Do you want to go from summit attendees to devoted podcast listeners? If you’re looking to grow an audience full of raving fans, then get ready, because this snippet of a session from Sell With a Summit: Podcaster Edition is going to give you a headstart in building your podcast fan base. Let’s dive in…
Jenn: I’m so excited to introduce you to the absolutely incredible Desola Davis. She is where it’s at if you want to build a customer journey from Strangers to Fans, which is actually her absolutely amazing program where I am loving being a student of hers. Thank you so much for being here, Desola!
Desola Davis: Thank you for having me. It’s like all the feels, I’m so excited to be here. This is so fun.
Jenn: I love having you. So, before we dive into all the details of creating a customer journey and raving fans, can you give us kind of a quick overview of what your philosophy is around that?
Desola Davis: Absolutely. I think a lot of times, especially when we’re doing business online, we are so conditioned to create something called a sales funnel, right? You attract people using a lead magnet. You pull them into your email list. You sell in some form of fashion using an automated sales funnel, which allows you to live this laptop lifestyle, where you do nothing and you just make sales on repeat in your sleep.
However, what happens is you forget that these sales notifications actually are people who have put their hands up and said, “Hey, I have a problem that you said you were going to solve.” And so you still have to solve that problem for them. And so that’s the difference between a sales funnel and what I call a customer journey because the customer journey keeps the problem that the person came in with at the forefront. And so, as you mentioned with Strangers to Fans, we design a customer journey from when they meet you for the first time -, stranger danger – all the way ’til after their problem is solved and they become a fan of you, your product, and your business.
It doesn’t take a lot of effort. It really just takes more intentionality and it takes taking things that already automate your process, adding a dose of humanity to it, and just serving your people and see, and so what we’re talking about – this is why I really love this topic too – is what we’re talking about isn’t ‘this is what you should do for your 10,000 Instagram followers.’ No! That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about the people who have already signed up and said, “Hey, I love being in your space,” and this is how you can reward them for spending more of their time with you.
And it’ll be easier to get feedback from them on what more than want to hear from you, and so your process gets easier. Your connections get easier. Your fan base and your audience gets even more valuable. So I don’t know if you have this in the lineup, but then whenever you’re going to pitch podcasts, sponsors, it’s like, “trust me, they do everything I say, so this is actually an opportunity for you to partner with me because if I go over there and I tell them that this is what we’re using now, you’re going to see an increase in your sales because they have learned that everything I say is always in their best interest and spending more time and money with me is always a good decision,” and so it makes your even just pitching to your sponsors an easier and less intimidating or sleazy event.
Jenn: So as we’re building this kind of relationship, where would you say that a summit falls into the podcast listener journey and how can podcasters making the most of that kind of experience?
Desola Davis: Oh, I love that. I think that a summit… so just to give everyone an overview of the customer journey, as I teach it:
They start off as a Stranger, everybody does, and then they move into what’s called your Audience. So they’re still kind of in the outer court, they’re still kind of checking you out. You know, maybe they’ve listened to one episode, but they haven’t really fully subscribed. Maybe they’re on your Instagram and they follow you and they double tap every once in a while, but you’re not like, on their notifications lists or anything like that. And then… and maybe they’ve even joined your email list, but you’re not really, like… you’re not moved to Primary, they don’t really care whether or not they missed your emails, all of those.
And then they move to the Prospect status. This is now when you’re one of maybe three to five options that they’re really considering to solve whatever problem you solve, and they’re trying to figure out whether you’re the best person to solve their problem. And so this is really where you want to connect with them on a deeper level: share some more stories, testimonials, show more of your expertise so that they can make the right decision for themselves.
And then they move into the Customer status. This is where they’ve raised their hand and they’ve said, “you won. You’re Miss America, we crowned you and you’re the person that we’ve decided is going to solve our problem.” And at that point, your job is to make sure that their problem actually gets solved and that they achieve the goals for what they paid for essentially.
But even after that, once their problem gets solved, what you’ve inadvertently done is given them more problems to solve. They moved from one set of problems to like, a new set of problems and really, that’s just life, right? There’s never going to be a time where it’s just like, “all my problems are solved. I’m just at home, just really living my best life.” It just doesn’t happen.
And so what happens is once they become Customers and you’ve helped them with their goals and they can tie that success back to you and your genius, they become Fans. And so they look back and they say, “okay, now I have all these new problems. Obviously I’m going to come to you because you’re a genius at solving all my problems. How do we work together even more?” and then designing solutions for them at that status. And that level is what keeps you relevant on a continual basis and actually extends your customer lifetime value.
So all of the elements of the customer journey – Stranger, Audience, Prospect, Customer, Fan or Ambassador – and so for a summit, it’s pretty unique because it helps highlight your Ambassadors and it helps bring your Audience closer so that they can become Prospects for you. So it has kind of… as a podcaster, it has kind of a dual thing to it.
I would say primarily as we talk through this, I would say it pulls your Audience a little bit closer, and here’s why: it gives you an opportunity to show your Audience that spending more time with you is a good decision, at the very least. They need to consider you as a very serious option for solving whatever problem that is.
And if you can move your audience to that prospect status, where they’re really focused in and really looking at all of the things you can then ask your Ambassadors, whose problems you’ve already solved, to come in and do the heavy lifting. So, again, you’re not spending a lot of time on advertising or trying to prove to people that you are worth spending time because your Ambassadors have already gotten it down, right?
So if people who are like, “Hey, Audience member, I was just like you. This was the problem that I had and this is what working with Jenn was like, and this is where I am now. And literally me and Jenn are working on like the next thing and I would love for you to come into our community because our community is all the way litty lit, like, you want to be an insider and you want to be in here because of working with Jenn is always a good thing. And here’s my email address, here’s my IG. I will check in on you. If you have any questions, I am available. Like, I’m just trying to do your good, solid favor, okay?” That’s what that does for you.
And a summit… I love a summit because it brings everybody together, right? So it’s not just you, it’s not just you talking at people. It gives them a chance to connect and collaborate organically and authentically in a very concentrated period of time. It takes them away from just the noise of the internet at large and puts them in a concentrated place where people with a true problem can be guaranteed a true solution in three to five days. Where else will you get something like that, right? So I know it was a long answer to your question.
Jenn: Yeah, no, I love that, ’cause it’s… yeah, summits do so many different things. Like, people might come in as Strangers because one of the speakers has brought them in, and they become your Audience, and then they buy the all-access pass and then become a Prospect, and it just slides them down the journey.
Desola Davis: It really does. And I love that you already know this. I’m like, you didn’t need me to explain this, you know this. This what this is. They buy your all-access pass and now they’re in your inner sanctum, they’re a Prospect. And then you just unleash your Ambassadors into that circle, essentially.
And all of the work that you did to develop really great relationships with those people then pays back in dividends because those ambassadors they say things without even thinking about a commission or thinking about how they can get paid from it. It feels good to tell somebody what the right thing to do is, right? You know, whenever you’re sharing about your favorite restaurant or whenever you’re sharing about a movie that just knocked your socks off…
Jenn: Or your favorite podcast!
Desola Davis: Or your favorite podcast, exactly. I mean, like, who’s getting commissions for, “Hey, what’s your favorite podcast to listen to?” No one’s getting commissions for that. And at the very least, at the end of the day, because you’re not going to convert every Stranger to an Audience member to a Prospect into a Fan; that doesn’t happen, that’s why it’s called a funnel. But at the end of the day, you’re going to get buku more podcasts listeners that you can then, again, restart that conversation with. So even if they don’t convert inside of the summit, you’re going to invite them to your podcast. And you’re going to say, “Hey, give me another shot. Like, I don’t know whether you were busy or whatever, but give me another shot because this is about to be a really good time.”
Jenn: Yeah, no, I love that. So, what would be a specific action step – just one thing – that someone can do right away to get started building their podcast listener journey?
Desola Davis: I would say, first of all, download the Customer Journey Roadmap, and then second, figure out what that extra sauce you can put on your lead magnet is. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel – if you don’t have a lead magnet, then now’s a good time to at least have a way to get them pulled closer into your community – but figure out what that place is that you want your podcast listeners to go to, where they feel special and they feel like they want to continue to connect with you and stay in your community for the long haul.
Jenn: Yeah, I love that. And if you don’t have anything, because maybe you’re not a business podcaster and you don’t necessarily have something to give them, you could record an extra five or 10 minutes with a guest and use that as something to bring them in to give them that extra special sauce that not everybody else gets.
Desola Davis: Exactly right. It’s that simple… it’s that simple. Just keeping them on record for five more minutes and saying here’s an additional clip, a Q&A clip to answer questions. And then even in that same community, you can say, “Hey, this guest is coming up soon. Send me all your Q’s so I know what to put in the clip.”
Jenn: Yeah, yeah. I love that. That’s perfect.
Desola Davis: It’s that simple. It’s not – like I said, it’s not hard. It just takes a little dose of intentionality.
Jenn: Yep. So you did mention the Roadmap. Can you tell everybody a little bit more about that and…?
Desola Davis: Sure! So it’s the Customer Journey Roadmap. It gives you exactly what I explained: the Strangers to Fans dynamic. I really like it because it’s an actual roadmap, which means you can print it out and literally hold it down and say, “okay, where are most of my people right now? Based on the descriptions, are they in a Stranger section, Audience section, the Prospect section?” And then it gives you just a little bit of more information on how to move them from one section to the next.
There’s a few more resources on how to really connect with your audience. It’s more Audience focused just because that’s just super early in the journey. But it helps you put it on paper, like, okay, where are my people and what is the next step I need to take to move them from where they are in the journey, further along?
Jenn: Perfect. Yeah, so definitely grab that. So thank you so much for coming on and sharing all of your amazing mindblowing wisdom with us. So if you loved this chat with Desola, go ahead and get the Customer Journey Roadmap, go and figure out what extra secret sauce you can put on to bring them into your inner fold.
Desola Davis: Thanks for having me.
Want more insights to help you grow and monetize your podcast through summits – without sponsors? Join us and become part of Sell With a Summit: Podcaster Edition! It’s completely free and full of other amazing speakers like Desola. You won’t want to skip this one.
Learn more about Desola at https://www.desoladavis.com