“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts.

It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”

— Jeff Bezos

Too many times in B2C and B2B marketing, the sales process is depicted as a type of competition or chess match. If the prospect makes this move, then we make that move. We strategise to get our 'opponent' to make certain moves, we counter and we advance our goals. In the end, if we get the prize of a sale, then we even like to think that we have “won” the competition.

But what if we began to look at marketing and sales from a less adversarial perspective, as set out by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos? He asserts that we as marketers should look at prospects not as an opponent, but as a desired guest whom we are inviting to a party. It is the host’s job to think about what the guests would like, to carefully set out and plan each step of the event, and to assure that everyone has a good time. The goal is to engage guests with the hope of strengthening and building on the existing relationship.

In marketing, this is where the concept of the customer journey comes into play. It is a more refined view of the marketing or sales funnel, which lumps prospects into categories and squeezes them through a process until a customer falls out the other end. The customer journey, in contrast, understands that the decision-making process is not quite so linear. Customers are often known to wander off the pre-determined path, take a detour down unplanned byways and come back to various options before making a final choice. The marketer’s job is to understand this process, to help prospects even as they deviate from the pre-ordained trail, and to shepherd them back toward the desired approach gently. This customer journey can be seen as phases that build one on the other:

• Awareness: A pain is felt, a need is determined, or a problem is uncovered. This is the initial spark that motivates prospects to think that something needs to be done. At this point, they know what is missing and realise they need to turn to others for help.

• Search: So, the search begins. This may take many forms. Their mind might go back to an idea or company they filed away for future reference, they might do a top-level online search, or they might go to their social circle for input and options.

• Evaluation: Here, the process begins to get real as searchers build their case. They gather their information, compare and contrast various options against each other, and form opinions of the direction they might want to take.

• Experimentation: The choice is narrowed to a few possibilities, and initial approaches are made with each. Prospects want to know whether there is a fit with potential partners and want to experience how that relationship might work.

• Purchase: A commitment is made, but this can still be a fraught point. If there is disappointment or failure to meet expectations, the entire relationship can be ruined before it really has a chance to mature.

• Commitment: A decision is made, and a purchase occurs. The challenge now shifts to building on these foundations.

What Is Customer Journey Mapping?

“Customer experience isn’t an expense. Managing customer experience bolsters your brand.”

— Stan Phelps, Experience Architect

Because this journey can be so complicated, the concept of customer journey mapping was developed to help make plans about how to uniformly bolster the relationship at each possible touchpoint. Each interaction is an event which must be managed both individually and as a distinct part of the whole. Because it cannot be known where a prospect might be at any point in time, or whether they will go from point A to point C and then back to point B, each must provide individual selling points, engage the prospect, and present the case for purchase while still motivating the individual to move to the next step.

The customer journey map provides an educated model of how various prospects might interact with a business at different touchpoints before making a purchase decision. The map might need to be adjusted to take into account the buying patterns and needs of various customer personas, or different customer groupings who have different reasons for using your product or service. Each persona may act differently or require specific information for their buying process.

A customer journey map can help to understand the different personas at each touchpoint and present individual snapshot messages, which are still part of the overall picture. It helps to answer questions such as where a prospect might first encounter your business, how they might attempt to communicate with your company, and what roadblocks might they meet along the way?

The map then helps the marketing team determine what message the company will present at each touchpoint. Some touchpoints are under the direct control of the company, while outside influences might control others. A prospect might have anywhere from ten to fifteen interactions with a potential partner before becoming agreeable to form a relationship. Common touchpoints might include:

• Company Communications: Website, social media, sales materials, email contacts, mobile applications, and traditional advertising.

• Online Media: Search engines, ranking sites, industry associations, category experts and influencers.

• In-Person Interactions: Telephone systems, sales presentations, trade shows and industry conferences.

• Educational Opportunities: Training sessions, product knowledge videos, and informative website content.

• Customer Experience: What happens once you conclude the sale? How is the new customer turned into a long-term relationship?

The customer journey map then becomes a compact visualisation tool that depicts the entire customer experience from beginning to end. It helps the organisation and its internal stakeholders make value-driven decisions based on an understanding of where the customer is in the process and the knowledge of what that customer is experiencing at a given time. Curating the experience helps ensure that prospects receive the correct message at the precise moment they need it most.

Crucial Components of a Dynamic Customer Journey Map

“The goal of the customer journey map is really to get a holistic view of what the customer is going through from their point of view and really what it’s like for them on a personal level, that human level.”

— Kerry Bodine, Customer Experience Consultant

No two customer journey maps will look alike. Each one will be different based on whether the company is B2B or B2C, product or service-oriented, consumer demographics, and buyer personas. The maps may even be varied within an individual organisation as it strives to understand how to motivate each of the buyer personality types and behaviours. Although each map is different, the fundamental components of a dynamic customer journey map include:

• Customer-Centric, Not Business-Centric: It is essential to keep the customer journey map focused on what the customer does, not what the organisation thinks customers do or what they wish customers would do. Look at the various buyer personas and demographics to help understand what each is thinking and needs at each step of the journey. A younger person might think differently from an older person, business executives might take in information from a particular perspective while consumers might rely more on social media, and each might think some benefits are more important than others.

• Multiple Touchpoints Vs. Individual Touchpoints: Don’t get too bogged down in trying to ensure that one specific touchpoint is completely perfect. Remember that your prospect will likely have multiple touchpoints along the journey, and will likely only be capable of synthesising one piece of information at a time. Plus, it is difficult to predict an exact starting point, so you must assume that each touchpoint can be the beginning for one person and provide sufficient information at each. Prospects do not understand that various departments within the organisation might be responsible for different aspects of the relationship. A complete picture must be presented, so they believe all their interactions with your company are seamlessly connected to each other.

• Incorporate Performance Indicators: As with any business strategy, customer journey mapping needs to incorporate performance indicators which will help to reveal whether the strategy is working. If the purpose of a touchpoint is to create a certain feeling or motivate a specific action, you can assign qualitative measures to determine whether those goals are achieved. This might be measured terms of click-throughs, phone contact, email opens, or other factors which indicate whether a prospect is happy and willing to continue.

• Build a Story: The beauty of customer journey maps is that they provide the ability to create a story by adding layer after layer of relevant information into the budding relationship. A good story provides deep-seated emotional and psychological reminders that help lead to the happy ending.

Benefits of Customer Journey Mapping

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

— Kenneth B. Elliott

When well-researched and executed well, the benefits of customer journey mapping can be tremendous:

• The company builds better customer relationships with stronger emotional connections that are more likely to result in long-term positive relationships.

• It creates a focal point for marketing, sales, and operational activities to work together from the same fundamental understanding. Each department does not operate in its own silo, but is instead part of a total entity which presents a united front to the outside world.

• The map will help to recognise and fill communication gaps among the customer touchpoints. By using a visual rendition, it is much easier to determine where additional attention needs to be focused on bolstering the overall perception, and ensure that no potential customer is overlooked.

• There is an increased capability to predict customer behaviours, which can be used to determine where customers make preferred turns in the buying process and where they might go down a different path. The company can then either add an important element to the map or correct the point of dysfunction.

• Companies have a more effective campaign planning tool, which is critical to creating targeted marketing messages, sales presentations, and crafting the perfect customer interaction.

• The bottom line of the customer journey mapping strategy is that it will lead to improved conversion rates because there is a more concerted effort to recognise and appropriately manage each step of the process.

Across the board, customer journey mapping helps to increase return on marketing investment while lowering customer acquisition costs. In the end, satisfied customers who have a positive experience are also more likely to be open to up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. They will also be apt to provide positive social media mentions or the ever-elusive customer referral.

Journey mapping helps the organisation to see itself through the eyes of the consumer better. Once this theory is understood and internalised, it affects not just the way the company communicate but the way it operates as well.

So look at your prospects as guests at your party, and become the ultimate party planner with the use of customer journey mapping. A great “party plan” can indeed pave the route the better customer engagement. 1827 Marketing can help bring together all your marketing activities into one place. From campaign objectives, marketing plan, content calendar and target customers to accounts, personas, lead scores, buyer journey and pipeline, everything feeds into our platform that will give your business tools to create campaigns and experiences that deliver results. 

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