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

‘…[Jaffe's] fresh outlook on the changes facing the marketing environment provide an insightful read…' (BusinessandLeadership.com, July 2010).

Why customer retention is the new acquisition

If there's anything the recession of 2009 taught us, it was the importance of investing in our customers, but when was this any different? So says Joseph Jaffe, bestselling author of Life After the 30-Second Spot and Join the Conversation, and a leading expert and thought leader on new media and social media. In most businesses, it costs roughly five-to-ten times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one, and yet companies continue to disproportionately spend their budgets into the "wrong" end of the funnel – the mass media or awareness side.

What we haven't paid enough attention to is the "right" end of the funnel-the word-of-mouth component that essentially acts as a multiplier for future business. The economic impact of an active, engaged and loyal customer is tremendous.

And the same is true of the opposite scenario, namely the impact of angry customers and negative word-of-mouth or referrals. It is this thinking that Jaffe has channeled to challenge marketers to "flip the funnel" once and for all. With a renewed focus and energy on customer experience, it is possible to grow your sales, while decreasing your budget – in other words, getting more from less. Engaging a few customers to spread the word to many.

Using this new "flipped funnel" model, together with a set of new rules of customer service and a revolutionary customer referral and activation process, you'll learn how to transform your existing customers into your best salespeople. In addition, Jaffe will explain how to best introduce and combine both digital and social media tools to boost your loyalty arsenal, deploy "influencer marketing" and implement word-of-mouth strategies that inspire your loyal, opinionated, and most vocal customers to become credible, persuasive, and influential endorsers of your products and services.

• Explains how to cut your marketing budget AND grow sales!
• Illustrates practical ways to use existing customers to reach out to new prospects
• Outlines the authentic role of social media
• Demonstrates key ideas with rich, real life examples including Comcast, Apple, The Obama Campaign, Dell, Panasonic, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and many, many more
• Written by one of the most sought-after consultants, keynote speakers, and thought-leaders on new marketing change and innovation; renowned blogger and podcaster at Jaffe Juice (www.jaffejuice.com) and host/presenter of web video show, JaffeJuiceTV (www.jaffejuice.tv)

Visit www.flipthefunnelnow.com to join the conversation.

When you consider customer acquisition for your business, think about this question for a moment: how much of your sales come from repeat business versus first-time customers? Now contrast that against how much money you spend against each segment. If you are embarrassed by the gaping disconnect, don't worry; you are not alone. But what if you did something about it? What if you turned everything on its head and instead of ending with a customer purchase, you began with it? What if you focused the lion's share of your effort, energy, and budget on keeping customers versus attracting them? What if you could correct this imbalance and, in doing so, not only get your customers to keep coming back for more, but tell others to do so as well?

Joseph Jaffe loves to take on such sacred cows in business practice, turning them on their heads and shaking them up to see what falls out. Building on what this prolific thought leader started in Life After the 30-Second Spot and Join the Conversation, Flip the Funnel brings you a radically new, radically common sense look at customer experience as the key to business success.

Get ready to do a 180 on everything you thought you knew about marketing as Flip the Funnel:

• Explains how to cut your marketing budget and grow sales by focusing on what really matters— your customers and employees

• Outlines the real role of social media

• Reveals the hidden potential of influencers and evangelists

• Illustrates practical ways to use existing customers to reach out to new prospects

• Shows how retention can be the new acquisition

• Demonstrates key ideas with rich, real-life examples including Comcast, Apple, the Obama campaign, Dell, Panasonic, American Airlines, Zappos, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, and many, many more

Using his newly introduced "flipped funnel" model (A.D.I.A.), together with a set of new rules of customer service (customer service 2.0) and a revolutionary customer referral and activation process, you'll learn how to transform your existing customers into your best salespeople, discover how to strategically differentiate your brand, save money, and forge lasting customer relationships along the way.

"Zappos is devoted to delivering happiness through great customer service. In Flip the Funnel, Jaffe outlines a way to authentically build companies by making the most of the dedication and loyalty of their employees and customers." —Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com

"Flip The Funnel is a book you must read. It's the perfect business book for these times. It will make you think, reassess, and act in new and better ways—profitable ways. It's real, it's realistic, and it's reality."—Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling

"This book will make you think. Really hard. And if you're lucky, take action."—Seth Godin, author of Tribes

"From here on out, your relationship with your customer will be your only major differentiator. Mr. Jaffe shows you how to create those relationships in ways never before possible, thanks to emerging new technologies and his clever new ways to use them."—Bob Greenberg, Vice President, Brand Marketing Group, Panasonic Corporation of North America

"It is evident in today's increasingly digital and ever-changing world that conventional thinking will lead to conventional results. Joseph strikes an important message for all industries that we must continue to challenge the status quo and rethink everything as it relates to our business, our brands, and, most importantly, our customers." —Michael Mendenhall, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, HP

JOSEPH JAFFE is President and Chief Interrupter of crayon, a strategic consultancy that helps clients leverage new media and social media to effect transformational change. Prior to launching crayon, Joseph was Director of Interactive Media at TBWA\Chiat\Day and OMD USA. Jaffe hosts a Web video show on marketing called Jaffe Juice TV (www.jaffejuice.tv). He also publishes a popular and influential marketing blog and audio podcast called Jaffe Juice (www.jaffejuice.com). Jaffe is the author of two previous books, bestselling Life After the 30-Second Spot and Join the Conversation. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School and the Society for New Communications Research. Contact him at jaffe@crayonville.com or follow him on Twitter: @jaffejuice