Get a Clear View (part 1)

Many times we can solve a problem by gaining a new perspective that helps us see things a little differently. Sometimes we actually get a better view of a problem. Now, I am often asked by people looking to grow their business, ‘what’s the most important thing I should do?’ or ‘what should I do first?’. My typical response is something like… ‘Find out what your customer is trying to accomplish’. Now this may sound a bit antagonistic but, it’s really not. It’s really meant to offer a fresh perspective on growing a business – a typical problem for a lot of businesses.

The thought of growing your business at a time like this can seem quite daunting. Often we turn to the typical solutions like changing our advertising or trying a new promotion. Now, these things may be exactly what are needed but, many times they are not. Many times they are simply desperate stabs in the dark.

If this feels familiar, let me offer some encouragement and an approach that can provide some direction.

A basic foundation of successful marketing and sales is centered on the customer and their journey. You see, your customer is trying to accomplish something. They are typically trying to solve a problem or achieve some goal. Our job as marketers and sellers of great products and services is to help our customers solve their problem. This seems simple enough but there is a little catch.

It seems like if we just get our name out there and make sure we have the product (or service) the customer needs and our team is eager to sell we should be fine… right? Maybe not. The key here is that the customer may not be ready to purchase just yet. We have to understand that our customer goes through a series of steps in order to solve their problem and… they have to go through all the steps – they can’t really skip any steps. These steps make up what is referred to as The Customer Journey.

A generic customer journey might look something like this:

Now, some customers work through their journey/process very quickly and others, not so much. Some may even get stuck along their journey. Our real job as marketers and sellers is to help our customer move along their journey. It’s not enough to just be willing to help at the end when the customer is ready to make the purchase of your product (or service).  We have to provide the help (information, services, samples, etc.) that let them move to the next step in their journey so, they can ultimately buy from us and solve their problem.

My encouragement for you is to work on understanding your customers’ journey. Get a clear view of the steps they go through to solve their problem. Here are some quick suggestions to build a map of your customers’ journey:

1. Start by simply taking the generic map above and modify it using your team’s best judgment. It may not be perfect but, it will get you started.
2. Review it with everyone on your team so everyone has a consistent view.
3. Ask your customers… What steps have you taken already that led you to visiting with me today? What steps will you need to take after we are done today?
4. Modify the map and review it with your team as you learn more – but at least once a year.
5. You may have to build a map for each different customer type or segment – just pick one to get started.

Once you have a clear view of your customers’ journey you will be in a great position to start helping. Once you start helping your customers will start moving along their journey. Once they start moving, they will start buying. We’ll talk more about this topic again soon.  Until then…

Here’s to making better marketing decisions.

What Do You Want To Happen?

People often ask me about their marketing efforts with a very open-ended question… ‘so, what should I do?’. I often reply with… ‘well, what do you want to happen?’.

While the initial response may be something like ‘uhh, I’m not sure’. The discussion often leads to a healthy investigation into some of the problems they are having with growing their business. The discussion progresses to their goals and what they are hoping to accomplish with their marketing effort. Let me share a couple of brief examples of business owners and their quest to market and grow their business. Hopefully, it will provide some help for you to make better marketing decisions in your business.

Let’s start with John (not his real name). His business markets and sells their products and services to industrial firms. John came to me with a series of potential advertisements he wanted to run in some industry trade journals. He had a bunch of questions about which ad was better and what I thought. The messges and images of the ads varied greatly. I have to confess, I was a bit confused. As I asked a couple of questions, it quickly became apparent that John didn’t have a defined goal he was trying to accomplish. He told me he just felt like he “needed to be out there”. He and a couple of his managers had spent days stewing over the ads and still didn’t feel good about what they had in front of them. It was causing some real stress. He even confided that he felt a bit paralyzed.

We started out by discussing some questions centered around what kind of problems he sensed they were having and how this particular marketing medium could help solve the problems. He soon revealed that he was fighting a misperception about his business in the industry (which was a pretty small, close-knit world) and that it was hurting his sales. We then locked in on a goal to clear up the misperception and set the record straight within this small industry.

With a clear goal now defined, we confirmed that the trade journals were indeed an appropriate medium for what he was trying to accomplish since they were read by pretty much all the key decision makers of his target customers. As we walked through the ads, John started to speak with confidence about the changes he needed to make to the messaging and images in the ad. In the next 30 minutes he worked through the ad and had a final version that he felt good about. As I looked at the final product, I noted that the message and the medium were right on target with the goal John laid out. What a transformation!

Next is Clair. She owns and operates a specialty retail shop. Clair came to me with a specific ad she wanted to run in a newspaper and she couldn’t wait to run it. Her excitement was clear and her confidence was evident. She was on a mission.

I asked her how she got so dialed in on this ad and medium. She said she knew she wanted to make sure her target customer was aware of her new seasonal products for the fall and she needed to get them to her website or in her store to see them. A medium that could hit a large number of her target customers and direct them to the store or website was the best way to do it.

Playing the devil’s advocate for a moment, I fired some other ideas and challenges at her. She quickly filtered through the ideas and concluded they would not help her accomplish her goal of introducing her new products in as timely or efficient manner as the newspaper. She was right and she knew it.

One thing is for sure, neither John or Clair are marketing experts. In fact, neither really enjoys marketing much at all. However, they both have now acquired some confidence in marketing and growing their business. That confidence starts with defining the problem they want to solve. It comes from knowing what they want to happen as a result of their marketing effort.

You may need to improve your brand awareness or you may need to increase traffic to your store. Each of these problems may drive a very different marketing solution. But, no matter what marketing challenge you are wrestling with, you can’t solve it until you figure out what you are trying to accomplish. I’d like to encourage you to try describing what you want to happen the next time you are stuck on a marketing challenge and see if you won’t be more confident as a result.

Here’s to making better marketing decisions.