1 - The Start of the Customer Journey

                 .... and what channel managers need to know

Becoming Aware

This is the start of the customer journey and the foundation upon which your relationship with them will be built. Awareness occurs in two steps:Step One - that moment when a customer realises they have an unmet need or desire,Step Two - when they become aware of your solution. It is important to recognise this as two elements because how step one occurs will position them for step two.

• In Step One something has occurred that makes the customer realise their life or their business would be better if only…... This stimulus can usually be correlated with some root cause. For example, if you sell furniture, someone moving to a new home is likely to be thinking now is the time to upgrade their old couch to reflect their new colour schemes. Or a company that has just engaged a new CIO is likely to be looking to refresh their systems. The key is that they have not yet started looking for solutions.

• In Step Two the consumer has now started their search for a solution and is becoming aware of various options. These options likely include direct competitors and indirect such as buying a couch on Kijiji or building their own applications internally. Your presence, and how you are present, at this step is very important as it charts the course for their eventual destination. 
  

Your Role

Demand creation is a frequently used term and suggests that sales people and marketing activity can actually create a need where none existed before. In most cases, this is done by tapping into existing insecurities and desires. “I wish my company was faster, bigger, leaner, stronger, richer, healthier, better managed, etc”. These desires are often subordinated to the day-to-day issues we all deal with. However predicting when that underlying need will likely surface is something you and your channel members should all know. You must decide whose job it is to make sure you are present when it does. It could be through a direct sales approach, it could be an advertisement by your channel member, it could be an editorial written by your corporate PR department. Being there is key.

You and your channel members share a responsibility for understanding what type of customer you are looking for. The creation of one, or multiple, personae is a most effective way to do this. In the case of individuals; age, gender, income level, education, housing, family status are all good indicators. This may be extended to include what kind of car they drive, where they go on vacation, what kind of pets they have and actually naming them (the people that is – although if you want to name their pets – that’s good too). A similar process should be followed for business prospects; type of business, the number of employees, age of business, revenue, markets sold to, management culture and, once again, give it a name. Then extend the company profile to the individuals who would be involved in decisions for your type of offering. By doing this you turn the abstract ‘prospect’ into a real person or company making it much easier to predict their behaviour and to recognise them when they appear. Based on work with some of our clients I can tell you that “Yvon and Yvette” (small dog) are looking for a luxury apartment to rent and that “David and Judith” (a cat) are in the market for high-end bathroom accessories.

Why this matters

That moment when awareness of a need or desire occurs is the moment a prospect is born. The better you support them along their journey the more likelihood there is of being selected to solve their problem and the more efficiently you can do it. Knowing where, when and how to be present with your information dramatically increases the probability of having the privilege to serve their needs.

Do I have a problem?

If you are failing to be present during the first awareness step of the journey you will see higher than necessary sales costs. This is because you are arriving late in the sales process and have to invest in re-shaping your prospect’s beliefs to accommodate your solution.Your sales and promotional costs will be higher than necessary (cost per lead and the subsequent cost per sale will be high) if you are not focusing your awareness on the right personae or corporate profile. A very high print collateral usage in your channel with few sales is another indication of creating awareness in the wrong places. 

What causes this?

This failure in presence during the awareness phase is often caused by a lack of coordination between the channel owner and the channel members. Or worse yet, a lack of understanding the phases of the customer journey. Some organisations have every intention of being present but either show up at the wrong place and time or lack focus and try to be in too many places at once.

What to do:

Ensure focused clarity on exactly who you are selling to – the personae and the profileDetermine stimuli that awaken needs and desires for your type of solutionCoordinate with your channel members who will expose your product or service at the right time and place – you or them?Ensure that you have the right tools and systems to be present and track performance.

What will be different?

By properly managing the awareness phase in the customer journey you will be able to:Reduce competitive pressure,Reduce the pressure to discountIncrease margins,Increase the prospect to lead to sale conversion ratiosShorten the sales cycleImprove the profitability, and the volume, though your sales channel.

This is the first in a series of posts on improving sales channel efficiency and flow.  Stay tuned for the 2nd post in the Channels series: "Engagement - the First Contact"