Hosting a digital day yesterday and talking through the customer journey as a core part of business development strategy, I found myself continuously using the word commitment.
Commitment is everything. It all starts with you. If you are committed to creating a tangible, smart and scalable marketing strategy you will be energised and focused on delivering it.
But that’s not all. Commitment needs to come from the other side too. By the other side I mean the commitment from your customer.
Let’s see how that would play out as a mantra for 2018.
The customer journey is in three stages: increasing awareness of you and your brand in the eyes and ears of your target customer persona; converting that awareness into a customer as the prospect moves through their journey of engagement with you, increasing their faith and trust that they’ll get real value from you; retaining their loyalty so that they re-purchase, upgrade and advocate your amazing customer service and value you add.
So where does commitment come from in terms of what your customer offers back to you in this two way relationship? After all it’s a relationship and not like the old days of the marketing communications monologue.
The commitment from them will peak just at the point where they turn their awareness of you and the value you are about to bring into their world, into a sale, a signed contract, a behavioural change; whatever it is that you define as the point where they turn from a prospect (potential customer) into a customer.
So your mantra for 2018 should be to become obsessed by making it really easy for your customers to commit to you. Real commitment comes from them trusting you and seeing tangible value from you and you need to do this by gaining their commitment both from their head (practical) and from their heart (emotional).
Not all customers are committed because some may be seeking quick wins and you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to ensure that each and every prospect is converting into a customer with real, energised and positive commitment.
In this way, from 2018 onwards, you will be gaining sustainable, profitable and enjoyable customer relationships that are a win-win for everyone involved.
To explore your marketing, communications and business planning for 2018, do get in touch.
