The buyer’s journey, the sales funnel, the magical train to revenue land. Whatever you call it, every business knows how important it is to keep customers and prospects on it in order to make sales and keep customer retention high. The first thing you need to know is that you’re never going to hit 100% on either. Not even Ted Williams hit 1.000 in a season. Second, you should always strive for 100%, in the back of your mind. No one baseball player randomly gives up on at-bats, even if he know that he’ll probably end up being successful only a third of the time. The third and most important piece of info is you need to know when to let go. Don’t waste your time and resources chasing prospects that’ll never work out.

Those three things may seem a little contradictory, but in a weird way, they do make a bit of sense together intuitively. If your head’s still spinning though, let me just boil it all down.

Keep your customers and prospects engaged.

That’s it. That’s all you need to do in order to do your best. Keep them engaged and keep optimizing your processes for great engagement. Here are 5 ways to engage your customers and prospects throughout their buyer’s journey.

1) Be Available

People are emotional, and there are certain moments that affect their decisions. Those moments can make or break a sale, and you want to do everything you can to be available in those moments and help influence decisions. One of the best ways to do that is to provide live chat on your website.

If somebody is browsing prices and is trying to figure out whether or not to buy, isn’t it helpful to be there? Or if somebody is having trouble and isn’t sure about the quality of your product, BAM, you’re there to reassure them. Other ways to also be available is to be responsive to emails, even if they’re to your general “info@” or “contact@” email address, always check on your social media accounts for replys/messages, and of course, be available by phone.

2) Provide Value

“You’ve got to spend money to make money.” You may have heard that before, and it is slightly true. The thing is though, you don’t need to spend that much really. For example, a great way to provide value is to produce an eBook and give it out for free on your website. That way, prospects feel like they’re getting value from your company before even becoming a customer, and they might be more amenable to spending their money to derive even more value from your company.

3) Surprise and Delight

It’s around the holidays, but everybody love gifts, anytime of year! When somebody receives something unexpected from you, they’ll appreciate it. And don’t forget about your customers, giving surprise gifts shouldn’t be limited to prospects. Even if they’re already a customer, you shouldn’t ignore them. Invest in that goodwill with your customers and who knows, you could get some nice reviews or referrals. At the very least, you’ve boosted your chances at retention.

4) Be a Thought Leader

Establish yourself and your business as a thought leader in your industry. This way, you are a trusted source for people and they’ll go to you when they’re ready to buy. The first way to do this is by publishing. Start a blog on your website and get posting, or you can also start publishing on LinkedIn. The second part of establishing yourself as a thought leader is to share articles and other content to your network. Use your social media to repost other people’s content (and give them credit), and establish yourself as not only an expert, but also a great curator of other experts.

5) Be Engaged

If you’re looking to engage your customers and prospects, it’s got to be a two way street. You’ve got to be engaged with your customers and prospects in order to engage them. This means not only following the previous four things, but also just putting the effort into making your business more #likeable.

It can sometimes be tough to keep your customers and prospects engaged throughout the entire journey you want to take with them. However, with these tips, you can make your strategies more efficient, and your efforts more worth it!