#137: Crafting a Heart-Centered Customer Journey
This episode is the first in a three part series about things you need to know the truth about in marketing in 2023 and beyond.
And what's really interesting about this podcast episode is it's one of the first episodes I ever recorded. So it's actually a rebroadcast, but many of you have not heard it.
I'm bringing back this episode because the clients that I have that say that they've listened to it said that it was one of the best pieces of advice that they've received in their business.
In this episode, we discuss mapping out the intentional journey that you're taking your customers on.Tune in!
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Laura 00:00
This podcast is the first in a three part series about things you need to know the truth about marketing in 2023 and beyond. And if you've noticed things have changed and then changed again. And we've never lived in a time, where so much is shifting so quickly. In the last 24 months, your company, as an entrepreneur, no matter what the size has likely shifted its marketing message, reengineered its customer acquisition process, changed its affiliation with different types of partners and relationships, even joint venture partners, you repositioned your offer to appeal to the state of the world and then readjusted it again. You've updated program or product delivery to accommodate expectations, you might have shut down programs or opened up new ones, you might have had an offline sales or fulfillment center or focus back to online back to offline. And many of us have reassessed our core values and mission. And as a result, there are many differences that come with marketing your business in the next year and for the following decade. And this podcast episode is the first in a series. And what's really interesting about this podcast episode is it's one of the first episodes I ever recorded for my podcast. So it's actually a rebroadcast, but many of you have not heard it. And what's fascinating is that it's going to be one of the best things you can do for your business in 2023, which is to map out the intentional journey that you're taking your customers on. Because sustainable sales is all about engaging our ideal customer from a place of empathy, giving them the ability to connect the dots because we've connected the dots first. And we've thought about what that next solution is for each pain point our clients experience. Because of the increase in customer acquisition costs and changing advertising trends. marketing needs to now be viewed in the context of long term relationship building.
Laura 02:19
This requires us to create a continuum of multiple sequential solutions rather than a one size fits all approach, or a lot of different offers that are completely disconnected. What is new about this advice is that we need to start looking at the friction, we may be inadvertently creating by focusing on one single customer acquisition process. And instead, it's time to start removing those disconnects from a holistic standpoint. I'm bringing back this episode because the clients that I have that say that they've listened to it said that it was one of the best pieces of advice that they've received in their business. And I want to make sure that you're following along as I'm revisiting a lot of this work with my own company and with my clients. Before 2022 or even during 2022, we could say that customers sit at the heart of our marketing strategy for those of us who are mission driven organizations, and people with really strong values around how we serve our clients. But I'm going to propose that we need to take that a whole nother step further and 2023. So we can make sure that our customers not just sit at the heart of our marketing strategy, but that the customers and the clients that we serve, sit at the heart of the customer journey.
Laura 03:43
Welcome to the Next Level Leap podcast. I'm your host, Laura Meyer top growth strategist to some of the country's fastest growing brands, and mentor to consultants. My signature leap methodology has changed the way 1000s of companies look at growth strategy, and this podcast shares, best practices and inspirational interviews to help you make that next level leap in your business. Stick around and join me as I share the journey of how we as founders can multiply our income impact and influenced by landing on the other side of our next big leap. Let's go!
Laura 04:23
So now we're gonna go a little bit deeper, as I promised on what it means to go all in on what you already have without having to create anything new without having to bring on new programs, products, divisions, lots of staff or new staff that isn't a replication of what you've done in the past. So as we really look at this, it often comes down to the customer journey. And many people talk about the customer journey. Some people teach it. I have my own version of it that I've used in In my work with helping national brands expand from 20 locations to hundreds of locations, in the work that I've used influencers that you know and love, and help them really figure out how they could go all in on their customer journey.
Laura 05:23
With this tool, it really starts with what I would call empathy marketing. So maybe you've heard of this a little bit here and there. But here's the thing, we have more channels, content and technology to reach potential customers than ever before. And then the flip side of that is that connecting and building trust with those buyers has never been harder. In this age of fake news, and not really ever totally knowing the source of information that you see online. This is getting even more challenging. And so when we focus on our ideal customers emotional motivators better, we can just really understand in a deeper way, how to help them at each step of the journey. And so empathy based marketing is really about walking your customers shoes, to understand their experience, and how we can better help them get what they want. This not only makes your business a whole lot easier to run, but it gives you deep joy, because you are really being there for the people that you're meant to serve.
Laura 06:31
So what does this even look like? It looks like empathizing with your customers feelings and their problems, and going into their world to understand going behind the data going behind the metrics, and just helping them solve a specific problem. And getting very intentional about each step that it would take to solve that problem. You're always looking for ways that you can help make your customers lives better, by providing them with what they want by first understanding them and what motivates them. By giving your ideal customer content and expertise that helps them gain clarity and trust you more before they even get into a buying decision. For those of you who have teams, this was particularly useful because it empowers
your employees, especially those who directly touched the customers with the resources, training and tools to really present a unified brand.
Laura 07:26
And here's the thing about marketing and sales, the best marketing and selling feels like helping because it is. And when we start with empathy based marketing, we can look at all the steps of the customer journey and really begin to learn where we're likely leaving money on the table. So when we think about each of the steps of the customer journey, as I see them, and there's many different versions, like I said, this happens to be mine. The first stage is awareness. And this is where you create connection with your best fit customer and communicate the emotional benefits of working together. The biggest mistake that companies make at this stage is they lead with functional benefits. And as I like to say, people buy the destination, they don't buy the airplane, when you're buying a course online. Are you asking? Oh, I don't know. Is it in Kajabi? Or is it in any type of other delivery platform? What type of platform is the course in? No, of course not. You're most interested in the transformation that that program provides, which starts with awareness. And it always leads with emotional benefits, then we look at engagement. And usually that is just asking people to go into a next level conversation with an introductory offer. That communicates the value proposition from your points of differentiation and helps you really lead them through a story that they get to be part of.
Laura 08:49
A lot of times what happens is if there isn't a good introductory offer, or a good what they might call a lead magnet, in the marketing world, a lot of times when you get down the road to activation, you either don't have the right type of person in front of you, or they are hesitant to commit because they didn't enter into your customer journey for the right reasons to begin with. And then as you get into enrollment, this is where you're helping the guests understand the value of long term investment. And this is where typically you get into the functional benefits of how your programs and services work. As I like to say people make decisions based on emotional benefits, but they then justify those decisions on the functional benefits. Then as we're moving them along the path and they continue on the journey, they begin to feel better and better about doing business together as you establish trust. Later on in the journey, you can help your ideal guest feel like they're part of a meaningful brand community as they begin to expand what's possible, which again, some salespeople might call upsells, but I like to call expansion. And then in the final stages and advocacy, this is where you're empowering your customer and to really give them the tools and resources to share with other people on what's possible if they engage with your brand as they refer friends and family. So in these six stages awareness, engagement, enrollment, activation, expansion and advocacy, your ideal customer is thinking and feeling things that a lot of times we don't consider until we really look at it.
Laura 10:25
So in the awareness stage, your ideal customer is skeptical. They're being marketed to all day long. The most recent report that I read is that customers are hearing an average of guess for a second 3000 marketing messages a day. So what they're thinking is I get marketed to all day long, I don't understand what this is about. What's so great about insert your company or brand? And how do I know that I'll look good, love the plan, get the benefits, then as they move into engagement, as they say to themselves, okay, I kind of get how this is different, or how it's so great. And I'm willing to just get into a next level conversation, I'm still kind of skeptical, like, I'm just gonna try this out, I'm just gonna give them my email address, I'm just going to come to the intro class, because I just want to see if I'm going to look good, love the plan and get the benefits. And I'm not sure. And this is where people can get stuck in a cycle of indecision, where they just keep talking themselves into trying something out and then talking themselves out of it. Because there's nothing really compelling that will move them to enrollment.
Laura 11:37
With enrollment, maybe they're going to purchase your core offer once, but they're just doing it to reach an immediate need. And really, in the back of their mind, they're wondering, is this as good as I thought it was going to be? With activation, they're still getting deeper into your core product, but they're thinking to themselves, this is still kind of unfamiliar, I'm just not sure how long I'm going to use this. And what can I really expect moving forward? Did they just sell me into something? Or are they going to be taking good care of me long term. And if you're anything like me, many times, you've been sold into something, only to be left a little bit disappointed about what happens after the sale takes place. This is where you can encourage people to be all in because when they're all in when they're in that expansion stage, they're thinking to themselves, this is so great, I love it. I'm a customer and fan for life. And I'm so proud to be associated with this brand. And whatever they asked me to do, I'll do it, I'll go ahead and buy that next item on the ascension ladder, I'll go ahead and renew my membership, I will, you know, use the top level program that they offer. This is where your lifetime customer value really shows up. And again, this is typically in the later stages of the customer journey where profitability hangs out. It's rarely in the beginning stages of new customer acquisition yet, that's where most people spend a majority of their time is trying to get that next lead. Whereas where again, you're going to see your margins shift is actually in the back half of the customer journey. So when your ideal client is in advocacy, they love what's happening, and they're just so thrilled about it, they're so thrilled to have found you. They're telling other people about it at every opportunity. And so what I really want to share with you is that when you approach it this way, when you develop tools at each step of the customer journey, and really scale your company, using it as a brand strategy that again, is where you see the ultimate opportunity for profitability.
Laura 13:55
So I'll admit, my approach is a little bit different than the norm. It's really not about some new strategy, some new shiny idea, but it's looking at the customer journey and analyzing what's already working in your business. So as we discussed last time, this 80/20 rule applies, and where the 80% of the money that you're leaving on the table is typically here in the customer journey. And when I look at why and where entrepreneurs struggle, it really comes down to one thing, overwhelm. It's the newest shiniest idea that maybe somebody just gave to us in passing and said that's what we quote should do. And when we can instead focus our energy on just one thing in the customer journey to create a single breakthrough. That's where I see a huge difference with little effort. And here's the best part and that's why I love the topic of joy. When you do this, you'll actually simply enjoy the experience of being an entrepreneur more. It can give you just more time for reflection time to step away. to work on the business instead of in it and take just some time for yourself, that may have a lot to do with what you decided that you wanted the most. So again, this isn't really fixing about what isn't broken, but paying more attention to how you take your energy and effort into what is working, what is already working well, but could be implemented better to see your profits accelerate.
Laura 15:32
So when I'm really starting with a client, one of the first things I do is I write down each of these six phases of the customer journey, and take a deep look at what am I asking people to do? Am I intentional about moving them from one phase to the next? Does it feel like a seamless transition? Or is it very jarring and disjointed? And if you're really wanting to do this in your own business, that's exactly what I would recommend. I really believe that this is the single best way to scale your company with joy. And I'm just so excited for you to try this out in your own business. When you do do me a favor and let me know. You could find me on Instagram at LauraEMeyer on Facebook at Joybrand Creative. I check both inboxes and I'd love to hear from you. I'll see you next time and thanks for joining us.
Laura 16:26
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The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.