Customer journeys come in many forms and have multiple destinations. And it is getting more and more common to automate them to save time and human resources. But automation requires that the travel plans are in place. We give you some good examples of which journeys you can invite your customers to go on.
Have to admit, this topic is especially fascinating for us at Adversus, considering we've developed a tool that automates customer journeys in contact centers. That's why this blog post will mainly focus on customer journeys in the context of telemarketing activities.
However, we also want to take this opportunity to discuss customer journeys in general, hoping to inspire those beyond the telemarketing world.
We understand the challenges involved in cold canvas selling since many of our customers and even our own sales department have vast experience in this area. Initiating a sales process and successfully following it through can be demanding.
Our products often cater to companies with specific needs, requiring our salespeople to create tailored presentations to support these requirements. Consequently, this often involves multiple conversations and follow-up meetings throughout the process.
This is where automated journeys play a crucial role, making it easier to perform timely follow-ups by incorporating the process into an automated flow. By leveraging automation, we can ensure that our follow-ups are done efficiently and at the right moment, facilitating a smoother customer journey.
A journey is nothing without a traveler.
Your job is to persuade the traveler to go on this journey and make sure it will be an experience to remember. Make sure they don't remember it as their holiday in Greece where they got eaten by bed bugs at a shitty hotel. Instead, make them remember the holiday of their dreams.
Some prefer relaxation on white sandy beaches, excellent food, and top-notch service 24/7. Others prefer plenty of fresh air and hiking in the mountains, even on a rainy day. So, defining what a dream vacation contains can be a struggle because everybody has their own perception about what they find pleasant.
So why am I talking about different types of vacation? I will go straight to the point. Or at least try.
It is not irrelevant which kind of journey you are trying to sell. Neither is the destination. It isn't enjoyable ending up in the mountains if you expect white sandy beaches as far as your eye can see. Or end up on the sandy beach during winter when all you need is sunshine.
When the experience you provide doesn't meet your expectations, you'll probably end up with a dissatisfied customer calling your support AFTER leaving a one-star review on trust pilot. That is both time-consuming and damaging for your business.
You need to have all expectations aligned right from the start before the journey even begins, which means you will have to ask yourself many questions to get aligned with your target group.
What are their pains? Their desires? And goals? And how can you fulfill their wishes? The traveler's needs and expectations should always be prioritized upon your own needs to earn money.
After asking yourself those questions, you will probably end up with even more questions because you will notice that not all customers are on the same page, and you need to work with different target groups. Their pains and desires are different from one another.
A dream vacation for one person could be the worst nightmare for another. Take me, for example. Never force me to spend the holidays in an all-inclusive hotel!
ExampleImagine you're in the business of selling telephony subscriptions, and luckily, you already have valuable data on your existing customers to aid your selling process. This data could be statistical insights on how different target groups use telephony based on factors like gender, age, location, and more. By combining this knowledge with thorough market analysis, you'll be equipped with a solid foundation to kickstart your sales process. You'll have a clear understanding of your customers' preferences and needs, enabling you to tailor your offerings accordingly. The key here is to segment your customer base and create campaigns tailored to specific customer profiles. For instance, if your data shows that a particular customer profile uses telephony extensively, it would make sense to pitch them the big package. Conversely, if another profile uses telephony sparingly, you can offer them the light package. The magic lies in designing customized campaigns for each target group and, if needed, crafting special offers to entice hard-to-reach groups. To make your strategy even more effective, consider leveraging data from former customers who opted out due to high costs. If you later have a more budget-friendly solution to offer, you have a chance to win them back. Now, your next step is to create different selling points and unique customer journeys. And this is where automation comes into play. Automating your processes will streamline your efforts and ensure a seamless experience for your customers, making the selling journey much smoother and more efficient.
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The whole concept behind automated journeys is to create different actions based on triggers - and, based on that, define the next destination. What happens at this destination will then determine the next step and what will happen next.
Sure, there's a point to be made about automation possibly leading to an impersonal experience. It's true that when customers are repeatedly met with answering machines and automated emails, they might feel disconnected and more likely to churn, or in other words, switch to another provider or stop using your service.
On the flip side, automating your journey opens up possibilities beyond just a single, fixed path. It's like having the freedom to plan multiple trips at once, each with unique starting points and countless potential destinations. Plus, your travelers can switch paths as many times as they like during the journey, allowing for flexibility and the chance to reach entirely different destinations along the way. The journey becomes a dynamic and ever-evolving experience, offering your customers more personalized and rewarding interactions.
Where and when. Those are the two essential factors in a journey.
In the world of sales, timing is crucial. Some customers may be more inclined to make a purchase at a specific time of the day, week, or month. Additionally, the platforms you use for targeting or retargeting can significantly influence a customer's decision to buy. To achieve higher conversion rates, it's essential to combine both elements effectively, and this is where a data-driven approach becomes indispensable.
By harnessing the power of data and implementing automation rules, you can seamlessly execute your sales strategy based on the right timing and platform. This approach not only increases the likelihood of conversions but also leads to more satisfied customers. After all, you're guiding them in the direction that aligns with their own actions and preferences, rather than mere assumptions.
However, it's essential to continuously evaluate and adapt your approach. People's needs and behaviors are continually evolving, and staying up-to-date with these changes will keep your sales strategy sharp and effective. By embracing a data-driven and adaptive approach, you can stay ahead in the dynamic world of sales and better meet the needs of your customers.
Adversus Journeys is a tool in our software solution that enables you to create different actions based on triggers to use your leads optimally. Use Journeys to take your traveler on both long and short trips through the sales process. How you use it, is totally up to you.
By setting up automation flows, you can manage your leads in an intelligent and compliant way – and there are countless ways of doing it. For example, you can define whenever it's time to reach out, do a follow-up, put a lead on hold for a while, erase expired leads, and so on.
Journeys offer a valuable tool for effortless lead reuse, making it highly effective.
In the call center industry, many tend to use their leads only once and then discard them. However, there are great benefits in reusing leads strategically. For instance, you can follow up with interested customers if a new offer perfectly aligns with their preferences.
Additionally, reaching out again after a few months might yield positive results and reignite their interest. By leveraging the power of journeys, you can make the most out of your leads and seize valuable opportunities for successful engagements with potential customers.
Next up, we will give some examples of using Adversus Journeys to better your business.
Create a Journey that resets all leads marked as 'not interested' after a certain period.
Choose the campaign(s) from which you want to reuse leads, filter out the leads marked as "Not interested," and put them on pause for the desired period, e.g., after six months. When the pause ends, the leads are reset and can be called again.
To increase the possibility of reaching leads that are most likely to respond positively on a redial, you can choose only to recycle leads marked as "Not interested" and a specific sub-status. If the status is "Not now," the lead will be paused and reset, but if the status is "Never," the lead will be disabled from the campaign. This can be advantageous if you are running low on leads and need a backup campaign.
Add leads that have reached "Max Call Attempt" on one campaign to a new campaign. As in the previous example, this is also a way to make a backup campaign you can use whenever you don't have more fresh leads to call.
Send an SMS automatically to the customer a few hours before a scheduled call. This way, you remind the customer of the follow-up call. Use merge tags to personalize your outreach.
Add leads to an individual sales campaign based on previous sales. This is especially relevant for call centers, where you have many sellers on a single campaign and want each agent to subsequently sell to the same customers from their own sales campaign. It can also be used if the agent needs to do a follow-up.
Practically, leads that are closed as "Success" and last contacted by your agent "Jack" will be added to "Jack Sales Campaign" and will be callable again after a period of your choosing.
Automatically send an SMS or email to the customer if you don't get in touch with them after your first call attempt.
This can be useful when the customer has stated that they wish to be contacted. Remember to provide information about how the customer can reach you in your SMS or email. Alternatively, inform about when you will try to make the next call attempt.
If you want to close leads with a specific status, which could be "Unqualified", you can decide how many days should pass before a lead expires. This is useful if you pay your lead provider based on how many leads you've closed in a given period.
This is useful if you want to reach out to leads that did not pick up the phone and have the "Automatic redial" status.
Typically, you will set a certain amount of time between "auto redial", so that your leads are in quarantine for a while before they are callable again. However, you can also speed up the leads so that the "quarantine" ends the moment they open the email you sent after your failed attempt to reach them by phone.
As in the previous example, you have sent an email. In this case, you want to make an appointment for a follow-up call.
If the customer opens the email and shows interest, it's wise to reach out as soon as possible. Receive a notification instantly when it's time to follow up. Consider adding a note to the Journey telling the agent that this call is coming up because the lead has opened an email.