It is Time to Approach Customer Engagement as a Flywheel

The coined term "purchase funnel" has been used as a basis for sales, customer outreach, and engagement for decades. The purchase funnel looks at the customer journey through a relatively narrow lens, making the flywheel a more innovative and successful approach to customer interaction.

The funnel method is simple. Marketing and sales initiatives are launched to make potential customers aware of your brand or service. Next, interest and desire are gaged through targeted outreach of the generated leads. Following comes the consideration or intent stage, where businesses will try and learn the end goal of the customer and how they can help them while also closing a sale. Typically, sales teams will give product demos, share case studies, or offer trial periods at this funnel level – any actions taken to prove their product is superior. Finally, the customer has a decision to make, and a sales transaction will occur with the company of their choosing.

The Problem with the Funnel Approach

The problem with the funnel method is that so much work gets put in to get that sales transaction, but then the premium engagements often stop. Although lack of customer engagement after the funnel model is complete isn't always the case, the customer will often go from being treated like royalty to just another closed transaction. In this case, following the funnel model to a tee is dangerous for businesses looking for long-term growth and product advocates.

Any savvy business person knows the action doesn't stop once the papers are signed. In many ways, it has just begun – making it critical to look at customer engagement as a flywheel instead of a funnel.

What's so Special about the Flywheel?

The flywheel model keeps your entire organization engaged with customers no matter where they may be in the purchase process. The flywheel model engages current customers and ensures satisfaction, leading to referrals, product upgrades, and repeat sales.

Of course, there are still necessary steps in the classic "purchase funnel" when taking a flywheel approach. Businesses still need to attract and engage new leads to sell their product. Instilling the flywheel model at your organization will plant the idea that the work doesn't stop just because a sale was made. The flywheel is ongoing and dependent on access to information and key data.

In a blog post covering seven trends for 2022, Daniel Fallmann, CEO and Founder, shared,

"Instead of the familiar purchase funnel (funnel model), today's sales process is referred to as a flywheel. Here, companies enter into a partnership with customers and exchange information on an ongoing basis. How successful this model is dependent on the company's level of information about customer needs and on the employees' knowledge about developments in their own organization. In order to meet these requirements, an information-driven system is needed in the background to provide the necessary information with just one query."

Successful companies will execute this approach by breaking down department silos and adjusting strategies as a team.

How can Mindbreeze help you implement an information-driven system to keep your customers engaged? Feel free to contact us at any time!