Reflection on Flip the Funnel by Joseph Jaffe - Admission/Application Essay Example

?In his book, Flip the Funnel, Joseph Jaffe presents the reader with something of a paradigm shift from the way in which traditional marketing and sales have been carried out since the inception of business marketing and a renewed focus upon customer engagement. As a means of understanding these new paradigms to a better and more complete degree, the following discussion and analysis will be concentric upon explaining Jaffe’s approach and detailing the ways in which he advocates that this new paradigm should be implemented in place of the old and rather ineffective approach that so many businesses have integrated with over the past several decades. Further, as a means of illustrating how Jaffe’s approach differs from the traditional approach, the analysis will consider the old paradigm alongside the new one put forward by Jaffe as a means of providing the reader with an informed understanding of the differentials between the two as well as a brief discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of both. Naturally, as one might assume, the strengths that Jaffe denotes for his own paradigm necessarily outweigh those strengths that exist within the old funnel paradigm; likewise, the same can be said to be true for the relationship that the weaknesses have to both of these approaches. In addition to merely discussing the means by which Jaffe promotes a new model, the analysis will also focus upon some of the means by which a firm might seek to engage in this model as a means of promoting further sales and engaging current and past consumers with a greater degree of self-awareness and satisfaction. Firstly, with regards to the old paradigm, the reader can come to understand this as a funnel shaped convention by which a large level of money is expended at the very top of the funnel as a means of generating awareness, this awareness then hopefully translates to interest which is then translated to desire, ultimately leading to action on the part of the individual consumer translating to sales. This process, that has been defined, is one that requires a great deal of initial investment and integration with the consumer that is not guaranteed to have any ultimate effect in the end. In such a way, Jaffe argues that this approach ultimately wastes billions of dollars each and every year on marketing to a wide audience that ultimately will not integrate with the given product whatsoever. In short, cash strapped firms are throwing away valuable resources marketing to demographics and individuals that have little if any use for the products that they offer and ultimately will not purchase them even if marketed to effectively. As Jaffe denotes, this funnel shaped approach seeks to increase consumer satisfaction at each successive stage of the decision matrix which is been provided (awareness, interest, desire, and action). However, realizing that such an approach is wasteful and does not help to further the particular needs of a growing business through representations of consumer integration and wise marketing, Jaffe proposes a complete shift away from this paradigm. By flipping the final, Jaffe presents the reader with a situation in which a far smaller amount of money is necessitated to be spent as a means of affecting a greater level of profitability and self sustainment/satisfaction on the part of the consumer. According to Jaffe: “This is all about growing your business while shrinking your budget; about getting more from less at a time when business needs and even demands it. It is about eliminating waste, and focusing dollars on the people who really matter: your customers. It is about harnessing the hidden potential of two incredibly under-utilized constituencies: customer evangelists and employees. We begin with this in mind: an economic boom in the form of more business. During trying times, our opportunity does not come from cutting costs, mitigating risk, or trading off quality for quantity. It instead comes from ramping up our investment and commitment. So why don’t you listen more, respond more, learn more and do more – using a new customer – behavior and activation model called flipped funnel” (Jaffe 2). Within this model, Jaffe proposes, that this “flipped funnel” will serve to generate as many positive results as the prior model which has been discussed. In effect, the model of the funnel that Jaffe promotes looks something like the following: big knowledge meant leading to a degree of dialogue that then leads to a degree of incentivizing and ultimately leading to activation on the part of further sales/profitability. In comparison to the model which it has been presented above, self sustainment increases at each successive step. The self-sustaining nature of this entity therefore requires a lower level of investment to perennially be made in order to keep this particular approach relevant and meeting the needs of the individual consumer. Whereas the prior approach merely sought to expended a massive amount of investment to generate a degree of sales, this particular approach is unique due to the fact that it only markets to the individuals who are highly likely to integrate with the product or service in question; due to the fact that they have already integrated with a good or service in question in the past. However, although this particular model exhibits a great deal of strength, it must be noted that one of the key weaknesses that is evident is with regards to the fact that the success or failure of this plan hinges upon the ultimate satisfaction level that the original consumer has with regards to the good or service in question. In order for this to work, it is necessary for a favorable view of the company or service/good to remain in the mind of the consumer. If merely a neutral, or at worst negative, idea or impression exists within the mind of the consumer, such an approach will ultimately collapse and failed. Naturally, the same can be said with regards to the traditional funnel; however, extensive marketing and rebranding approaches can change the way in which consumers approach given products or services. In order for a firm to integrate with this particular dynamic that has been promoted by Jaffe and referenced within this essay, it will be necessary to change a great deal of business processes in order to ensure that the effects will be positive. The first change which must be integrated is with regards to employee training and key concepts of customer integration/customer service. Secondly, it will be necessary for a paradigm shift to be made with regards to the client service agreements that might exist with marketing firms and or outreach programs that the firm currently engages in. As a means of making a smooth segue between the two, it will be necessary to continue these costly marketing techniques until such a time as key training and preliminary implementation of the flipped funnel approach can be integrated. Lastly, a degree of time must be allowed for this flipped funnel approach to lead to further sales. So many times within business and marketing, individuals and decision-makers are frustrated by the slow level of progress that marketing plans are able to achieve. However, in order for this consumer integration approach to yield positive benefits, it is necessary for the stakeholders in question to provide enough time for employees and business approach to have positive impacts upon the end consumer and necessarily translate to consumer evangelism and positive word-of-mouth; thereby directly correlated to increase sales and profitability for the entity in question. In short, it is the belief of this author that the flipped funnel approach, although highly positive and representing a new paradigm within business, is not for each and every business; rather, it is for those businesses that are of the right size and have the right determinant compliments that could lend them to this particular model an approach to consumer satisfaction. Work Cited Jaffe, Joseph. Flip the funnel : how to use existing customers to gain new ones. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2010. Print Read More