How to Really Understand the Customer Journey

To be successful in selling your product or service, you have to understand your customer, and to understand your customer, you have to know their customer journey. A customer journey map is the way to success.

As a professional who has been drawn to this blog, you will undoubtedly know the importance of the customer journey. As the extension of the classical sales funnel, the customer journey is seen as a series of touchpoints by which the customer interacts with you. Traditionally, this path is subdivided into 5 steps: awareness, consideration, purchase, retention/service, and loyalty.

As I wrote in a piece on this subject, successful organizations focus on developing a customer experience that ensures each touchpoint interconnects and contributes to the overall journey.

However, this seems simpler than it is! I have talked many times with entrepreneurs who were only vaguely aware of the steps that their customers took when dealing with them. They also acted on this outlook. But…when asked about certain details of the journey, they had no answer.

My advice to them is always this: “Create a customer journey map.” A graphic representation shows the story of the customer’s experience. It not only identifies key interactions that the customer has with the organization, but it also brings into focus the user’s feelings and motivations, as well as questions for each of the touchpoints.

The reason for this advice is crystal clear: you should not have a vague understanding of the steps your customer takes. Instead, you have to take every single interaction with your company into consideration.

The customer journey map helps you to understand these interplays in a clear way, all by identifying the following elements:

1. The customer experience that is received versus the one that is desired
2. Particular customer needs at different stages in the customer journey
3. Whether the sales funnel is in a logical order
4. The points in the funnel that are the most effective (this allows you to concentrate efforts and expenditure on them)

I can imagine you want to start right away with mapping your customer journey. If you need my help with accomplishing that, I would be happy to talk to you!