Probably about eight years ago, I was working on a marketing project, and one of the things that we were struggling with was, this journey that a prospect's had now I've done another video on the buyer's journey, which is a little different, because that was more of an onboarding type of conversation. This is a conversation about going from knowing nothing about your offer, your brand, your service, your product, whatever, to the point of converting and becoming a customer. So what does that look like? So one of the ways that I like to express that is on kind of like a sloping chart. 

And if we look at a sloping chart, it starts where, and the way that I like to propose this is what if, what does it look like for somebody who learns about your product or service on the street today? Randomly, maybe on their phone, maybe from somebody they're talking to, maybe from a sign on the wall, doesn't matter. What does it look like from that first moment to the point of buying from you? Now? It would be again, very like under gunned to sit here and say, Oh, well, that's a funnel. It's. I mean, there might be pieces of that that are funnels, but the whole concept is actually bigger than the idea of a, of a sales funnel, because there's all sorts of holidays in there. Right. So they may hear about your brand and then do nothing for two weeks. Are they in the funnel? 

I don't know. Maybe they hear about it again in two weeks. And then they say, Oh, I'm going to go check out their website. Cause I got a minute and I'm waiting for the bus. Now they touched your website. Are they in the funnel? I don't know. And it depends on how your advertising and marketing is working. What did they bounce? Because they got a phone call. Are they in the funnel or not? Right. So you see what that, see that conversation becomes very complicated at that point. And you could, you know, there are folks in my businesses, well, yeah, they're in, you know, they're, they're in and this is the process. But I like to call it the ramp, which is a little bit different and it, and the concept is kind of as they rise in awareness with your brand. 

Right? So I like to thinking about that, like funnel is, is a concept of filtering down a pool of leads and they, they get filter, filter, filter down and you're looking for the nugget, right. Which is the buyer. So funnels are kind of like gold panning. You know, you got, you got a bunch of sand and rock. You can shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it. And you're going to get a foot. You're going to filter out the meaningful bits in there that are going to buy from you. This idea that ramp has kind of an upside down version of that. And that is the story of one person that gets exposed to your brand and how their awareness and their likelihood to buy actually. Right. And how is it that you support that journey in your marketing? Right? So this is, uh, another way to look at how you handle just one person. 

What does one person's story look like as they move through this situation and what are you offering them along the way so that they can learn more and start to be fond of what you have to offer and consider it. When they're thinking about solving the problem they have, that, you know, you have a solution for. So the other, the end of the ramp of course, is the point at which they buy or they become fully aware there that you can solve this problem that they apparently have in their lives. And the thing that's interesting too, is that at the beginning of the ramp, when they're at 0.0, they may not even have the problem that you solve, which is an interesting part of this conversation. So they may become aware of you and not need you. And then somewhere in the timeline, this problem in their life arises. 

And then they go, Oh, I remember there was a company that deals with that or individual that deals with that. Maybe I should take a look at that. Then they're rising up again in awareness, right? Because they now have motivation, right? So there, there's all sorts of different things in there, I think are a completely different conversation than this sifting concept of a funnel. So what I'm inviting you to do today on this video is think about the, the, and start to actually plot out, like on this rising curve, what does somebody look like? What do they, what are they first exposed to? What does your brand look like on first exposure? And then how do you support somebody who keeps dipping in and out of the pool as they become more and more aware and, or as they maybe have a problem in their life that manifests that you can solve. 

And in those, you might have segments that are little funnels. Like they might go to your website - now they're being retargeted or they might opt in and ask a question on a form, or they might just chat for a second on online chat with one of your customer service people. Then they're in a little bit of a funnel, but do they bounce up and get to the next bit, do they fall out? How are you supporting them? And then what does it look like when somebody finally tips and converts? How aware are they, how much do they know, how big is their problem? What is, what are the offers that they typically respond to that get them to become an actual customer and, and go leap into full awareness and, and grab a hold of what you're able to do for them. So go ahead and work on that. It's awesome concept to think about, and it'll help you in build, right in fill your marketing collateral into the underside of this ramp so that you can support people as they rise up and become buyers of your product and service. So I hope this, kind of idea that helped me deal with a very tricky problem at a years ago is helpful for you today.