It’s a consumer-driven world, and arguably one that is more complex than ever before. Empowered by an ecosystem of abundant buying channels, seemingly infinite information sources and myriad purchase options, today’s increasingly savvy consumer continues to complicate the buying process – for retailers and marketers alike. With growing urgency, marketers are being asked to “help drive organic business growth by acquiring and retaining customers. In many cases, however, their methods have yet to catch up with the madness of the current marketplace.”
Marketers need new tools to navigate the minds of today’s consumers, note Mark Pocharski and Sheryl Jacobson of Market2Customer, Monitor’s marketing strategy business unit. Only with deeper insight into customer behavior will marketers be able to increase sales and ultimately drive profitable growth. “Existing models for understanding the buying process – particularly the specificity of how a customer is motivated and influenced at each step along the way – are constrained by...two significant flaws in conventional wisdom:”
- The buying process is nonlinear. “Marketing and sales personnel who treat the buying-process stages as a straight line...incorrectly assume that all buying processes begin with awareness and that success in one stage will naturally lead to success in the next.”
- Acquisition and retention are interrelated. “Viewing acquisition and retention separately ignores the fact that customers today may make frequent and often overlapping trips through the buying process and therefore cannot be categorized as either a prospect or existing customer – they are often both.”
By understanding the specific customer behaviors it wants to change, and then focusing its marketing and sales teams on influencing the behaviors that have the highest potential for return, companies can control and accelerate growth. The first step, according to Pocharski and Jacobson, is “developing a comprehensive understanding of where the leverage points [the place in the buying process where customers or prospects either enter or drop out] exist in the buying process.” Then, with the leverage points identified, marketers must define “behavioral objectives” that will form the foundation of a sustainable growth strategy.
Only by understanding and analyzing the different dimensions of the buying process can companies focus their marketing efforts on the thing that really matters: driving sustainable organic growth.