Customer Journey Insights to Improve Customer Retention
Are your prospects on the right path to becoming loyal customers?
How well do you understand your customers? Are you able to list their motivations and pain points? Do you know why they chose your business over a competitor?
Simply put, the customer journey refers to the path followed by a customer via a variety of so-called touchpoints before making a purchasing decision, which can be visualized in a customer journey map.
Every touchpoint along the customer journey is an opportunity for a business to deliver a positive customer experience that influences whether prospects become customers and whether customers become brand ambassadors.
Mapping the Customer Journey
The customer journey is not the same as the customer experience. The customer journey refers to the entire experience a customer has with a brand or business. Conversely, the customer experience refers to how the customer feels while passing through the customer journey. But what goes into a customer journey map and how can you design around the customer at every stage of the buying and support cycle?
What is a customer journey map?
A customer journey map is a visual representation of a customer’s experience across all touchpoints with a business. The customer journey is also referred to as the buyer journey or the user journey. From awareness to retention, a customer journey is unique to each customer.
What are the Stages of the Customer Journey?
There is no single example of a customer journey. The customer journey is different for each customer persona, and relevant to their specific goals.
The customer journey is made up of phases, which are the stages that a customer passes through. There are different approaches when it comes to deciding the stages of the customer journey. However, it’s generally agreed that the buying decision is not usually made when discovering a business or brand for the first time. Customers usually think about a service or product before deciding to make a purchase.
Most customer journeys usually include the following stages:
Awareness Stage
Brand awareness is the first stage of the customer journey. It usually starts when a prospect has a problem and starts looking for a solution.
Awareness stage touchpoints include, direct mail marketing, social media exposure, search engine research and advertising (both offline and online).
Consideration stage
These days, consumers are highly informed. Before making a purchase decision, consumers will do considerable research to ascertain the best solution for their problem.
Consideration stage touchpoints include, free trials, landing pages, informative website content, discounts, testimonials etc.
Decision stage
This is when the prospect has completed their research. They’ve compared options and are ready to commit to a purchase.
Decision stage touch points include the checkout page process, account creation process, and brick-and-mortar store interactions.
Retention stage
The retention stage is when the customer evaluates their experience with your business. Brand loyalty is built during the retention stage. Since it costs more to acquire new customers than retain existing ones, retention stage touchpoints are vitally important. Retention stage problems can increase your churn rate and reduce your marketing ROI.
Retention stage touchpoints include loyalty programs, email communications, customer support, online communities, and feedback surveys.
Mapping: 10 Benefits of Mapping the Customer Journey
Before you can design your own customer journey, it pays to understand why it’s so important to do so in the first place. Whether customers connect with your business via social media, email, or phone mapping the customer journey has a host of benefits including:
Seeing the customer journey from the customer’s point of view.
Increased customer satisfaction and conversions.
Highlighting customer pain points and areas of frustration.
A greater ability to predict customer behavior.
Providing a visual aid for relevant partners.
The ability to identify specific touchpoints that are leading to customer churn.
Having a great understanding of your customers and their expectations.
Increased customer data.
Greater employee satisfaction.
Attracting loyal customers.
Whether you’re small or large, have a simple or complex buying process—customer journey mapping can work wonders for your business. But the greatest benefit of all? Mapping the customer journey will give you a much clearer understanding of who your customers are and what they expect from your business.
Deliver at All Touchpoints: We’re Here to Help
There are many ways to connect with customers at each stage of the buyers' journey. Whether you’re new in town and hoping to drive awareness or looking to surprise and delight customers during the retention stage, it pays to consider every medium.
As a leader in automated direct mail and secure communications, we have the tools to help you connect with your clients on their terms. Ready to learn more about the customer journey? Looking to discuss your needs? Drop us a line using this handy contact form.