

To efficiently implement CRM (customer relationship management) one must first understand its history and its importance. Travel through time, and you will learn of a detailed background, its creators and evolution.
Where Thought Leaders go for Growth
The Customer Journey is the culmination of all the interactions actions your company has had with a buyer, across various stages, from consideration to the recommendation of a product or service. The Customer Journey can happen either in-store or online, or even a combination of the two, normally internet research and then purchase in-shop.
Customer Journey is a bigger, more encompassing term than purchase journey because it includes the periods before and after the purchase happens, it takes into account the entirety of the customer experience.
Moreover, the goal of the Customer Journey is to allow the sales and marketing teams, more specifically, to understand what the customer goes through so that they can improve the customer process.
Especially now with the emergence of recent technologies and tools to analyze customer data, the customer journey is rich in detail, but also more complex than ever. Today, you have to be present both online and offline, increase the points of contact with customers, and change the traditional customer channels into Omni channels.
Below you’ll find out the reasons why you need to know about this and also find out the key stages.
By analyzing it:
By learning these things about your customers, you’ll be able to be at the right place at the right time to give them tailored offers and to guide them to purchase.
Studying the customer journey therefore can contribute to the overall inbound marketing strategy, which is targeted towards the consumer, and aims to:
And subsequently:
This step includes:
This is the moment where:
When the word “consideration” is used in this context, it means evaluation of the offer. An example of this could be a prospect who goes to the shop to try a product or goes online to do some research and maybe even look at other products to compare. A prospect usually considers multiple things before deciding to go with a specific offer, among them are:
This is the moment when, as a company, you have to put all the cards on the table and show all of your strengths. Furthermore, don’t hesitate to use techniques like “drive to store” or “click and collect” to bring the prospect closer and show them more of your company.
According to a poll conducted by GE Capital Retail Bank, it’s estimated that 81% of retailer shoppers in the US research a product before they buy it. Most of this research takes place online before visiting a shop in person, therefore a well-established and constructed digital, SEO strategy, as well as a natural and fluid website, is quintessential for a positive customer journey.
This involves:
Even if the sale is completed, there are still several important elements to keep in mind:
To retain a customer, a company has to do everything to make them want to come back. Companies also have to provide excellent after-sales service to keep a good image of their brand. This could come in the form of:
This would also be the ideal time to send out a customer satisfaction survey, to collect feedback that might be helpful for you and your business in building a better customer journey.
Note: We can dissect the customer journey into 10 specific stages, those being:
To see the entire customer journey and fill in all the pertinent information, you should consider using a Customer Journey map, also known as the Customer Journey model. To make a Customer Journey map, you have to ask yourself the following questions:
Mapping out a customer’s journey allows you to visualize and identify every point of contact your customer has had with you and your product, and more interestingly, at specific stages of their customer “life”, and across all channels. It’s also highly collaborative, it gives a collective vision and common objectives to all involved sectors of a business.
In the case of diverse customer profiles, a company can choose to concentrate on:
A Customer Journey Map is made up of a variety of data, including:
It’s also possible to concentrate on:
A customer journey map takes into account many things:
You know your product by heart, but do you know your customers by heart? Do you know where they’re coming from, what channels, and where they want to go, needs, and wants? Why and how did they get to you? If they decided not to buy from you, do you know why and how they decided that?
The customer journey, its analysis, the map, and its evolution through time and technological changes, all allow you to improve the customer experience.
Pairing your inbound marketing strategy with new and advanced software will allow you to improve every level of your customer experience for every customer and each of their concerns. By using intelligent software you’ll be able to personalize and automate your marketing strategy decisions.