You made it…you just spent a boat load of money on SEO, AdWords, PPC, and a host of other tools available to get more potential customers to your website so they can see who you are…now what?
Let’s say your website was above average and the prospect looked around and actually found some product/service they thought they needed and bought it…now what?
Let’s say the new customer was found your product/service to be what they imagined and enjoyed using it or the service you offered…now what?
For most organizations, this is the end of the process…until you come back to buy more. ONE AND DONE. You made the sale, feel great about getting a new customer, and time to move on to getting more…the same way.
This is where most companies MISS OUT ON THEIR MOST VALUABLE OPPORTUNITY!
Allow me to add the MISSING LINK.
The process of creating Awareness, Educating the customer, Acquiring the customer, Delivering to the customer, and repeating the process is expensive today and carries lower profits than ever before…because you now have more competitors than you have ever had before who are happy to shrink margins down to almost nothing just to be in the market. This means you have to follow suit to some degree as well or you will be wiped out by the lower pricing. Something’s missing…
What’s missing is the area that carries the largest opportunity to avoid this game and keep your fair margins…the OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE NOT TO PLAY IN THE COMMODITY GAME WITH YOUR COMPETITION. This is an opportunity for every business…they just don’t take advantage of it.
The missing link for margin, repeat customers (at a lower cost of sale), and almost “zero cost marketing” is waiting for virtually every business…they are just choosing not to take advantage of it.
The MISSING LINK IS THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
“In our research and consulting on customer journeys, we’ve found that organizations able to skillfully manage the entire experience reap enormous rewards: enhanced customer satisfaction, reduced churn, increased revenue, and greater employee satisfaction.” — McKinsey Consulting Company
“81% of customers are willing to pay more for a superior customer experience…89% of customers switch brands after a poor customer experience…20% of annual revenues are lost due to poor customer experiences.” — Oracle Corporation
Offering an INCREDIBLE, AWESOME, REMARKABLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE you are able to LEVERAGE all the hard work you put into finding the prospect…you can turn them into a MARKETING ENGINE for your company. When a customer has a WOW experience, they do two things…
- They want more of it…this translates to spending more money with you more frequently
- They want to tell others…this translates to them marketing for you…for free
The component today that gives your great product/service the true horsepower it deserves is to couple it with a REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE. When you marry the two, you move beyond ONE AND DONE and leave the world of COMMODITIZATION. This is what allows you to rise above your competition and remove yourself from the “margin game” of cutting prices to compete. It is what allows you to rise above your competition in the eyes of your customer and be viewed as DIFFERENT.
When you don’t have this experience to offer along the way with your great product/service, you lose your ability to leverage the sale and the customer. The customer now thinks of you only when they might need the product/service again…but at that point they will also “shop the market” to see if anyone is offering a “better deal” on the same or similar product. If they find it…you lost the customer and any opportunity for additional sales to this customer.
But when you add the INCREDIBLE, AWESOME, REMARKABLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE to the entire process, the customer has no reason to “shop the market” because they are “over the top” happy with how you treated them and how special they feel when doing business with you. Price now becomes a secondary consideration, not a primary one…YOU WIN…over and over again with the same customer.
You have now successfully leveraged all the investment you made in acquiring the customer and gotten a much higher return for your dollar invested. And to add a cherry on the top, you have them out in the market telling thousands of other potential customers about how awesome and amazing you are. Leveraging your customers is the survival kit of today for any business.
Now when the new customer FINDS YOU there is a definite pathway to turning them into a LOYAL ADVOCATE for your company…getting a greater share of their wallet…more frequent purchases…higher margins…more marketing by your customer to potential customers. No longer will you ever worry about “NOW WHAT” in the process. You know what happens throughout the entire process and are reaping more rewards than ever before.
Adding a strategic CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PROCESS to your existing processes is where you get the leverage in today’s crowded, noisy marketplace…and you move from a “Commodity” to the “Exceptional and Preferred Provider” in the eyes of your customer. Now they not only found you…they love doing business with you and telling all their friends.
