Marketing and sales have always shared the task of generating and securing the growth of companies over the long term. Models such as the sales funnel are considered a popular approach for this, and this may be true for the pure acquisition of new customers. However, once you have gone through this sales funnel, it loses its applicability to the further development of customers. The flywheel circular model is completely different. Read how you can use flywheel marketing to attract, inspire and develop customers in the long term.
Flywheel Marketing
The flywheel principle is a modern strategy that is used to acquire lawyer database new customers and retain them .
The term flywheel comes from mechanics. Flywheels are structures that – once started with a small amount of energy – store this energy very efficiently for the cycle and continue to run on their own for a while.
Any additional energy then increases the speed of the wheel.
This principle is used in engines and sewing machines, for example.
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Constant success as a goal: The dynamics of a cycle
The flywheel follows the function of the original flywheel:
it is designed to drive your business and constantly increase the company’s success.
That means that when it gets going, it should run faster and more smoothly.
And here lies the first key difference between two sales models :
- On one side is the funnel , in which a prospective customer is won advertising networks in times of crisis over as a buyer through various steps. It ends with a conversion. Its goal is to become a new customer and its process is completed when the customer is sold. A new start follows. The next potential is addressed. – This means that the funnel always starts over. Companies start from scratch with each new sales cycle.
- On the other side is the flywheel . Its task is continuous customer development. This should not only ensure the company’s development. The energy and effort spent on customer acquisition should not be wasted, but should continue to be used for company growth. The aim is therefore that customer acquisition, rather than customer development or customer service, forms the more open end of the sales process.
The conclusion:
The funnel focuses on short-term success, while the flywheel focuses on sustainable relationships. The flywheel is therefore also referred to as the successor to the sales funnel.
Digital Marketing – How to Reach Your Ideal Customers
Visualization as a wheel: The customer is the focus
Flywheel marketing transfers the momentum principle to the mechanisms of customer acquisition, for which until now only the sales funnel served as an image, and takes it further.
But this does not mean that the full potential of the new customer has been fully exploited.
Therefore, the key change in the flywheel model lies in the way the customer is viewed.
It puts them at the center:
- What other problems and needs does he have?
- Which service, which experience inspires customers in the long term?
Today’s consumers are more demanding and informed than ever before. They expect more from companies than offers, sales or impersonal transactions.
When companies focus exclusively on short-term success, put profit above all else, provide poor service, or neglect their values, negative impacts can quickly spread among customers.
A better strategy for companies is to put customers at the center of their efforts to encourage delight and loyalty, which leads to long-term customer relationships, increased revenue and sustainable business growth .
Direct comparison between Sales Funnel and Flywheel
Lasting momentum: The marketing flywheel continues where the funnel ends
The inbound methodology also worked with the image of the material data sales funnel for a long time. Perhaps this is why the limits of the funnel model were recognized here. The inbound methodology has always tried to inspire customers even after the sale and to win them over as promoters, as well as to leverage cross-selling and upselling potential.