We love our funnels in the business world, don't we?
Top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel. We've sliced and diced customer journeys into neat little segments, each with its own metrics and KPIs. And sure, these frameworks can be useful. But they're missing something crucial.
Let me tell you why.
I spend most of my time working with innovation teams at some of the world's largest companies. And you know what I keep seeing? A massive gap between what we think customers want and what they actually need. We've become so obsessed with optimizing conversion rates that we've forgotten what we're really doing here: building genuine human connections.
Think about it. When was the last time you fell in love with a brand because their funnel was well-optimized? Never, right? You fell in love because that brand made you feel something. They understood you. They got you.
This is where disruptive empathy comes in.
Instead of thinking about customer journeys as a funnel, let's think about them as a series of emotional states. Each state represents a deeper level of connection, a stronger bond between your customer and your brand. And here's the key - you can't force these states. You can only create the conditions for them to emerge naturally.
In my previous book, The Lean Brand, I outlined this approach as the "Customer Value Stream." Through years of applying this approach, I've learned to simplify it down to 5 emotional states.
Let's break it down:
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Awareness: This isn't just about getting eyeballs on your product. It's about creating an emotional invitation. When customers first encounter your offer, they're asking themselves, "Do I care? Does this matter to me?" Your job isn't to sell here - it's to connect.
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Intrigue & Trust: Notice how I put these together. In my work with companies like Roche and ING, I've learned that intrigue without trust is just noise. You need both. Customers need to believe not just in what you do, but in why you do it.
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The Conversion Moment: Here's where most companies get it wrong. They see conversion as a transaction. But it's not - it's a commitment. It's a customer saying, "I believe in what you're doing enough to invest my money and trust in you."
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The MVP Experience: This is where the rubber meets the road. Your MVP isn't just about testing features - it's about testing your empathy. Did you really understand the customer's needs? Did you translate that understanding into something meaningful.
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Passion and Growth: This is the holy grail. When customers become advocates, it's not because you asked them to. It's because you've created something so aligned with their needs and values that they can't help but share it.
But here's the thing - none of this happens by accident. It requires what I call "immersive understanding." You need to get out of your office and into your customers' lives. You need to see the world through their eyes, feel their frustrations, understand their hopes.
Take Intuit as an example. Their founder, Scott Cook, didn't just imagine what customers might want in accounting software. He sat with them at their kitchen tables, watching them struggle with checkbooks and tax forms. That deep empathy became part of Intuit's DNA, and it's why they've been able to maintain customer loyalty through decades of technological change.
So here's my challenge to you: Stop optimizing your funnel for a minute. Instead, ask yourself these questions:
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Are we creating conditions for genuine emotional connection?
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Do we truly understand the emotional states our customers go through?
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Are we building trust before asking for commitment?
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Is our MVP testing features, or is it testing our understanding?
Remember, in the age of AI and automation, human connection is becoming our most powerful competitive advantage. The companies that win aren't going to be the ones with the best funnels - they'll be the ones who understand their customers at the deepest level.
Your growth engine isn't your marketing automation or your sales process. It's your ability to create genuine, empathetic connections with your customers. Everything else is just mechanics.
The future belongs to companies that get this. The question is, will you be one of them?
