Flip the Funnel: Halve your Budget; Double your Revenue

It's time. It's time to talk about my new book. Finally. It's time to talk about why retention is the new acquisition. it's time to talk about the new rules of customer service and how customer service can become THE key strategic differentiator. It's time to talk about the REAL role of social media.

It's time to ask this question, "what if we got it all wrong?" What if all of marketing was completely backwards? If 75% (or more) of our revenue comes from returning customers, why on earth are we only investing 25% (or less) against them? If 20% (or less) of our customers are responsible for 80% (or more) of our revenue or volume, why don't we know each and every one of these customers by name? What are we explicitly doing for them? Or just watch this video:

The other day my colleague, Greg Verdino (himself an author) basically said to me, "what the hell is going on with promoting your new book?" loosely paraphrased and translated as, "what the hell is going on with promoting your new book?" Or why haven't you done a thing to pre-sell and ramp up buzz etc about the book's release?

Actually until this post, I haven't even officially acknowledged the NAME of the book (with a dedicated post). Here's why:

1. I've been busy
2. There's way too much artificial hype, misdirection and fluff associated with books nowadays. When I began my author journey with "Life after the 30-second spot" in 2004/2005, getting a book deal actually meant something. Today, anyone with a budget can buy a book deal. Or anyone willing to pretty much whore out their integrity by including the word, "Twitter" in a headline gets published. Then there's all the "marketing" tactics hype and the fluff support from cronies (poorly veiled as community). I'm not going for any of this, this time round. I've done it before, but this time - more than ever - I want the content to speak for itself. And I want my readers to help me with the marketing as in "use your existing customers to gain new ones" (the book's sub-head), which brings me to...
3. I'm a big believer in "Using New Marketing to Prove New Marketing" (UNM2PNM) - in other words, letting the book's principles and practices market itself. One of the central messages in the book is, "instead of ending with the purchase, BEGIN with the purchase." Start with the narrow end of the funnel and build from there. Translation: it's less about a big bang and more about "slow and steady wins the race." That's what I'm doing this time round.

So what's the book about?

• It's about the rise of customer experience; the new rules of customer service; the reinvention of retention, loyalty, CRM and service not as a passive, defensive, reactive and static "back office" funtion, but instead as a proactive, offensive, dynamic and "front office" strategic imperative.
• It's about slaughtering one of the all-time sacred cows of marketing, the traditional marketing (and sales) funnel and replacing it with the flipped funnel.
• It's about restablishing order, balance and equilibrium from a lopsided and disproportionate acquisition obsessed and heavy end to an optimized and self-fulfilling ecosystem which builds existing customers into the ongoing go-to-market process and strategy.
• It's about merging customer service and word-of-mouth
• It's about converting loyalists and advocates into evangelists, influencers and ambassadors
• It's about winning in a recession by recognizing that without our customers, we have no business; and without our employees, we have no way of doing business (there's a dedicated chapter on the importance of flipping the funnel for employees)
• It's about A.D.I.A.

 
I could go on, but hopefully that's enough to get you hungry enough to find out more.

The book's foreword was written by The Consumerist's Ben Popken and the likes of Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, Best-selling authors Seth Godin and Jeffrey Gitomer, HP CMO, Michael Mendenhall and Panasonic's CMO, Bob Greenberg have endorsed the book.

Case studies include a host of very recent and topical examples, as well as a ton of unexpected and original illustrations including: Zappos, USAA, Virgin America, United (breaks Guitars), Domino's, Umpqua Bank, President Obama (he flipped the funnel and he may need to again...), Delta (Skelter), American Express (#fail), American Airlines, Hyundai, Best Buy, Panasonic, Comcast (cares), CustomInk, Three Wolf Moon, Coca-Cola and more.

Or just watch this video:

Here's a litany of information you might find useful:

• The book's website: www.flipthefunnelnow.com
• The books's twitter profile: www.twitter.com/flipthefunnel
• The book's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/flipthefunnel
• Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders.com and CEO-READ links to purchase online

It's time to P-A-R-T Why? Because I gotta!

If you're in New York City this Thursday, February 11th, come join me for a launch party and mixer at the Roger Smith Hotel from 6-8pm. More information here.

There's more....

I want the marketing thrust to come from "customers" i.e. readers i.e. hopefully you :) Here are a bunch of ways I'm going to be doing this:

"Bulk Sales"

Sounds crude, but in reality it's very much "on strategy" in the form of recognizing and rewarding my customers. So here's how it works: If you purchase...

• 75 books, I'll give you 1 x 30 minute telephone or VoIP Q&A about the book
• 250 books, I'll set up 1 x 1 hour in-person meeting (plus expenses) which can be Q&A book related or can be used for a general brainstorm
• 500 books, I'll provide a 1 x 1 hour webinar presentation with a 30 minute Q&A afterwards
• 1,000 books, you'll get 1 x in person keynote presentation (US/North America) plus expenses
• 1,500+ books, I'll hop across the border for a 1 x in person keynote presentation (international) plus expenses 

There aren't many terms or conditions, but I will just call out the following:

• This is obviously schedule permitting
• My travel preferences are quite particular and I'll need them adhered to (it's a loyalty thing)
• Any requests that involve travel to places like Japan, Australia, Russia, Brazil, South Africa etc. may involve a little more noodling (hell, you're far away!)

"Barnes & Noble (and Borders) Groundswell"

I'm not going to whine too much (more), but let's just say that most of the books you see on the "New Releases" and "Best in Business" section are 100% paid for placements. There's a sucker born every minute and I guess the old school publishers and buyers think you're dumb and I'm dumb. We're not.

So here's what I'd REALLY REALLY REALLY like you to do. Purchase your copy of "Flip the Funnel" in-store at a Barnes & Noble or a Borders. Specifically go in and pick it up and if there aren't copies available, order one. Or two. Or three. Or more.

And let me know about it...so I can let them know about it. As a thank you, I'll sign your copy (or copies for your clients, customers or colleagues perhaps) when I see you. I'll also acknowledge you on my blog or the book's website.

"I've reviewed the book"

There's no reason why "Flip the Funnel" shouldn't get more reviews than Twilight, Harry Potter, Good to Great or even "Three Wolf Moon". Why? Because I'm specifically asking you to review the book on a Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com site.

It's part of the "C" of Content Creation and Commendations in the 3-C Customer Activation Model

As I write in the book, I'd prefer an honest 4-star review over an empty 5-star review (although let me clear, an honest 5-star review is always best!)

When you've done this, please add yourself to the dedicated section on the book's site.

As an incentive (the "I" in A.D.I.A.), I'll pick one (or more) person randomly every month and give them something special (like a phone or meeting Q&A or even a guest slot on the Flip the Funnel podcast)

Of course you can still request a review copy via my publicist...

The Flip the Funnel Podcast

I haven't started it yet, but I promise to have the first episode out in February. This is the "D" of Dialogue in the Flipped Funnel. Every month, I'll tackle one chapter of the book and answer questions about the chapter in particular, but also general themes behind the book. Think of it like a Director's Cut or Commentary, except that you get to interact and participate as you wish.

"The Flip the Funnel Roadshow"

I'll be on the road soon. Dates to be announced. There will be meet-up or tweet-ups which ONLY people who have purchased the book can attend. This cuts right through Acknowledgement (of purchase), Dialogue (as in a delicious glass of Stella Artois), Incentive (see: Stella) and Activation (the community element).

New Keynote Material

I've also developed an entirely new set of material for keynote presentations (and based on reaction at MarketingSherpa's e-mail conference, this is resonating strongly) to complement my "Life after the 30-second spot" and "Join the Conversation" keynotes about new media innovation and social media respectively. If you want to book me for a speaking engagement, find out more here.

Here's a sneak peak at 3 new titles:

1. Flip the Funnel: How to use existing customers to gain new ones - In his keynote, Joseph Jaffe will outline how retention can become the new acquisition for businesses today and in doing so, literally transform the way companies go to market and establish a critical competitive edge and advantage. Using his new “flipped funnel” methodology, Jaffe will outline the notion of customer experience, introduce the 10 new rules of customer service and present a social media-powered customer activation model that harnesses the true potential and impact of customer-generated word-of-mouth, reviews and referrals. If “getting more from less” has become your new mandate, you won’t want to miss a new approach which presents the possibility of doubling your revenues whilst halving your budget in the process.
2. Retention is the new acquisition - For too long loyalty, customer service and relationship marketing have been thought of as passive, reactionary and/or defensive tactics. No more. In a world that is becoming ever more transparent, networked and dynamic, listening and responding has become a cultural imperative. But the real question is, “with whom?” And the answer is an unequivocal, “our customers”. In fact if you think about it, without our customers we have no business; we have no budget to invest in acquisition or awareness efforts. If this is in fact the case, why do we continue to throw good money after bad wooing strangers with no overt or explicit affinity towards our brand? Why do we relatively ignore our lifeblood – our customers? What would happen if we turn conventional business practices on its head and in doing so, elevate CRM, loyalty and retention marketing to head of the class; from back to front office; give it its deserved seat at the strategic planning table? What might the result be? Flip the funnel and you’ll find out for yourself!
3. The new customer service - This is no longer your grandfather’s customer service. With the explosive and exponential advances and evolution in technology innovation and adoption, companies have limitless opportunities to connect with their customers in unprecedented ways. No longer considered to be a cost center, but indeed a strategic imperative capable of building the business – efficiently and effectively – from the inside-out. Using a revolutionary “flipped funnel” methodology, author and thought leader Joseph Jaffe will introduce and outline how customer service 2.0 – and its umbrella parent, customer experience – can become a powerful 1-2 punch capable of profoundly differentiating a brand from its competitors, establishing powerful relationships with customer evangelists and influencers and more importantly, arming this base with tools, techniques and incentives to spread word-of-mouth, recommendations and referrals to social networks, trusted peers and communities.

Flip the Funnel for your business - Powered by Powered

So far, pretty much every marketing exec I've spoken to has been incredibly enamored with the potential and possibility of implementing a flipped funnel methodology for their own business. Over the months to come, I'll be working closely with my new colleagues to develop and implement the book's vision, ideas and processes for key brand (perhaps even yours).

I think that's enough for now. Assuming you've even read this far. Can you tell how energized and passionate I am about this subject? It's my third book and feels the closest to the "truth". They say there's no silver bullet in marketing, but honestly....I think this just might be it!

What are you waiting for? It's time to Flip the Funnel. Now!

PS The idea of doubling your revenues WHILST SIMULTANESOULY halving your marketing budget is both anecdotal and aspirational, but I don't think it's far fetched at all.