Once you have caught the clientele’s attention so that you can develop their interest in your offerings in order that the vendees feel an urge to want your deliverables to make a purchase eventually, you have made the quantum leap into the Customer Journey. Providers can design the touchpoints to the closing with means that lead to a happy ending. The difficulty is finding an entry point into this Customer Journey.

As long as your targeted customers are clueless about your unique offer, your acquisition will not get off the ground. The following points will help you get over the first hurdle on the way to the closing.

Send irritating messages

To ensure your survival, evolution has prepared us to respond instinctively to unexpected stimuli – if something moves in our field of vision, we look in that direction; if we hear our name in a large crowd, we hear it despite the noise level; if someone touches our shoulder, we turn in that direction; if a distinctive smell enters our nose, we spontaneously search for the source. This ability has ensured our survival. Thus, we are warned of unforeseen dangers – the saber-toothed tiger, the venomous snake, the poisonous spider, the enemy in ambush. This evolutionary ability can be harnessed today to attract audiences. Sensual, verbal, normative, or illogical attention catchers can also be used in trade.

• Create in your reach signals that catch the eye of passers-by and encourage them to turn to your offer. Japanese store windows attract customers with Maneki-nekos (i.e., cats that are waving the left arm). All over the world, flashing lights can be found in store windows to quicken interest. Bakeries draw in even indecisive shoppers with the smell of fresh bread.
• Use ad copies that violate the learned patterns of those passing people. Thus, typos, modified sayings, or unexpected cause-effect relationships create the desired attention – e.g., Lck of mony; Prolbem solution; The usual mitsake; Chainsh man age men; All cats are grey in the ark; If you race, you rust.
• The violation of good manners or political correctness creates not only spontaneous attention but also ongoing discussions. In the past, examples of shock advertising were provided by Benetton – an unwashed newborn; a bloodstained shirt with a bullet hole; the kiss between a priest and a nun.
• Baffling questions and paradoxes grab the attention of the audience. What do you not need now? Do you want to get ahead by standing still? How do you prolong your boredom? We guarantee less for more; Be spontaneous!
• Put a frown on the forehead of strollers by extensively revealing no information. To do this, rave about huge benefits without naming them or disclosing what makes them happen. Publish your phone number (555 4711) with the headline You can call, but we still won’t tell. Hide your offer behind a curtain or under a blanket and use a countdown: nn days left!

Use Trojan horses

In recent decades, the wooden horse that sealed the Trojan War has achieved new honors in IT. In the meantime, marketing has discovered this approach for itself. In this way, the reputation and publicity of another offer can be co-used to publicize your proposals.

• With sponsorship, you become visible in events: logo presentation on event posters, packaging, promotional items, banners, and other PR, as well as by providing your information material in the setting of the sponsor.
• Product placement shows your products in a unique environment – film, computer game, book, magazine. These unexpected appearances reach people who are usually not considered as a target group.
• In affiliate marketing, you appear in the reach of an established offer. Additionally, you also become part of an affiliate network and thus gain from the other partners.
• You use social networks by posting contributions or comments – with a corresponding reference. Depending on the size and fame of the selected circle, you earn fitting prestige.

Execute permitted cold calling

Cold calling, i.e., commercially contacting previously unknown people, continues to be the golden road to acquire new customers, despite legal limitations.

• In the past, vendors stood in a market and addressed passers-by or shouted their offers to the crowd. This can still work today if you can find a marketplace with interested parties. Trade fairs and public events organized by associations and clubs are conceivable.
• The classic home visits are also imaginable. However, when it comes to companies, it is crucial to be admitted to the potential prospects. On the companies’ websites and in social networks, such as XING or LinkedIn, you can learn in advance about the companies and possible contacts – and, with a bit of luck, arrange an appointment.
• Contacting strangers via mailings requires addressing them personally. For this purpose, add the full name of the recipient to the address. The actual letter should also be formulated personally. The software supports the time-consuming preparation of the cover letters.
• SEO has developed into a science of its own. In contrast to large-scale media and outdoor advertising, this approach provides new opportunities. Herewith even the smallest target groups can be reached. Besides, follow-up actions are programmable based on the reaction of the targeted customers (e.g., ClickFunnels).

Bottom line: Customer acquisition is a critical topic for all firms. Even companies that, based on previous relations, already have customers always ask, how do I tap into the 99% of customers I do not know, and most importantly: who do not know me yet. Consultants support the management of the purchase funnel (i.e., the customer journey toward a conversion). The Customer Journey does not start until the magic quantum leap happens from cluelessness to attention. Irritating messages, Trojan horses, and allowed cold calling support this. However, the prerequisite is a coherent business model with concrete offers. Based on your capabilities, the above measures can then be executed, which in the best case enable the step into the funnel. Instead of expensive consultants, a comprehensible procedure with appropriate templates (e.g., Fletchermethod) is sometimes sufficient. Does this guarantee the step into the customer journey? Unfortunately not. But the likelihood of being noticed increases.