STAIRS INSTEAD OF FUNNEL
by Martin Brahm, Managing Director of Schober Information Group Deutschland GmbH
Every salesperson, every marketer knows it, the sales or marketing funnel. The model in the form of a funnel helps to understand and better classify sales processes. But value-based selling needs more. A new model is needed in the data economy: a four-step data strategy whose steps build on each other like a staircase.
This topic has been with me for a long time, which is why colleagues and customers also talk about the “Brahm’s staircase”. How does this “staircase” lead to satisfied customers and more sales? Just read on.
Sales funnel and value-based selling
The classic sales funnel still views the sales process exclusively from the seller’s perspective. But in modern marketing, we can and want more: it’s about a deeper understanding by understanding the customer’s point of view and thus managing the interaction in a more targeted way. The goal: to gain satisfied buyers who will buy again and again and recommend products to others. I call the underlying sales approach value-based selling because it convinces the addressees of the value of the offer. But this means that the funnel is no longer sufficient as the basis for marketing and sales. In order to meet the new requirements of the data economy, important aspects include: Personas, added value, content, customer journey and measurement.
Stairs instead of funnel
How are the terms related? If you want to sell the added value of your products, you have to know your addressees, which is described in more detail in personas. Then marketing measures can specifically highlight the added value of an offer, which is done via appropriate content. Finally, interaction between supplier and addressee is necessary to motivate purchase. And it is precisely here that the digitized world with New Data, touchpoint explosion and non-linear customer journeys has created new requirements. If you want to address, qualify and manage your customers properly, you have to orchestrate the customer journey. This only works with data and a data strategy – “Brahm’s staircase”. It is a method of data-driven marketing that uses four successive stages to qualify prospects more and more precisely, convince them, and then convert them to customers at the highest stage.
Reaching the goal with data and method: The four-step data staircase
The first step is to create a data basis. To this end, companies ensure the central provision of all data related to the intended customer interaction. Centralized is important, because most of the time data lies unconnected in different transaction systems (ERP, e-commerce system, content management, etc.) next to each other. Only the mapping of the data silos creates the basis for further analyses. Because if companies use incorrect or incomplete data, they will also receive only incorrect or incomplete results when evaluating it. The supposed treasure trove of data then quickly turns out to be data garbage.
Increase depth of information, data on insights level two and three
But sometimes the depth of information in the existing data is not enough. Therefore, at stage two, one examines the existing database against the background of the business and communication objectives. If necessary, the depth of information is increased in order to create the right added value in the customer interaction. Typical additions here include geodata, data on the degree of digitization, IT systems used, or corporate structure, depending on the potential customer target group.
In stage three, this data becomes information. Analytics and AI turn data into information about prospects, customers, and their needs. Methods and analysis strategies are diverse and depend on the task. Typically, cluster analysis, artificial intelligence and self-learning algorithms are used in addition to simple data mining with pattern recognition. With the insights gained, companies can make value-oriented interaction and product offers.
Stage four: value-based selling
Stage four moves to action, using the insights from the previous stages to convince addressees of the value of the products on offer. That is exactly what value-based selling is. In principle, all available channels and content formats are used for interaction, and the selection of suitable information media can usually be determined very precisely at the previous stages.
Brahm’s staircase” orchestrates the customer journey at the data level: personas, added value, content, customer journey and measurement come together in real time. With this method, sales and marketing can lead customers unerringly to happiness – via a four-step staircase.
“Brahm’s stairs”, funnel and udo – What are your experiences?
What are your experiences? Have you also considered how to better orchestrate your sales or marketing funnel? We look forward to learning more and engaging in dialogue with you.
By the way, we at Schober have been shaping the future of sales and marketing for over 70 years. And so an out-of-the-box platform for managing customer data (Customer Data Platform – CDP) has also emerged from the method presented. We call the solution udo (universal data orchestration) and think you should get to know udo. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at contact@schober.de. Good luck and long live sales!
Your Martin Brahm and the Schober Team
