Al Green and the customer journey

"Let's...let's stay together....loving you forever." The great Al Green recorded this song in 1971 about loving someone no matter what was going on in their lives. True commitment.

How does this song relate to marketing and the 'customer journey?'

We all have journeys in our life and just because a company is not a person it has it's own journey. The journey for a company is assisted by it's relationship with it's customers. How do they meet? Well...most marketing experts will say that they had a hand in the introductions (which they do) but there's more to get a friendly introduction from a company to a consumer. There needs to be something beyond the razzle dazzle of looking good on the first date and that's where marketing can take a lead.

"May I have this dance?"

Marketing leads to acquisition cycle BUT marketing can also assist in;

Retention Cycle. Most times marketing ‘ends’ after acquisition cycle but marketers have to focus on retaining or as Al Green would sing "Cause you make me feel so brand new and I want to spend my life with you".

This is what the client is interested in. Come back to us all the time...never leave.

Even the definition of the word 'retention is synonymous with control.

Retention - the continued possession, use, or control of something. The fact of keeping something in one's memory. The action of absorbing and continuing to hold a substance.

That's one hell of a possessive partner but we are talking about marketing.

Marketing prides itself in 'gaining attention'....

but where is the focus on the maintaining the customers interests? If you were to treat your brand like Al Green treated the focus of this song then your customers would always come running back.

Easy to say but 'how do you accomplish this?'

Deliver on your promises. Turn that positive emotion your customer has with you into a positive memory. Remind them of their experience because memories DRIVE relationships. A STRONG relationship can turn your customer from a date into a long term relationship.

When you focus your value on the customer it makes everything easier moving forward and every time you hear that soothing sound you know you will 'stay together.