How To Create A Multi-Step Customer Attraction System

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In a tough economy, businesses are under tremendous pressure to expand their customer base as quickly as possible. The problem is that most of prospects do not intend to buy today. Instead, at any one time they are in a process: recognizing they have a need or problem, researching solutions, weighing alternatives, making a purchase, and evaluating if they made a good decision.

A multi-step customer attraction system engages them wherever they are in this timeline. It then leads them through the steps of attention, interest, desire and action. In contrast, most marketers try to “close the deal” on the first step of the sale process. This is a fundamental error. It leads to chargebacks, cancellations and dissatisfied customers.

Many people will not contact a company because they are afraid if they show any interest, they will be suddenly hassled by a polyester-wearing salesperson with greasy hair and bad breath. Multi-step marketing eliminates this problem, asking prospects to take “baby steps” in a continuing series that leads to the sale. The only goal at each step is to get the prospect to the next step in the system.

The Tugboat

Did you ever wonder how a little tugboat pulls a huge ship into port? They can’t connect a huge cable and try to pull straight-away. It would be impossible. Rather, the tugboat deckhand throws up a light line to the ship. The light line is connected to a heavier line. The heavier line is connected to the actual tow rope, a 10-inch wide behemoth made of indestructible Kevlar with millions of pounds of breaking strength.

Similarly, multi-step marketing lets prospects take a series of escalating steps that advances them toward a sale. For example, a realtor may suggest that prospects call a free recorded message hotline. The recorded message gives out valuable information about a real estate listing and invites the caller to visit a website to get a special report. The special report gives even more value and encourages them to call for an appointment.

Freedom and Fun

Why go through all these steps? There are significant benefits to developing a multi-step marketing funnel:

• Better Positioning – An inbound marketing program sets you up as an authority in your industry and niche.

• Lower Stress – It’s stressful to get on the phone hour after hour to develop sales leads and try to set appointments. A multi-step marketing system lets you build a relationship with your customer over time.

• Time Savings – once your funnel is set-up you just need to take a few minutes a week to tweak the system.

A customer attraction system has another benefit. It naturally filters out “tire-kickers” or customers that are not a good fit for your product or service. A well-constructed multi-step marketing funnel both warms up cold prospects and eliminates poorly-targeted ones that are wrong for you. The result is that you have built your own lead-generating machine that continually provides you with prospects that know, like and trust you before you have even met.