A Story

Have you ever seen an ad that captured your attention? Perhaps an ad for the perfect holiday in Hawaii. You’ve been needing a holiday for ages, but you’re worried about your finances and aren’t sure where to find an affordable deal. Searching for flights and hotels can be so overwhelming! The ad that’s captured your attention offers a helpful guide for traveling on a budget. That’s handy! You click the ad and are taken to an inspiring page that contains a downloadable PDF of the guide. You submit your details to download the PDF and away you go! This is the start of a customer lifecycle. “What’s next?”, you ask?

With your details and information in hand, the travel company sends you more useful, inspirational and relevant content via email or SMS. Each email pushes you closer and closer towards purchasing that ticket. The content varies and occasionally includes a discount, offer or first-time buyer special. You do a bit more research, but continue to see ads from this travel company. After a few months you’ve made your decision… You’re going to Hawaii! The travel company sent you enough information and gave you a total inspiration to take the leap and book your ticket! Now all you have to worry about is getting a new bathing suit…

This story describes a customer lifecycle. Each customer lifecycle is different. It’s different by industry, product and even for the individual sometimes. It can be simple, complicated, short or long. Customer lifecycle’s come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing is for sure…They are absolutely essential for your business to succeed.

So, what is a customer lifecycle?

A customer lifecycle is a term used to describe the steps a customer goes through before they purchase a product or service.

How does it work?

It’s a gradual process that goes further than just the product or service. Even though a customer may have a need for your product or service, businesses still need to earn the right to win that business. A mapped our marketing funnel helps you win the business by nurturing the customer until they buy.

A customer journey has to be clearly mapped out with all the steps a customer needs to take, across multiple channels, that will influence their buying decision.

In addition to the journey structure, the customer needs to receive powerful content in a language that resonates with them. It needs to be useful, relevant and most importantly persuasive.

Do I need more than one customer lifecycle?

Customer lifecycles should be designed for prospects, first-time buyers, repeat buyers, early repeat buyers, core customers and core defectors (customers who may have moved to a competitor and you’re looking to win them back.)

What are the stages of a customer lifecycle?

There are many descriptions for customer lifecycle: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, loyalty and advocacy are the stages you might be familiar with. Infusionsoft keep it simple with Attract, Sell and Wow. Of course, there are a few micro stages between that, which we’ll discuss in our next blog on the stages of the customer lifecycle.

 Are you spending money on advertising but not seeing any result? Do you have a massive database that isn’t in use? Have you had a decrease in prospects or customers? You might need a customer lifecycle mapped out to ensure your potential and existing customers are being encouraged to buy from you. Call Throttl on 1300 560 581 to find out more information. Or visit our website to learn more.