The customer journey is an important part of every business. From selling million-dollar houses to one-dollar razors, a good customer journey will help develop customers who stay with your business for years.
Before we start, it helps to define the “customer journey.” This is the concept of moving a potential customer from initial contact to purchase. It can take many forms, but it usually involves the customer searching, evaluating, experimenting, and purchasing. After the purchase, it hopefully involves retainment or loyalty.
To visualize the customer journey, below are several maps for different products or services found on Mycustomer.com.
In a quick guide by Tutsplus.com, they layout a quick guide to creating a customer journey map.
Simple and straight forward.
Still interested in learning more?
Check out these blogs that provide deep insight into the customer journey.
No matter what phase the customer is in, communication is essential. Responding to all queries, from email messages to phone calls, helps maintain contact and show your value as a business. Do your best to answer all queries within 24 hours. Having an answering service can help you respond to customers quicker, enhancing the overall journey at every phase.
Many businesses have specific scripts that customer service representatives must stick to, word-for-word. While this is important, it helps to let your people go off script and communicate with people on a personal level. Customers want to talk to real people, and allowing your team to go off script (with reason, of course) allows them to provide enhanced, personalized service.
When a customer calls your business, they want to feel valued, but making them wait gives the impression (even if unwarranted) that you simply don’t care. A study from American Express found that the average customer is willing to wait on hold for only 13 minutes. Even more worrisome, roughly one out of every five customers will only wait for five minutes. After that, they hang up and likely search for your competitor; your chances of re-earning their business plummet.
An article Adam Toporek for Salesforce.com, he provides 5 tips to help you reduce customer wait time. Here is a quick summary:
During the customer journey, your leads will go from one step to another, progressively moving towards the purchase and, if you’ve done a great job, long-term loyalty. Make the progression as clear as possible. Give them clear steps like “click here to order” or “contact us for more information.” Don’t assume they know what to do next; hold their hand and guide them through the customer experience with clear, simple steps.
With these tips, you can create a better customer journey. From the moment a lead learns about your business to the final purchase, if you stick with these tips, they will be happy repeat customers!