Ever feel like you are working your ass off, and you don’t seem to be getting anywhere with growing your business? Want to know the secret of how to build customer loyalty and generate leads and sales?
There is change afoot in the business and marketing world, and it might very well be that although you think you are doing *ALL THE THINGS – your sales method is scaring your potential customers off because you’ve forgotten one important detail….
Behind every interaction leading up to a sale is an actual human being, with intricate wants and needs. And a brain that’s working overtime assessing, analysing, and deciding whether they want to spend their hard earned money on your business.
There’s a defined pathway from attention to a sale. They click on your homepage. But you’re losing them somewhere before they buy.
Think about this……
You walk into the cafe where you’re meeting a friend. A new friend, you’ve only met once before. You’ve barely sat down at the table when they invite you to dinner with the parents. And to be the guest of honour. At her brother’s wedding.
You want to run. It’s way too intense.
So many people market exactly like this. They are asking for the sale way too early and missing out some critical steps in the middle.
Forget B2B and B2C. Every time you market your business, you’re interacting with another person. An actual human. An individual who doesn’t know how much they need you.
Marketing is a conversation that can make or break your business.
If you listen, engage and take your time, you build trust.
And when you earn your people’s trust, you earn their money.
So how do you do this with your marketing? Well instead of throwing a load of tactics at the wall and hoping that something sticks then think about this 8 step PLAN CREATE GROW process to build customer loyalty and generate leads and sales.
There are eight steps to the customer journey, and the chances are that are missing one or more of these out ( typically Subscribe and convert stages)
- Aware: The goal here is that someone becomes aware of services through ads or social media or other activities.
- Engage: Here you start conversing with your prospects. You engage them through some form of content that provides entertainment, information, or both. Here typically you would offer blog posts and other content such as podcasts or video.
- Subscribe: In the subscribe phase the goal is to get the potential client to give you their contact information along with permission to contact them again in the future – the nurturing phase begins, and you offer them some form of valuable content to solve their problem.
- Convert: This is about acquiring buyers/trials or ramping up the commitment level of the leads you already have. It is NOT about profitability, but it is about getting someone to commit to you with an investment in either time or money, e.g. an intro product, free trial or webinar.
- Excite: The prospect must get value from their last transaction with you. The Excite stage of the Customer Value Journey is something you must return to again and again.
- Scale. Here it is essential to be able to move your customers through your various products and services.
- Advocate: An advocate is what you might call a “passive promoter.” They won’t necessarily promote your business in an active way, but when asked about you, they will respond favourably.
- Promote: Promoters differ from advocates in that they are actively seeking to spread the word about your brands, products and services. Here you can potentially offer a referral bonus, cash, gift vouchers or affiliate programme.
These eight steps are vital to your marketing strategy, and if you apply them consistently, you will go from silently struggling to buzzing with buyers. The Customer Journey Audit will get you clear on any weak points or missing steps in your marketing.
If you want help assessing your marketing plan, then I offer a done for you Customer Journey Audit. You can find the details here
