Tailoring your sales and marketing strategy to the customer journey
The ‘sales funnel’ is a term used in most industries and, depending on your organisation or role, its definition and characteristics will vary. For many, it may not have a clear definition but may be a term bandied about along with other buzzwords, either assuming a shared understanding or used in relation to a linear customer journey that simply no longer exists.
Despite this, we’d argue that the principles of the sales funnel are still relevant for understanding the wider customer journey, from anonymous target audience to fully-qualified individual lead and eventual brand advocate. Moreover, rather than looking at the funnel as a ‘start to finish’ model, breaking each stage down can help businesses understand how they should be interacting with customers at different stages and in different modes, and potentially throw a light on why their leads aren’t converting.
Our infographic looks at the five fundamental elements of the sales funnel, highlighting where different marketing channels and approaches can have the greatest impact.
True customer understanding
Fundamentally, the sales funnel highlights the importance of high quality interactions and authentic communication with your target audience at all stages of their journey. Lead times for purchasing or decision making can be lengthy and vary from industry to industry, so it is essential to have strategies in place to engage and add value at each stage. No matter what stage your prospects are at in their customer journey, and which marketing channels and tools you adopt, your interactions must be driven by true customer understanding and genuine insight into customer needs and interests.
Technology can help harness a wealth of customer data to inform targeting and automate personalisation at scale, but human interaction has the potential to really elevate the customer experience. Real conversations and high quality telephone nurture not only build an authentic personal connection, they are an absolute must for gaining true insight into your customer’s interests, needs and individual requirements. With this insight to inform your strategy, you can create a highly personal, tailored message and proposition, and an exceptional customer experience.
At The Telemarketing Company, we provide specialist phone-based marketing services to complement and accelerate your marketing strategies.
From data and research services to demand generation and end to end sales support, we can bring the value of human interaction to your customer experience. If you’d like to discuss how our services can enhance your sales and marketing strategies, please get in touch.