How do you measure the success of your business? Often, the answer to this question involves some increase in the measurement of overall company sales. To fully understand how to generate this type of success and move this needle, it can be helpful to take a step back and review the basics of successful marketing. We can do this by looking at 2 categories:
1. Existing Client Retention – keeping your existing clients and have them spend more
2. New Client Acquisition – acquiring new customers
Regardless of your industry, you can achieve marketing success in these two categories by thinking ahead of your customers. When it comes to keeping existing clients, you must anticipate their needs, meet these needs and exceed their expectations. This is far easier if you plan to do this, rather than being surprised and reacting. You can do this by understanding the Consumption Lifecycle.
Purchasing Phase - Diffused Need -> Focused Need -> Purchase Decision
Ownership Phase – Confirmation -> Identification -> Gratification
Repurchase Phase – Indifference -> Disenchantment -> Receptive
This model shows that they key to existing client retention is reaching them with new, value-added information somewhere before they reach the Disenchantment level and become Receptive to someone else’s offering. This means taking being proactive to ensure you always have something new and engaging to disrupt the Indifference and move your clients back to the Ownership Phase of your relationship.
Here are some keys as to how to think ahead on a daily basis:
1. Identify specifically for what you are planning
2. Follow your intuition – you have a lot of hidden knowledge
3. Filter your own personal bias – make sure to focus on your audience
4. Visualize the worst-case scenario – what do you need to do to avoid this?
5. Visualize the best-case scenario – what do you need to do to make this happen?
6. Prepare – be ready for the opportunity
7. Try It – begin doing this on a trial basis to test the results
8. Adjust – continue to evolve to increase results
To best use this information, you need to identify how your customers relate to the different phases of the Consumption Lifecycle and identify what you are currently doing (or should be doing) to interject new life and value into your customer relationships before they reach the Indifference Phase. This will ensure that you are always thinking ahead of your customers.
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