leads straight to your sales team!
The post Skyrocket Your Staffing Sales [Part 3]: Stages of the Marketing Funnel appeared first on Haley Marketing Group.
