Reading time: 20 minutes
Processing time: 120 minutes

Today, turn to the next field in the Extended Canvas. It’s about defining how you interact with your customers. This refers to the channels through which you interact with the customer before, during, and after the purchase:

  • Attention: How do customers find out about your offer?
  • Evaluation: How do you support your customers in evaluating offers?
  • Purchase: How do you enable your customers to buy?
  • After Sales Service: How do you support your customers after the purchase?
  • Added value: Can you deliver added value to your customers through specific channels?

In principle, you can reach your customers through your own channels or partner channels:

  • Proprietary channels are direct and include your internal sales team, website, emailing, or shop. Your own channels offer a higher profit margin but are usually more expensive to set up and operate. You also need experience in setting up and maintaining the channels.
  • Partner channels are indirect and include wholesale, retail, partner websites, social networks, online advertising, posters, TV, radio, etc. Partner channels lead to lower margins but allow you to generate reach with a low initial investment and little know-how, and reach customers you could hardly reach personally with your own direct channels (think of Google advertising, for example).

Hier eine Übersicht der typischen Kanäle und deren Eignung für unterschiedliche Ziele.

[Legende: ++ = sehr hoch | + = hoch | 0 = mittel | – = niedrig | — = sehr niedrig]

Kanal/EinsatzzweckWerbungInformierenVerkaufAusliefernSupportKostenReichweiteIndividualisiert
Persönliche Ansprache
LadengeschäftXXXXX++-++
Vertriebs-AußendienstXXX++-++
Service MitarbeiterXX++-++
Informationsstand/MesseXXXX+o++
E-MailXXXX-o+
Telefon/Call CenterXXX+o+/o
Flyer verteilen mit/ohne AnspracheXX--+/-
Live-ChatXX-+o
Postsendung/SpeditionXXX+--
Unpersönliche Ansprache
WebseiteXXXXX+++-
BlogXX(X)X-++-
Online Marketing (z. B. Google Ads)XX+++-
Social Media (z. B. Facebook Ads)XX++o
E-Mail-NewsletterXX(X)X--o
InfopostXXX+-o
Flyer auslegenXX---
Radio-WerbungXX+++-
Fernseh-WerbungXX+++-
Kino-WerbungXX+o-
PlakateXX+o-
SponsoringX+o-

Now here is your task:

Hier eine Übersicht der typischen Kanäle und deren Eignung für unterschiedliche Ziele.

[Legende: ++ = sehr hoch | + = hoch | 0 = mittel | – = niedrig | — = sehr niedrig]

Kanal/EinsatzzweckWerbungInformierenVerkaufAusliefernSupportKostenReichweiteIndividualisiert
Persönliche Ansprache
LadengeschäftXXXXX++-++
Vertriebs-AußendienstXXX++-++
Service MitarbeiterXX++-++
Informationsstand/MesseXXXX+o++
E-MailXXXX-o+
Telefon/Call CenterXXX+o+/o
Flyer verteilen mit/ohne AnspracheXX--+/-
Live-ChatXX-+o
Postsendung/SpeditionXXX+--
Unpersönliche Ansprache
WebseiteXXXXX+++-
BlogXX(X)X-++-
Online Marketing (z. B. Google Ads)XX+++-
Social Media (z. B. Facebook Ads)XX++o
E-Mail-NewsletterXX(X)X--o
InfopostXXX+-o
Flyer auslegenXX---
Radio-WerbungXX+++-
Fernseh-WerbungXX+++-
Kino-WerbungXX+o-
PlakateXX+o-
SponsoringX+o-

Now take a pack of Post-its and ideally your sparring partner and think about the best channels through which you can best achieve the following goals, i.e., cheaply and effectively:

  • Create attention: How can you make your offer known to potential customers? This refers to classic advertising, i.e., flyers, social media, newspapers, posters, radio, word of mouth, etc.
  • Evaluation: How can you help your interested parties to evaluate your offer (as positively as possible)? Examples are the results of a survey, comparisons, reviews, ratings from other customers, recommendations from experts, seals of approval, awards, qualifications, etc.
  • Buy: How do you enable your customers to buy your products as easily as possible? Examples are an online shop, retail shop, telephone, order form, self-service, etc.
  • Delivery: How do your customers receive your service most conveniently and cost-effectively? Examples are self-collection, delivery by mail, download, in the shop, etc.
  • Service: How do you look after your customers after the purchase? Examples are a call center, returns, in-store account managers, websites, communities, service staff, etc.

In this task, divide your channels into two phases:

Phase 1 includes the channels you’ll use at the beginning to reach your customers quickly and learn as much as possible about the customers and the perception of your offer. In the beginning, what you learn about your customers and your market is much more important and valuable than sales or even profits! Here are some examples:

Examples of the use of channels for learning in phase 1:

  1. For example, if you want to open a restaurant as a pure delivery service, you should deliver the food yourself in the first weeks and months to talk to your customers as much as possible. That way you can find out how they came to you, why they chose you, what they like best, what needs to be improved, etc.
  2. If you want to advertise via flyers, distribute them yourself at the beginning because this way, you can directly receive feedback from your potential customers.
  3. If you want to take orders, use the telephone initially, for example, so that you’re in direct contact with your customers again before replacing the phone order-taking with a website with an online order form.

Phase 2 includes all the channels you want to use later when you have a good enough understanding of your business and your customers and now want to increase profitability. Now it’s a matter of replacing you and finding the most cost-effective indirect channels, even if this means you lose direct contact with your customers and therefore learn fewer new things. For example, you could now hire a driver to deliver the food. Or you could pay a student to distribute the promotional flyers.

Once you’ve defined your preferred channels for all five areas and both phases and entered them as Post-its in your Extended Canvas, the task is complete for today! Well done!