A well-designed sales funnel is the backbone of any successful website or business. If you have a strong sales funnel, you’ll be able to maximize the amount of sales you make per visitor. This allows you to funnel money into future products, advertising, staff, etc. Having a good sales funnel has an exponential effect on the rest of your business.

Yet webmasters often trip up on the sales funnel and make mistakes that cost them a lot of money. Here are five of the most common mistakes, how it affects webmasters and how you can avoid these mistakes.

==> Mistake #1: Not Split Testing Email Opt-Ins

Your email capture page is the first step in your sales funnel. That means it’s the highest leverage step.

An increase from 10% opt-in to 13% opt-in is a 30% increase not just in opt-ins, but for your entire business across the board. You’ll make 30% more sales if you have 30% more people to follow up with.

Even if you split test nothing else in your funnel, you should absolutely be split testing your opt-in page all the time.

==> Mistake #2: Introducing Yourself with a Sales Pitch

Marketers often make the mistake of coming out with guns blazing, selling and selling and selling right off the bat.

This makes quite a bad impression. In the beginning, new subscribers have no idea who you are. They don’t trust you yet and you have no credibility yet.

If you come out selling hardcore, they’re going to assume that that’s all you’re about. They’ll quickly start to ignore you.

Instead of doing this, learn to build trust and credibility first, before going for the hard sell. It’s okay to sell a little bit in the beginning, but don’t go overboard.

==> Mistake #3: Assuming Leads Are Worthless If They Don’t Buy

If someone doesn’t buy your $47 product today, that doesn’t mean they won’t buy your $2,500 workshop a year from now.

Leads don’t always convert linearly. Don’t discount your leads simply because they don’t buy right off the bat.

==> Mistake #4: Wasting “Buying Mode” Cross Sells

The best time to up-sell and cross-sell is when someone has already bought a product. Right after someone buys something, they’re much more likely to impulsively buy another item.

Your standard conversion rate on your $297 product might be 1%. But if you offer a $40 discount to people who just bought your $47 product, a good 30% of them might take you up on it. That’s a conversion rate you’ll never see anywhere else.

Make sure you’re taking full advantage of the “buying mode” phenomenon by adding cross-sells and up-sells to the “Thank You” pages people see after making a purchase.

==> Mistake #5: Not Covering the Whole Spectrum of Prices

Don’t just have low end price tags. There are people in your market who’ll gladly pay $2,000 or even $5,000 for a product, if only you offered it.

Give people the opportunity to spend money with you. Start your business by producing the low price point products, but make sure to eventually graduate to high price point products.