Many businesses make the critical error in thinking that sales numbers alone are the route to success. They make a headlong rush towards sales, and selling becomes the main focus of the business. Internal conversations are all about the latest sales figures, and the bottom line becomes king. This is admirable, as sales are important.
However, it is more imperative to build lifelong customers whose brand loyalty will see them buy your products and services for as long as they need them. It is this recurring customer that you should be looking for, and a good way to understand this and create the means for building such relationships is to comprehend, use and create a sustainable customer journey. Your business can use an understanding of this journey to boost your bottom line.
What is the customer journey?
The customer journey is the process that a customer or client goes through to purchase your products and services. The buying decision is generally not one that happens immediately when one sees the product for the first time. There are various ‘touchpoints’ with the product or service and your business as the customer develops the information and cements the decision to buy.
Generally, through a cogent marketing campaign and communication with clients and customers, you can develop and add touchpoints along the way. The secret is to be able to collect basic information at every point, allowing you to develop the relationship and deepen/intensify the touchpoints.
Enable customer communication and inquiry
Make sure that the website has a chat function and that potential and current customers can request information about products and services. Try to keep it informal and yet informational. The early contact should never be a hard sell; rather, allow the customer to tell you what they need and why.
Remember that if you are online in anyway, you are pretty much international, and your buyers and business stakeholders will be from anywhere in the world that has access to the Interweb. Look for those that can maintain this international presence with multilingual and language-appropriate contacts for customers. A great example of this is gsa-marketing.co.uk, who, among many others, specialize in international telesales in your customers’ languages. Speaking your customers’ language is a sure-fire way to intensify any contact and touchpoints that you create.
Create a holistic, integrated marketing plan
There must be information available on all the major channels, web, billboard, and the use of proactive means of contact, such as SMS and telemarketing.
The first step in creating a sustainable customer journey is to understand what this means and why it is essential to strive towards a journey with customers rather than simply a brief contact through one sale. This article has sought to provide some clear insights and advice in this regard, think from the outset of where you want to go with your customers, rather than how much you want to make from them. This will help you make a better experience for them, which will help you retain customers for longer.
