This article was originally published in Dutch in 2011 and has been translated and updated in October 2026.
Companies often ask me to help them find new customers. It is a challenge I am always happy to take on. At the same time, though, I advise them to look for opportunities to increase the value of the customers they already have. Acquiring a new customer is widely said to cost several times more than keeping an existing one (the figure most often quoted when this article was first written was seven times). After all, your existing customers are the people who have already embraced your brand and are open to deepening the relationship. With an intelligent customer contact strategy and a matching cross-media marketing approach, you can raise the return of your organisation. The sales process is a subtle art of seducing, conquering, retaining and increasing. The 4V sales phase model (named after the four Dutch words for these phases, all starting with a V) describes these phases in relation to the customer contact strategy. Social media, and the ‘earned media’ that flow from them, are important success factors here.
Customer contact strategy and the 4V sales phase model
A good customer contact strategy creates an intense relationship with prospects and customers, based on multiple points of contact using different media, through different channels, throughout the ‘customer lifecycle’. The relationship with prospects and customers is deepened by using social media, where people (‘peers’) influence each other and discuss the brand, the product or relevant themes. Setting up the customer contact strategy involves a cross-media strategy, a content plan and community management.
The 4V sales phase model describes how, during the different phases of the sales process, you make contact with your target group and in doing so start the customer lifecycle, extend it and increase customer value. ‘Earned media’ (and therefore social media) are important assets in this.
Seduce
This phase is particularly important for attracting new customers. You want your target group to get to know your brand, product or service, and you use the right tools to activate them. First of all, we make sure there is a distinctive offer, based on substance and not just on generic characteristics such as price. The target group needs to develop a feeling for your brand and come to see your product as the best solution to their ‘problem’.
When we look at the use of social media, we can seduce through communities, forums and (campaigns on) social networks. Draw (potential) customers to your company by creating communities in which you connect people around relevant themes and interests. On forums you can answer questions to show your expertise in a particular field and build trust that way. Always be authentic, and do what you say - and more.
In this seduction phase you want to reach as many people as possible with your message and lead them to your ‘owned media’, such as your community or company website. For this you can use ‘paid media’, both online and offline. As you progress further through the sales process and your community and database of enthusiastic customers grow, the mix will shift towards ‘owned’ and ‘earned media’. Your satisfied customers then become your ‘ambassadors’. Their reviews can persuade prospects to choose your brand as well. ‘Earned media’ is free attention you receive from your ‘fans’, yet it is more valuable than any investment in ‘paid media’. So steer towards it in your customer contact strategy and make sharing easy.
Smart ‘paid media’ are social campaigns on social networks. You benefit from the positive influence that contacts who already know your brand have on their own network. This is the effect of ‘social proof’: ‘if someone else thinks something is good or fun, then so do I’. Social advertising is only one part of your cross-media marketing approach. Other (mass) media such as TV, radio and outdoor advertising may also be relevant in this phase.
In this phase, make sure you offer ways to try your product: offer a free online trial of your product (sending a sample or a copy, signing up for a test drive or trial lesson, a free trial period for a product or service) and ask for an online review. Let people ‘play’ with your brand online, for example by letting them put together their own personal version of the product with a widget. They can then share the result enthusiastically with their friends, for advice and for reassurance.
We want to connect with customers and prospects in several ways. That can be through a community, but also through the (customer) database. Use your community to build a ‘customer profile’ and record as many characteristics as possible in the database, so you lay a valuable foundation for permission marketing. Encourage sign-ups to your newsletter and tempt prospects with interesting content, interactive brochures, free white papers, objective comparisons, appealing games or handy free apps.
Use social media to create a feeling around your organisation: use your YouTube channel, for example, to show how a product is made, or let enthusiastic and/or experienced employees tell their story.
Conquer
Once the prospect is familiar with your product and their interest has been sparked, we aim for conversion in the conquest phase. This phase involves targeted one-to-one communication with the prospect. By email, by phone, through the website or in the shop, they are reassured in their choice by ‘hard’ sales arguments, such as good value for money and fast delivery, and by ‘soft’ ones, such as reviews from ‘peers’ (people who have or had the same ‘problem’) and trust in the organisation. Reviews from existing customers are very important: make sure you ask for them once people have bought your product. In this phase we also make use of discussions, forwarding of information about the product, propositions and other forms of interactive information about the product. We create a ‘rumour around the brand’. Thanks to social media, messages can spread quickly.
Because ‘earned media’ are so important, you should build in opportunities at various moments in the sales process for people to talk about their purchase. A great moment is when a prospect places an online order. Once the order is complete, give them the option to share their purchase with their social network! It works! The Dutch online retailer Bol.com, for example, was already doing this at the time.
Retain
In this phase it is important to cherish the customer and extend the customer lifecycle. Online and offline loyalty programmes, a smart customer contact strategy, communities and personal contact all play an important role here. Keep exceeding the customer’s expectations (the ‘augmented’ product) at the moments they come into contact with the company: when they ask for advice, call customer service, place an order or need a repair. Do something extra that they do not ask for, but that is relevant to them. Set up the database so that you can connect at personal moments, such as a birthday or the arrival of a new baby. It will all contribute to the good feeling a customer has about you, making them more likely to choose your brand over another in the future. Here, too, you combine social media with existing media.
Keep customers engaged in the community and keep providing incentives that activate it: relevant white papers, special offers, extras, handy tips and advice, games, videos and so on. Keep customers informed through direct email and newsletters. A good content strategy is essential. You can keep surprising prospects and customers if you serve up your offer from a different ‘content dimension’ each time. Keep it exciting.
Keep rewarding customers for their loyalty. In the community, a customer of the month can be put in the spotlight, prizes can be raffled among customers and/or they can be invited to exclusive events. Social media can also be used to show customers videos of new products first, giving them a head start on non-customers.
Increase
In this phase we want to increase customer value, in other words make sure the customer spends more on the brand they have already embraced. For example, by buying the same product more often, or by purchasing add-ons or newer versions. You increase the chance of the latter by involving your existing customers in developing a new product. Through co-creation you increase customer engagement and gain valuable input on what customers really need. Well-known examples at the time were NIKEiD and Lego Click. In the cosmetics industry, some brands ask their customers which lipstick colour they would most like to see in the next collection. The colour with the most votes is then actually produced.
By giving customers personal attention and communicating the right message at the right moment, you can motivate them to make additional purchases. Increasing customer value really means seducing the customer all over again, time after time…
Another positive effect in this phase is that the community of loyal customers creates a positive buzz around your product. As a result, your ‘earned media’ grow. New prospects become new customers on the strength of these ‘earned media’. Your spending on ‘paid media’ will go down. In short: your community contributes to a higher return for your organisation.
Conclusion
By investing in your current customers, prospects and valuable communities, you can extend the customer lifecycle and increase customer value. Social media, used as part of a cross-media marketing approach and a smart customer contact strategy, contribute to a higher return for the organisation through an enhanced product experience and ‘social proof’. Paid media are a way to lead the wider public to your community (‘owned media’) in the first instance. As the community grows and your group of satisfied customers expands, however, the emphasis will quickly shift from ‘paid’ to ‘earned media’. The positive spiral of an ever higher return for your organisation has been set in motion!