F*ck the Funnel
Have you ever gone to a theme park to spend most of your time mazes of lineups to get on the most popular rides? You finally get on and experience those few minutes of pure rush you were looking for to exit into the gift shop filled with cheap stuff you don't need and demanding kids (sometimes your own).
It's a significant build-up to a potentially huge letdown. It's what people feel when forced through a long, convoluted, over-engineered funnel process.
Every customer journey is different. Consider their motivations, knowledge level, biases, influences, and requirements. No one wants to be "led down the garden path", and no prospect should ever have to jump through hoops to get the information they need to make a buying decision.
It makes no sense to jam every prospect into the same funnel.
JUST GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT!
Some view a funnel as a clear exchange of value for value. A company gets personal information in exchange for content designed to promote its product. Prospects essentially "pay" using their data as currency in exchange for being sold. Some funnels are so rigid they don't consider the customer at all but instead focus on what the company wants to say and do vs what the customer needs.
How about just giving people what they want so they can make a buying decision? It doesn't have to be complicated. Marketing and sales, you are NOT off the hook! Knowing your customer is more important than ever to producing the best content and supporting your prospect's needs. There is no need to lock up all of your content, force a conversation or interaction and hold your products for ransom in exchange for customer data. Just make the resources (content & people) available on demand. Simple.
F*CK The Funnel
So why ditch the funnel and give people what they want and need to decide? Because it accelerates the sales cycle. Here's why:
60% of B2B buyers and sellers prefer not to interact with a sales rep (Forrester)
67% of the buyer's journey is done digitally Bizvibe).
86% of buyers will turn to Google in the research stage (Smart Insights).
83% of consumers require some degree of customer support while making an online purchase(eConsultancy)
Online reviews of your company, product, service and people are used 83% of the time by prospects before they buy (Qualtrics)
What should marketers do?
Know what your customers need at every stage in the decision-making process, but don't force prospects to take the journey you define. Provide a choose-your-own-adventure, multi-touch experience
Stop gating your content
Provide value at every single click
Track user behaviour online to gauge the most important content or where potential buyers fall off your radar
Showcase your customer successes front and centre (don't gate it)
Be easy to contact, accessible and available for a live discussion at any time
Shelve the hard sell and be a sales partner to your prospect. Aka, Give them what they need to make a decision
Leverage automation to scale and provide personalized resources
Start remarketing TODAY so you remain top of mind to unknown visitors
Invest in Customer Development. Get out of the building and talk to customers and prospects. Ask them what they need and how they make buying decisions
PSA – Sales is marketing's best friend. Talk to sales reps regularly and find out what info
Track first touch and multi touch attribution points so you can double down on the areas that are generating revenue
