Sales &
Marketing Growth
The landscape has changed. The Internet of Things, Big Data, and the Conscious Consumer have flipped the dynamic on how we shop, where we buy, and buyer loyalty. It has never been more important to differentiate through brand experience.
Forward Thinkers leverages your most precious assets to activate your point of difference through your People, Brand, & Experience.
In today's competitive business landscape, understanding and optimizing the customer journey is essential for driving sales and fostering long-term customer relationships.
A customer journey sales strategy outlines the path that prospects take from initial awareness to making a purchase and beyond.
By mapping out this journey and aligning sales efforts with each stage, businesses can enhance engagement, build trust, and ultimately, increase revenue.
Customer Journey
At Forward Thinkers we operationalize the journey by connecting your organization competency to each step of the customer Lifecyle to ensure a “frictionless” relationship.
This includes your own proprietary playbook of set standard operating procedures, service level agreements, measure, and routines to manage successful outcomes.
All connected by your own systems and controls designed to fit within your existing ecosystem. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to developing a comprehensive customer journey sales strategy.
Awareness Phase
Marketing Interaction: Digital campaigns, social media engagement
Possible Friction
Lack of brand awareness, inconsistent messaging (most common is how it enters the organization, assigned, and handled as well proper data collection to keep customer engaged without overreach and matching to the right need state from the lead generation tool).
Solutions
Cohesive brand strategy, targeted marketing efforts (automated lead generation system integration with standard reporting, service level agreements, and close statistics).
Consideration Phase
Sales Interaction: Product demos, informative content
Possible Friction
Delayed responses, insufficient information (selling products to fit need when we do not clearly understand the pain point or how to position ourselves effectively), alignment with operations and finance on deal commitment ability to execute).
Solutions
Trained sales team, comprehensive CRM with knowledge base (Connected organization across functional teams with clear metrics for success, routines to manage, and escalation process for off target resolution).
Decision Phase
Customer Interaction: Final consultations, contract negotiations
Possible Friction
Complex approval processes, high decision-making time (too many decision makers or lack of clarity in process).
Solutions
Streamlined approval processes, empowered sales team.
Retention Phase
Support Interaction: Customer service, post-purchase follow-up
Possible Friction
Inconsistent service, unresolved issues (undefined service level agreements, metrics, and routines to guide outcomes). Lack of single source repository to manage customer tasks consistently, and inconsistent communication across functional teams on what success means).
Solutions
Robust support system, regular check-ins (defined service level, standard process, metrics against each, and routines to manage proactively cross teams).
Advocacy Phase
Loyalty Interaction: Referral programs, brand ambassadors
Possible Friction
Relevant and effective engagement tools and strategy, lack of incentives/alignment to consumer value.
Solutions
Engaging loyalty programs, continuous value delivery.
Customer Relationship Tool
(CRM)
Aligned with a strong Customer Journey playbook we want our Customer Relationship Tool (CRM) as our Single Source Repository for our customer data management. Often the CRM is either established or perceived to be “big brother” oversight for false indicators which drive unproductive behaviour. Do we want more doors chased or high impact doors closed?
Our team will show a proven model for transforming your CRM into an organizational tool that will accelerate growth, improve customer experience, and increase share of wallet with existing customers.
By converting your tool from forced data entry to the facilitation of your customer journey, we will remove the friction preventing your team’s potential to serve both the customer as well as your bottom line.
Important Questions to Ask Yourself
Unlock your business's potential with Forward Thinkers
