The Customer’s Journey
Many businesses look at selling as an event. It’s the moment a person buys and we want that moment to happen as often as we can. The challenge is to realize that sales (and marketing for that matter) is a process or journey your customers need to go through in order to do business with you. The more you understand your customer journey the easier it will be to make more sales.
For most consumers their journey begins with understanding they have a problem and are looking for a solution. They wish their life was better or that they could solve a pain they are experiencing in their life. Once you realize you need to find a solution to something your brain begins to filter through information and experiences in your life to help you find what you are looking for. Your perceptions begin to shift so it is easier to find a solution. If you have ever needed help fixing something in your home and found yourself noticing handyman services more as they drive around town you know what I’m talking about.
Most marketing is driven by the idea that we need to find and connect with these types of customers as much as we can. We craft messages to help those that are looking for a solution to find us. “We don’t want the whole market just those that need our help today” is a common thought. This is an approach to just finding people towards the end of their journey and encouraging them to work with us.
A great way to grow your sales is to start at the beginning of the process and help people come through the process.
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Taking time to know the steps your customer goes through to work with you is very important. Some industries have lots of education in the market so people already have an understanding of what to expect. Often times it is hard to differentiate yourself in these markets since what you offer is probably commoditized to an extent. Oftentimes the customer journey may not be a long one. Restaurants or grocery stores tend to fall in this group. The key is to build relationships with your customers at the beginning and make it easy for them to remember you when they need you.
If your industry needs to educate the customers so they can make a good decision your customer journey is probably a longer one. It may take weeks to months for a see to form. Know what evaluation steps your customers go through and provide messages and information that will make the process easier. Train your sales team to identify which stage your customer is on and how to be supportive at each step.
CREATE CONTENT FOR EACH STEP
MODEL THE JOURNEY IN YOUR MARKETING
Make sure your sales and marketing reflect and follow the steps for your customers. Having your sales staff trained to understand where in the journey each customer is and how to help them to the next step is vital. Digital marketing can be automated and used to help this process along. For instance, Say you use social media to actively connect with your customers and help them know you are available to help them. You post content that will help them get to know your business and encourage people to sign up for a white paper offering specific advice for them. You follow up with the white paper by either contacting people to answer any questions they have or encourage subscribing to your email newsletter.
You use the newsletter to solve issues and educate your customers on your value more. In the email you encourage people to a webinar or to sign up for a free quote. This generates leads for your sales team where they can work one on one with customers to help them through the rest of the journey.
TRACK THE JOURNEY PROCESS
By taking time to document how many people are in each step and how often do they move to the next step you can predict your revenue and look for ways to improve your systems and grow revenues faster. This will also help you gauge how well you are being received in the market.
A sale is an event that is reinforced by a process of finding a solution. The more present you are in each step the more likely it is the customer uses you.