It’s happened again. Like the sudden evolutionary jerk that turned fish into lizards, inbound marketing has just had another growth spurt that’s going to change the landscape as we know it: HubSpot’s introduction of the flywheel and the importance of customer care.
As they explain, “Potential buyers care less about what you have to say about yourself, and more than ever about what your customers have to say about you.”
In short, it’s your customers that draw in more customers. Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, explains it like this: “Word of mouth is increasingly becoming one of our biggest growth drivers. In fact, I’ve stopped thinking about our business like a traditional sales & marketing funnel. It’s more like a flywheel where the customers are the main driver that pulls in prospects.”
With this exciting shift in philosophy - a real closing of the loop and a true reflection of the buyer’s journey (which ends in the delight stage - the importance of continuing to please and communicate with existing customers) comes some new software from HubSpot that’s going to revolutionise customer care: the Service Hub.
The Services Hub is going to implement some key software changes that help engage and communicate with customers in a meaningful way.
- Conversations: Customers don’t talk with a brand in silos - they might communicate via email, Facebook and various other options available to them. With the new universal inbox, communication with customers will cross silos and allow them to continue the conversation with the brand in the format that suits them best.
- Tickets: These form the backbone of your support team and let you add automation to customer support.
- Knowledge Base: Customer’s expect to find the answers they need online, and only talk to a human when their self-help options are depleted. Creating a knowledge base of your frequently asked questions empowers your customers and builds trust in your product.
- Customer Feedback: This allows you to keep a pulse on your customer’s sentiment and to respond appropriately.
Says Spitfire Inbound MD Darren Leishman, “I was at first a bit skeptical when I heard that Hubspot was introducing the service hub but when I saw the flywheel it all made perfect sense. It correlates with what we’re already doing at Spitfire Inbound. We’ve changed our sales terminology already from ‘closing’ a sale, to ‘opening’ a relationship - and that’s exactly what we’re doing for our customers’ customers. We’re opening what will hopefully be a long term relationship with them.”
In essence, this philosophy works to making better business overall. “A key insight from HubSpot is that they want to empower business to do business better. Marketing, sales and service were previously seen as fragmented and worked in silos. Now, they can work together,” says Darren.
Alison Leishman, Strategic Director and co-founder of Spitfire Inbound says, “With our strategies and automations, Spitfire Inbound has always put customers and end users first. Now we have a framework to do it in, and an end-to-end solution. This all-in-one platform will have a big impact and is really exciting. I am particularly excited that our customers are able to understand the full journey in one view through using HubSpot - from their first point of contact through to any support or feedback that is requested. Built in NPS surveys and the ability to see the support questions in one portal will save time, but beyond that, it will allow marketing, sales and services to share data and develop insights that will help their business.”
The beauty of the flywheel and the Services Hub is that it truly closes the loop and indicates once again that “this is not linear,” says Alison, “And remember that your customer can enter at any point.” She adds, “Support is not merely a troubleshooter - but essential to the growth of your business.”
Truly putting your customer at the heart of your marketing, sales and support efforts will revolutionise your market share - your customers are your best promoters after all.
This infographic from Outgrow.co sums it all up perfectly.
If you would like to see some of Darren’s insights from #partnerday, read his post here: HubSpot partner summit: Why I continue to pick hubspot.
Contact us for a demo of the new HubSpot Service Hub or book a time to meet with Darren.
