Regardless of what you are selling, your business should be working to attract and convert customers. In this workshop, learn how to use sales funnel and customer journey frameworks to map an epic customer journey online. Originally presented at Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business "Connects Series" by Laurie Barkman, CEO SmallDotBig

1. Advance Your Internet
Selling Power
February 26, 2018
Laurie Barkman, MBA TPR ’99

2. 20+ years of “multi-marketing”
B2C
Omni-Channel
B2B
Software & Services

3. Who is in the audience today?
A.Entrepreneurs looking for ideas to grow their
business.
B.Students preparing for job interviews.
C.Professionals enhancing their toolbox.
D.Just here for the food.

4. Today’s agenda
(4) Map the customer journey
(1) Buyer personas
(2) Influencers and decision makers
(5) “Bonus round” + Q&A
(3) SSF marketing funnels

5. Image Credit: Forest Gump 1994, Viacom

6. Buyer Persona
Define who you are trying to reach
• Characteristics that describe the companies or
individuals you want as customers.
• Composite picture of the real people who buy,
or might buy, products or services like yours.

7. Why Buyer Personas matter
• Crowded advertising space
• Democratized tools for ads
• Marketing stack sophistication
• Ultra targeted communications

8. Define major elements for
each persona
• Location (and excluding location)
• Age range
• Gender
• Interests
• Education level
• Job title
• Income level
• Relationship status
• Languages
• Favorite websites
• Buying motivation
• Buying concerns

9. Software

10. Higher Education

11. Shutterstock
Jeans

12. Build a persona
Example: Jeans Buyer

13. Start broad, then drill-down
First, identify broad buying groups
1. End Consumer
2. Wholesale
Accounts
• Men purchasing
for themselves
• Women or men
buying as gifts
• Women
purchasing for
themselves

14. “BUYER NAME”
Location: Excluding Location:
Residence Type:
Age Range:
Gender:
Interests:
Education Level:
Job Title:
Household Income:
Relationship Status:
Languages Spoken:
Favorite Websites:
Buying Motivation:
Buying Concerns:

15. Today’s agenda
(4) Map the customer journey
(1) Customer targets and personas
(2) Influencers and decision makers
(5) “Bonus round” + Q&A
(3) SSF marketing funnels

16. Source: Giphy

17. How? Talk to real people.
• Ask buyers to walk you through their decision, starting with the moment they
decided to solve this problem.
• Each in-depth conversation should take 20 to 30 minutes. Take notes.
• Have an agenda, but be flexible to go off-script.

18. For
established
businesses
• Conduct
interviews
• Facebook
insights
• Google Analytics
Audience reports
For
new
businesses
• Conduct interviews
• Evaluate competition
• Traffic: SimilarWeb
or Compete
• Visit competitor blogs
and social media
pages

19. Four types of buyers
All yield influence
• Technical Buyer – screen out and evaluate
suppliers products and services
• User Buyer – use and benefit from the
suppliers offering
• Economic Buyer – ultimately approve the
purchase of the suppliers products and
services
• Coach – can guide and inform you
The New Strategic Selling, Miller Heiman

20. Learn about buying motivations
and concerns
• Priority initiatives
• Success factors
• Perceived barriers
• Buying process
• Decision criteria **
** Also talk to non-buyers and
those who chose a competitor.

21. Questions to ask buyers
• Priority initiatives: What are the 3-5 problems or areas that you
dedicate time, budget, and political capital to?
• Success factors: What are the tangible or intangible metrics or
rewards that you associate with success?
• Perceived barriers: What factors could prompt you to question
whether or not this solution/product can help with achieving your
success factors?
• Buying process: What process do you follow in exploring and
selecting a solution that can overcome perceived barriers and
achieve your success factors?
• Decision criteria: What aspects of each product will you assess in
evaluating alternative solutions available?
• Include insights from buyers who chose a competitor and those
who decided not to buy at all.

22. Interviewing buyers
Software Buyer
• Priority initiatives:
• Success factors:
• Perceived barriers:
• Buying process:
• Decision criteria:
Hiring great engineers
Cost to hire; time to hire; retention rates
Not HR experts. Busy engineering team.
Cost. Ease of use.
Use product. Ask questions. Talk to Support.
Type of Buyer: Economic

23. Interviewing buyers
Jeans Buyer
• Priority initiatives:
• Success factors:
• Perceived barriers:
• Buying process:
• Decision criteria:
Type of Buyer:

24. Interviewing buyers
College Buyer
• Priority initiatives:
• Success factors:
• Perceived barriers:
• Buying process:
• Decision criteria:
Type of Buyer:

25. Today’s agenda
(3) SSF marketing funnels
(4) Map the customer journey
(1) Customer targets and personas
(2) Influencers and decision makers
(5) “Bonus round” + Q&A

26. Source: Disney Giphy

27. SSF Method
Create different marketing funnels for
different decision making lanes.
Fast Lane
• Acutely aware of
the need.
• Keeping them
awake at night
• Ready to
purchase a
solution, as long
as it meets their
needs and
overcomes their
objections.
Sidewalk
• Unaware of
the problem
you can solve.
• Experiencing
the problem,
but not yet
ready to act.
• Far from
being ready to
buy anything
from you.
Slow Lane
• Aware of the need.
• Starting to look, want
to find a solution
before it gets worse.
• Want to make an
informed choice.
• Actively seeking
information and
looking up to
authority figures to
show them the way.
Inc. 2016; SSF attributed to Scott Oldford of INFINITUS. Images from Freepik.

28. SSF example:
Software Economic Buyer
• Takes a long
time to get
candidates hired.
• Team working
long hours.
• Recently lost
good candidate
to competitor.
• Spoke to CEO
forum about
problems.
• CEOs
recommended
software.
• Researched
solutions online.
• Signed up for
free trial.
• Spoke with
Support Team.
• Evaluated
product with
key managers.

29. SSF example:
Jeans _____ Buyer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

30. SSF for:
Your product _____ Buyer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Your
Product

32. Justin
Sperandeo
Companies we’ve scaled:

33. Built to Scale pitch

34. Today’s agenda
(4) Map the customer journey
(1) Customer targets and personas
(2) Influencers and decision makers
(3) SSF marketing funnels
(5) “Bonus round” + Q&A

35. What is a customer journey
map?
• Visual representation of steps and perceptions
that a specific customer goes through over a
period of time to accomplish a specific goal
that may include some interactions with your
company.
• Identify how customers view the process by
putting interactions in the context of the
customer’s goals, objectives and activities.

36. How to map the journey of
your customers
1. Begin with a client or persona and a particular journey.
2. Develop a chronological list of the stages of the journey.
3. Develop an objective for each stage.
4. For each stage, note the steps and whether your
company is involved.
5. Record customers’ expectations. Record potential
obstacles and bright spots.
6. For each stage, plot the expectations versus the actual
experience.
7. For each stage, what would make the life of the
customer easier, and make the outcome better?

38. Source: Accent Technologies

39. Jeans Buyer
Persona: Type of Buyer:

40. Graduate School Buyer
Persona: Type of Buyer:

41. Your product buyer
Persona: Type of Buyer:

42. Source: QuestionPro
Persona: Type of Buyer:

43. Today’s agenda
(4) Map the customer journey
(1) Customer targets and personas
(2) Influencers and decision makers
(3) SSF marketing funnels
(5) “Bonus round” + Q&A

44. How I hire…
• Strengths + motivations + fit
• Self-starter
• Coachable
• Relevant experience or springboard
• Owner identity
• Teammate identity
• Accountable
• Connects the dots
• Likeable

45. What I read…
• What will inform my role?
• What are my customers
reading?
• What will help me
understand the macro
view of my industry?
• What are my competitors
up to?
• What will make me a
better leader?
• HBR
• McKinsey Insights
• Medium
• Content Marketing
Institute
• News alerts
• Industry publications
and newsletters
• Competitive emails
• Influence Without
Authority, Cohen &
Bradford
• One Minute Manager,
Ken Blanchard
• 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People,
Stephen Covey

46. Whether your budget is $0.00
or $100,000,000…
• Talk to customers
• Tailor your selling strategy
• Test and learn
• Measure & celebrate
• Double down on wins
• Be honest about what didn’t work

47. Summary
• Start with buyer personas as the foundation of
your internet selling strategy.
• Understand who influences decisions.
• Map the buyer journey and marketing
touchpoints to provide value and consideration
by buyer readiness -- sidewalk, slow, and fast
lanes.
• Get started and modify over time– it’s your
company’s own journey. Enjoy the ride!

48. Thank you
/lauriebarkman
• Q&A
• Feedback survey