Do you ever lose customers? Would you like to learn how to create a customer experience that causes them to continue working with you instead of leaving? In this episode, Joey Coleman walks us through the 8 phases of customer experience. By the end of this episode, you’ll have everything you need to be able to not only keep your customers but also ensure they have an incredible experience along the way.

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How to Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Fans with Joey Coleman:

Joey Coleman believes that the future of business is human to human. We are going to go over the 8 phases of customer experience and learn how to never lose a customer again.

“To never lose a customer again, you must meet your customers (whoever they are) where they are in their emotional journey”

Joey Coleman’s 8 phases of the customer experience:

· Phase 1: Assess

· Phase 2: Admit

· Phase 3: Affirm

· Phase 4: Activate

· Phase 5: Acclimate

· Phase 6: Accomplish

· Phase 7: Adopt

· Phase 8: Advocate

Every customer has the potential to travel through all eight phases, yet most businesses fail to guide the customer all the way through to the end.

 

· Phase 1: Assess (“Can you solve my problem?”)

It’s not all about the sale. Connect with customers and meet them where they are. Going above and beyond takes only a little extra effort and creates a huge return.
How you make people feel about what it’s going to be like to do business with you is even more important than your actual product or service.

Now that we have a clear understanding of what our prospects experience in the access phase, let’s consider what happens when they admit that they have a problem that they think we can help them with.

· Phase 2: Admit

(When does this phase begin? “The admit phase begins where the customer admits they have a problem or a nee and believes your company or organization can solve it. As a result, they decide to buy your product or service.”)

Once a customer buys, most businesses don’t do anything to join the customer in these feelings of joy.

Announcing the new partnership between the company and the customer shares the good news with the rest of the world. Celebrating and congratulating the customer with excitement elevates the interaction to an emotional high.

It’s important to let your company’s personality shine through during this part. Remember, they are doing business with you, not a wall of professionalism.

^ All human beings want to be part of a tribe, make it feel that way.

The sooner you can build a connection between your new customers and your current customers the stronger these bonds will be and the longer they will last.

· Phase 3: Affirm (The buyer’s remorse phase!)

So many company’s get this part wrong. As soon as they acquire a customer through their sales funnel or directly with a sales representative, the customer is shoved into a pile of other customers that can now chat with a customer service team if they need something.
Understand and anticipate the customers’ emotional journey.

The best way to counter any feelings of buyer’s remorse is to confirm the purchase as quickly and accurately as possible.

THIS STOOD OUT TO ME THE MOST:

“Turn current customers into evangelists and then use their enthusiasm to counter a new customer’s feelings of buyer’s remorse. Connecting them with a current customer is one of the most effective ways to make new customers feel welcome and confident about their decision.” – Joey Coleman

Related Podcast Episode: Discovering Your Voice

· Phase 4: Activate (Begins with the first major post-sale interaction with the product or service)

This is the official kickoff of the relationship and delivery of the initial promise.
Remove any barriers, no matter how small they seem, to your customers experiencing the product they paid for immediately upon receipt. Make it super simple to engage. Amazon does a great job at this. Nothing can be difficult to open when you buy it from them.

· Phase 5: Acclimate (Where the customer learns how the organization does business.)

Most companies don’t do this, they skip helping new customers get comfortable with the new environment that they just entered. The secret to achieving success in the acclimate phase is to guide and assist your customers as much as possible during the entire relationship.
You want this to be as simple as possible. I think that many people are going to listen to us talking about this acclimate phase and assume that their business is too complicated to simplify. Can you speak to that for a moment?
Help your customers acclimate to your process by walking them either physically or digitally through your world.
I’ve found that we’re often so close to what we’re doing that we think it’s simple and easy to follow when in reality, it’s a bit of a nightmare for someone to step into.

Introduce new relationships. – Building a personal connection is a vital element of relationship building.

· Phase 6: Accomplish (This occurs when the customer achieves the result they were seeking when they first decided to do business with you.)

Now this is a key phase or milestone that very few companies pay attention to, is that right?
Know the customer’s primary goal and then celebrate with them when they achieve that milestone.

“The accomplish phase is tired to the entire reason the organization is in business and to the main promise the organization makes to any new customers during the marketing and sales process.”

Interactions fall into one of three categories:

A. Mission accomplished

B. The lukewarm bath

C. Mission failure

I’m in the online business world, you said something on page 192 that really stuck out to me that I believe will also help the audience today:

“Defy customers’ preconceived expectations. Create contrast in experience. Online customers expect that every interaction will be online. Consider adding offline interactions to bring your company and experience into the tangible world. Sending something via mail feels almost old-school in comparison with online offerings, but this contracting experience creates a remarkable interaction.”

“The mere fact that your customer achieved their desired goal or result is worthy of noting and celebrating.”

Now that we’ve helped customers achieve their original goals through the accomplish phase, let’s get into how to turn customers into lifelong customers.

· Phase 7: Adopt (The customer adopts the business and proudly shows support for the brand – This is your opportunity to build a lifelong customer!)

This is when you start earning loyalty from customers. You can turn good customers into even better customers by creating exclusive experiences and allowing them to earn unique rewards.
Make it easy for your best customers to express their loyalty. If your customers are proud to associate with your brand, they will want others to know about their brand affiliation. Make showing their support easy and fun. – Page 221

For your best customers:

Give them stuff for free.

Create incredible bonuses.

Form community among them.

Offer your best customers special treatment. Not all customers are equal!

“Take time to get to know your most loyal customers on a deep and personal level.”

Now on to the final point, the promised land of the customer experience:

· Phase 8: Advocate (The raving fan! — This is the ultimate goal in the stage of the customer life cycle.)

This is when customers become raving fans, not just regular fans. They CAN become your marketing force if you approach this correctly. When businesses properly focus on their brand advocates, they are able to save time and money on sales and marketing. Can you explain this?

How to ask for a referral from a brand advocate:

Gathering testimonials

  • Reward your customer’s positive behavior in a way that brings new customers into the fold.
  • Offer your best customers something that will be meaningful to them.
  • The best customer rewards offer exclusivity and rare opportunities and sometimes both!

“The right referral is much more important than just any referral. Thinking of your customers as your community or your family helps to make you more protective of them, and they will return the favor by bringing the right type of prospect to your door.”

Resources Mentioned in this Episode: 

▶ Joey Coleman’s Book: Never Lose a Customer Again
▶ Starter Kit: First 100 Days Starter Kit

Which of the 8 phases stood out to you the most and how will you begin to implement it into your business?