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

STORY BEHIND THE STORY

The relationships we establish and cultivate (or annihilate) between ourselves and our customers are almost the story behind the story. In many of these cases, we’re not talking about the product itself at all. Yummy-tasting ice cream from Carvel, the new electric car from Tesla, or online tax preparation software from Intuit takes a back seat to the cashier who gave a free scoop after Little Johnny dropped his cone on the floor, the dealership that drove 20 miles to help with a stalled engine and brought along a loaner car, or the social networking-community tool that helps members solve the tax problems of other members.

Take CustomInk for example. Who? Exactly. But after my experience with them, it’s more like “Who else?” It all began when I wanted to print some T-shirts advertising my video show, “JaffeJuiceTV (www.jaffejuice.tv)” My first port of call was the recognized name in consumer-generated merchandise, Café Press. However, for some reason that I can’t recall now, I decided to look elsewhere. Upon finding CustomInk via a search engine query, I put together a design and ordered six (dearly priced, I might add) T-shirts.

My first e-mail from CustomInk was on Friday, April 24. It contained an image and link to my design, including the functionality and ability to edit it, print it, share it with friends, get a quote, review sizing information, place the order (of course), and finally, post it to my blog.

I decided to order the T-shirts and then ...