C is for Consistency. And a few other things… The ABCs of Selling

Consistency, customers and conversions

Our next stop on the ABCs of Selling is C. C for Consistency. But of course, C also stands for Customer and Conversion. So in this piece I want to take a look at what consistency means, and how consistency delivers more customers and conversions. Let’s start with a brief recap.

The ABCs of Selling

A is for Adding Value – the best thing you can do for a customer. Identifying their true pain point and being ready with a solution will deliver satisfied and loyal customers. And B is of course Being Visible, being in front of them and in the channels they prefer. This is now within the reach of almost all businesses, via the distribution channels of digital and social.

So onto Consistency. What does “consistency” really mean? Well, for starters, consistency is a hugely important part of marketing. Most customers spend two to three weeks through their in-market phase. Upstream of this they are in research and prospect phases. Consistency through each of these phases is vital to cut-through.

Committing to your customer

Here’s Hubspot’s State of Inbound report, contributing to our understanding of consistency’s value. Customers will generally check your website at least two to three times as part of their research. This can be spread over days or even months. So driving customers via digital or social marketing means consistency in messaging, spread over longer periods, is absolutely key.

There’s another thing to consider. Your consistency can’t just be in one channel. Remember that your customer these days is fragmented – they don’t just use one channel for information. So your messaging needs consistency whether in digital marketing, social, physical advertising (if you decide to go this route), and then of course onto your site.

Let’s take a look at your customer pool again. They tend to fall into three camps.

1. Customers currently in market. These guys started researching around a month back. And even when moving in-market, they remain researching.
2. Customers who aren’t yet researching, but are starting to think about their particular problem or pain point. The largest group you need to consider, at any point these guys make up 20-50% of your potential pool. The importance of getting in front of these guys shouldn’t need emphasising…
3. And finally, there’s a whole bunch of customers who aren’t yet in-market.These guys may not even know they have a problem. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore them. Consistency in messaging, even to those not yet searching, reinforces your chances of success when they do enter the market.

The long game

Consider how different the needs of these three customer groups are. If you’re using content marketing to reach these customers it should be clear why consistency rules. But there’s another thing at play here, something I see a lot of people on my social feed getting wrong.

If you are serious about the ABCs of Selling you can’t just jump into content and expect an immediate result. Consistency and customer lifecycles demand a longer play. The relationship you and your customer need to forge takes time to establish, across all the stages of customer commitment. And that’s only going to come with consistency and a long term strategy from you.

Delivering results through a long term commitment

For me, this is about an investment in the future. Consistency allows me to show potential customers how I can add value and help them grow their business. That’s not about a video today, maybe a blog tomorrow, or lead magnet to deliver the result next week. The longer I’m committed to inbound and content the more I understand this sort of timeline and cycle just doesn’t exist. It’s a process that can take months – the relationships I’ve established over the last few months are only now delivering me customers. It’s a commitment to a long term content play, aligned with consistency, that’s now delivering results for my business.

But wait… there’s more…

I’ve got a bit of a bonus up my sleeve too – one more piece for you. This time on D… or “deals”. I’ll show you how putting the right tempting offers in market can open an entry point for you to your customers. Stay tuned for more…

KS