Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE FUNNEL?

This book hypothesizes that there’s something inherently out of whack with the traditional marketing funnel and that there are better ways to optimize it. Most of this book concentrates on the latter approach, the “flipping” part. However, it is worthwhile to spend a little bit of time calling out several shortcomings associated with the incumbent theory in order to provide a base level of context for the suggested alternative.

It’s Out of Date

Come on; people aren’t predictable, linear, rational, or sequential beings. They probably never were. Though the four steps make sense in theory from a logical or even chronological standpoint, the buying game is very different in reality. In a word-of-mouth and word-of-mouse led world, the process of researching and buying is decidedly nonlinear, and it’s likely that some steps are skipped altogether in an always-correcting, efficient, and evolving marketplace.

It’s Lopsided or Out of Proportion

The reason the funnel is wider at one end and narrower at the other is not only because of the number of people that are theoretically present at each step but arguably because of the amount of money spent or available at each step. If you think about it, shouldn’t we be spending more money against qualified prospective buyers versus shots in the dark at bagging a random stranger? Of course we should. It’s a complete no-brainer.

It’s Oversimplified

There’s a fine line between simplifying something complex ...