We construct Sales and Marketing Funnels and other tools thinking that we can create a customer/opportunity from it. This is not wrong. Just by the actual application of some type of process, we are going to focus and become more effective and maybe even more efficient.
The problem is that all these funnels use the same technique; appealing to mass audiences. I call this method a Funnel of Depletion. With this method, you push out a lot of information, hoping it reaches the right people. Whether it is Inbound or Outbound Marketing, there is a lot spraying and praying going on. Worst of all it takes a tremendous amount of time, resources and money to appeal to the masses.
What happens if you start with your core customer and core value proposition? When we start with core customers; things begin to change. We create better relationships and a higher level of learning opportunities. We become more relevant resulting in better communication across more channels. This will enable us to develop greater opportunities and connect with influencers. We use this communication to participate with customers at the relevant edges of the use of our products/services.
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The Funnel of Opportunity is created from the edges of this participation. We learn how and whom to engage with other organization and within our own. We build upon the known toward the unknown. Always reaching out pushing the edges, looking for adjacency in our markets.
It is not about creating a downstream or upstream flow in some funnel; it is about being relevant in our customer’s market. This type of thinking is outcome-based. A defined outcome provides a set of standards so that we can prepare for our engagements. By having these standards, it creates a set of boundaries for us to work in and when we hit an obstacle, it is just a pause because we know where we are headed.
Adjacencies arc growth opportunities that allow a company to extend the boundaries of the present customer base. Whether we seek to engage is based on the evaluation or the difference in the markets, technology, processes, environment(platforms), and the existing competitors.
There is no linear path. It is a matter of clustering and attempting different scenarios till obvious connections take place. Large clusters may splinter while others may grow together. The idea is through practice, deliberate practice that these adjacencies are nurtured.
Join our next Marketing Experiment: The Funnel of Opportunity