You may think you are good at marketing. You may believe that because your business is ranking highly in Google search results or because the emails you’re sending have high open and click rates that you are simply kicking-ass and taking names when it comes to marketing.

I’m here to tell you there is someone out there better at marketing than you, and this person has no idea how to do marketing themselves. This person doesn’t even know the meaning of SEO or doesn’t send marketing emails to a database and they are a better marketer than you will ever be. This person is your customer.

There is one voice that is more influential than compelling blog post, a keynote presentation or a high performing marketing email. That is the voice of your current customers. Your customers are better marketers than you will ever be. They are the ones who will make or break your business. It’s up to us as business owners and marketers to give them the tools and reason to continually market our business for us, and they will do this simply by talking about your business and the experience they receive with others. People take notice when your customers talk, and your customers only have positive influence when they receive an experience worthy of it.

I want you to think about this thing we marketers call the “funnel”. I’m sure you have all heard about the marketing and sales funnel in its many forms and variations.

Marketing funnel infographic

There is one final phase in the funnel though. Take a look at the bottom of that funnel and you will see the most valuable asset in any business, your customers. As they are converted into customers and now sit at the bottom of your funnel, waiting for a return email from your team, or a phone call they were promised 3 days ago, some business owners and marketers are more focussed on feeding the funnel with new traffic and new leads through various marketing activities.

Imagine if you paid more attention to your current customers and the experience they receive throughout the entire customer journey, delighting them at all touch points and staying true to the promise you made them in your marketing. It makes up-selling and increasing lifetime value in existing customers much easier and cheaper than acquiring new customers.

After all, 90% of people spend more because of awesome customer service and an enjoyable customer experience.

So, I’m urging you to rethink your take on the traditional marketing funnel where we, as marketers, see customer conversions as the final chapter of our function. I truly believe this way of thinking is going to see many businesses dry up in the years to come.

Your customers should not be the final thought of a marketing function, they should be front and centre in all aspects of marketing activity in your business. As business owners and marketers, we should be giving them reasons to tell their friends, family and connections just how awesome we are.

Just because someone has become a customer, doesn’t mean we can forget about them. Our customers should be entrenched in nearly every marketing decision we make in our business. The moment you start thinking of your customers as more than just a source of revenue is the moment you’ll begin the notice a significant shift in how your marketing fuels your business.

 

Originally authored by Tyson Cobb.