A sales funnel represents the buyer’s journey of a potential customer, through different stages of the sales process. It illustrates the journey a potential customer goes through from the first point of contact and up until the decision to make a purchase.
The sales funnel is divided into several segments or it is segmented simply by aligning it with the stages of the buyer’s journey.
Commonly the sales funnel is separated into three separate stages: top, bottom and middle of the funnel.
Another type of sales funnel segmentation is one aligned with the buyer’s journey according to the AIDA model: Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action.
You may also come across a small variation of the AIDA model: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Intent, Evaluation and Purchase.