20. The 4 Seasons of the Customer Journey: Spring

EPISODE 20 OF WHAT WOULD THEY DO? THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

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In this episode, we kick off a 4-week mini series exploring the four seasons of the customer journey. First up is Spring:  that powerful moment when a potential customer becomes aware of a problem or desire and starts looking for a solution.

We explore how service providers, course creators, and membership site owners can meet potential customers right there, build trust, and gently guide them forward without pushing for the sale.

This episode is your go-to for crafting clear, inviting, and customer-first brand touchpoints that turn curious browsers into long-term fans.

What we cover:

What “Spring” Looks Like in the Customer Journey – Awareness, curiosity, and early research before they ever click “buy.”

Why Discoverability and Trust Are Everything in This Season – And how to show up when your audience doesn’t even know they need you yet.

Tips for Service Providers, Course Creators and Membership Site Owners to Create a Standout First Impression

Soundbites:

“So what does Spring look like? Spring through a customer lens is when they become aware of a hurdle or an obstacle or a goal that they’ve set themselves that they need help with. They are starting to look for solutions and fixes and tricks and hacks to get to that goal, but they’re not ready to buy. They’re starting to pay attention to content that’s related to their problem or their goal, and they are curious.”

“You as the business owner really need to show up relatable. You need to appear trustworthy and you need to be in the right places where your ideal customer is looking. It’s that first step of the customer journey where someone’s not ready to buy. But they are definitely setting intentions and are preparing mentally to take action. So in spring, it’s all about making someone feel seen, feeling heard and understood and helping them bridge that mental hurdle they need to overcome to enter the summer season.”

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Episode Transcript:

Nadine Nethery (00:00)

Hello, hello and welcome back to What Would They Do? Today is the start of a brand new mini series on the podcast. So something a little bit different to our normal listener question format, but something that is going to be…

highly relevant, highly useful and bingeable. So these four episodes over the next four weeks are going to be bite sized, even more bite sized than normal because I want to make them short and sharp to the point and really give you quick wins every week. So over the next four weeks, I am going to look at the four seasons of the customer journey. So from,

you know that first interaction to long term loyalty. And we’re going to give you a specific quick tips and quick wins that you can achieve as a service provider, as a course creator or as a membership site owner. So one bite size tip per season per business owner type. So.

Let’s dive right in. So why am I looking at the four seasons of the customer journey? Well, because it is a continuous cycle and your customer basically goes through that cycle again and again. Hopefully if you have set everything up correctly in your business, your customers, your audience is being nurtured long term. And just like nature really, your customer experience also goes.

through seasons. So today we’re going to start with spring, which is that new beginning, the beautiful moment where your customer finds out, not about you, but realizes that they have a problem or a desire that they want to either solve or pursue. And they are in this season beginning to explore possible solutions for that problem or

to achieve that desire. One point is very important. So Spring happens before the purchase, before that first DM, and before they ever complete a contact form on your website. Spring happens in your customer’s mind, and you’re completely unaware often that they are looking at you as one of the potential solutions to their problem.

So what does Spring look like? Spring through a customer lens is really when they, as I said, become aware of a hurdle or an obstacle or a goal that they’ve set themselves that they need help with, right? They are starting to look for solutions fixes and tips and tricks and hacks to get to that goal, but they’re not ready to buy.

they really are in the research phase. They’re starting to pay attention to content that’s related to their problem or their goal, and they are curious. That can look like someone Googling, for example, how to raise my prices without losing clients. So for the service provider here who realizes that they have a problem because they’re undercharging, they need to charge more, but they have no idea how to go about it.

Someone could be scanning Spotify or Apple podcasts for a podcast with specific episodes or tips to help solve their problem. Or someone who might be skimming their inbox for someone who gets them. So they’re starting to pay attention to service providers or course creators or membership site owners who are speaking their language, who are tapping into their mindset.

Spring as a season in the customer journey is super important because it is all about discoverability. So you as the business owner really need to show up relatable. You need to appear trustworthy and you need to be in the right places where your ideal customer is looking. It’s really that first step of the customer journey where someone’s not ready to buy.

but they are definitely setting intentions and are preparing mentally to take action. And really important here, so that first impression when someone comes across you and dives into your world, it really needs to be a grounded experience, a trustworthy experience and very important here, it needs to be aligned with what is going on in their mind and it needs to speak to solving their problem or helping them achieve that goal.

In the season of spring, the goal here isn’t to convert them because people who are stuck in spring aren’t ready to convert. They are researching. They are really forming their intentions. So in spring, it’s all about making someone feel seen, feeling heard and understood and gently guiding them to that next step. So helping them bridge that mental hurdle they need to overcome to enter.

summer season which we’re coming to in next week’s episode. But for now let’s set you up with quick tips. If you are a service provider in spring it is really really important to have a close look at your services or contact page on your website to make sure it is crystal clear. So in spring let’s face it most people

are going to come across you as part of referrals and word of mouth from their network. They are going to Google you or in 2025 and beyond, they might type something into chat GPT and chat GPT might suggest you as a solution or someone emails them, mentions you and they click on that link. So it is very top line and in this phase, it is very important as a service provider

that you ask yourself. So if someone landed on my service page today without any context of who I am and what I do, would they understand how I can support them and what that next logical step is? And if you look at your service page now and you go, Nadine, I’m not quite sure people know what to do and which next step to take.

I would start by adding a section that very clearly calls out who am I best suited to support. So really helping people self-identify whether you are the right person for them and whether you can help them fix the problem that they’re facing or reach the goals that they’re aspiring to get to. And have a look whether your service page is a massive dead end on your website or whether you’re inviting them to

take a next step, whether that is joining your email list or even if you want to encourage them to move into that summer season, a calendly link to book a chat with you. So that is for service providers. If you are a course creator, it’s all about offering a strategic free resource that helps people solve a specific early stage problem here. So you don’t want to fix

all of their problems with your freebie. Obviously you want to give them a taste test, but things that work really well here as strategic lead magnets to grow your list and invite them officially into your universe are things like checklists. It could be a quiz to help them see that you really understand the different type of people and that you understand how you can help them get there. It could also be a private case study podcast

for example, or a private podcast that really gives them a taste of your teaching style, of your perspectives, of your unique lens on life or business. And the private podcast strategy is something that I have used really successfully in my business. I have my free private podcast, Mastering CX.

which is 24 bite sized episodes, really touching on my take on customer experience. And it does deep for people who come across me and would potentially don’t know I have a podcast. And it helps them immerse themselves into my world, into my thought processes and primes them to be ready to either buy one of my courses or join my membership retention Lab down the track. So if you want to check that one out, the link is in the show notes with this episode.

So as I said, very important here, your freebie needs to be a taste test of what you can help them with rather than delivering the whole thing and fixing all their problems. So a great reframe for your freebie, is being highly specific when it comes to that mini win that you deliver. So if you have a freebie called…

master your messaging. It’s very vague. And that’s ultimately probably their bigger goal. They want to master their messaging so they can raise their prices and charge what they’re worth. You could try a freebie title like the five messaging gaps that keep your course sales stuck. Something like that where it speaks to the specific outcomes you’re delivering. So five things that they can look at and fix independently.

And then hopefully if you position it correctly, it’s going to create that hunger for more. Now moving on to membership site owners. So for membership site owners, I would write a welcome email for new subscribers who will hopefully sign up to a very specifically geared lead magnet that leads into your membership that really introduces your membership.

and what it stands for. So rather than introducing them to the features and all the things they get as part of your membership, in this initial welcome sequence and the introduction, I would totally speak to the feeling and the mindset shift and the transformation that waits for them. Don’t focus on what they get and all the things that are going to help them, really speak to the feeling and that mindset.

transformation that comes from joining the membership. if you want to, you can totally extend a no pressure invite to hit reply to this email to start a conversation and share with you what they’re currently stuck with and what sent them into your world in the first place. So spring overall really is a season of discovery. it’s not about converting people. It’s not about the hard sell. It is your opportunity

first impression to create a first authentic connection and make people curious about what you have to offer and what you have to say and hopefully have them stick around. If you want to take action from today’s super bite sized first episode in this mini series, I would pick one tip.

have a look at what I just shared and really take a look at one brand touch point that you haven’t updated in a while that is in that spring season of the customer journey. So when people are coming to you and they’re still considering the goal that they’re trying to achieve or the problem that they’re trying to solve. Next week’s episode is going to lead us into beautiful summer, which is the season of

engagement where all the nurturing happens, where deeper connections are being formed and where you are priming the audience to be ready to make that decision. So tune in next week for that follow-on episode. If you want to submit your burning customer experience question for a future episode after this mini series,

then you can absolutely do that via the link in the show notes anonymously or by adding your details and you get a little shout out on the episode. And if you enjoyed this mini bite size episode then absolutely feel free to share it with anyone who might be interested as well and make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the other three seasons yet to come.

Thanks so much for tuning in and I will speak to you next week.