Projecting a Great Customer Experience a Half Year AheadWork backward from months after a product's sale to your first interaction with a prospect to find ways to engage and support the consumer.

Thehunt for new customersoften starts with an attempt to make the phone ring or generate a click on a website.

Yet the best way to generate calls is to focus on making an existing customer thrilled.

What if your first thought in designing a new marketing campaign were to be about what you want the customer to think, say and feel about the product 180 days after purchase.

Related:Revive That Old-Fashioned Extra: Excellent Customer Service

Think with that end in mind and work backward from there to the time of acquiring the initial customer lead. With this mind-set determine how to engage a consumer after he or she made a purchase before even thinking about setting up an appointment.

Taking this approach of putting the customer experience first will ensure a winning sales process, allow you to promote a product or service and then thrill the consumer with a winning exchange.

And winning over a customer following the experience is probably the most important thing because that's how referrals are made. "The sale is not complete until the customer is happy" is one of my most important mottos. And when the customer is happy, he or she passes along positive feedback.

Related:The 4 Things Every Customer Wants

Here's an example of a "begin with the end" approach applied to the sale of a software solution. Work backward to reach the ultimate goal: a satisfied customer who wants to spread the word about the exceptional experience of working with you.

The customer would receive the following after a purchase of the product:

180 days afterward:free updates and an offer to meet with a select group of users in an invitation-only peer-to-peer group accountability program

90 days after:30 percent off another product or service as a courtesy to a current customer

60 days after:a coupon offering a free evaluation of the customer's progress with the training course and a free consultation if desired

30 days after:a free 60-minute coaching session

14 days after:a coupon for 30 days of unlimited email support for any questions about the purchase

7 days after:a mailing with additional bonus materials as a thank-you

Immediately after purchase:A web page video welcomes the customer and explain the details of the purchase. An automated email provides beginning instructions.

Related:5 Uncommon Ways to Win a Customer's Heart

Before a purchase, here are other ways to engage with a potential customer:

The trial(after a prospect has watched a video):The potential customer is offered a free 30-minute coaching session.

Information gathering(days after the consumer participates in an online seminar, a link to a video arrives via email):The consumer is offered a free video and an ebook including content covered in the seminar.

Awareness stage(during an online seminar):A potential customer attends an online seminar that describes the problems most businesses face in doing X and that explains how the software product has solutions.

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In every marketing and selling situation, the most important thing to ask is "How will I get every single one of my clients excited about introducing me to other prospective clients?"

Although it may take a shift in thinking to approach the sales effort with the end in mind, this ensures that clients will have the best possible customer experience. It will force you to focus on the things that matter to them the most: the experience, the followup, the results.

Thinking of your client first is a surefire way to attract more of them.