Customer Journey and why it’s vital to have a successful business

What if I told you you could get inside your customer’s head and feel their frustrations and pain as if they were your own?

That is every marketer’s dream, and it should be for an excellent reason.

The minute you can do that, you will have a long line of prospects begging you to take their money, and you will have a tribe of raving fans.

In the opposite world, even the best tools and the most beautiful funnels cannot help you, if you don’t understand your customer.

This is where customer journey and mapping this journey comes into action.

What is customer journey?

In simple terms, customer journey is the process your customer goes through to reach their buying decision.

Now, the decision the customer makes could be to buy from you or to buy from your competitor. The customer will most likely trust the company which could speak his language, invoke an emotion, address his objections, talk to his pain points, and give him the hope that their product/service can solve that pain point.

You must be familiar with the traditional marketing funnel, which helps companies to lead the customer through each stage of the buying cycle.. The problem with this visualization is that it doesn’t take into account the touch points that occur after the purchase. Also, the buyer’s journey has become more complex with the increasing number of digital channels.  Even B2B marketers face the same challenge; 82% of business buyers now want the same experience as when they buy for themselves, while 79% say it’s easier than ever to take their business elsewhere.

Here is the traditional marketing funnel:

The below image is from an infographic by Salesforce.It takes in to account the broader scope of the customer journey.

A customer journey is not as simple as reading your blog post, downloading your eBook, and then signing up for your mastermind course. Also, it does not end when the customer buys your product. In fact, that’s just the beginning.

If all you do is run a bunch of ads, without considering your customer persona or buyer’s journey, then chances are that the customer will see you as a spammer, and avoid you at all costs.

Having a customer journey map will help you visualize the steps a prospect goes through to reach their decision to become your customer.

Now you might ask if the entire process of mapping the buyer’s cycle is even worth it.

Good question. Let’s look at the benefits.

Benefits of understanding the customer journey

Practical insights into customers and exceptional customer experience

Actionable insights into what customers want and helps to identify parts of your service/brand which aren’t delivering exceptional service.

You can attract your ideal client instead of chasing prospects

You know what’s worse than having no customer? It’s ending up with the wrong customer. Because the wrong customer will not only bring you any revenue, but they will drain you of your energy and confidence.

Hyper-targeted offers at each stage of the customer life cycle

Knowing what your customer needs in each step of his buying cycle will help you provide more value and delight your customer. Providing valuable content during each stage of your prospects journey will strengthen your relationship and help build that trust with your customer.

Avoid the crickets

Have you ever launched a fantastic product waiting for the masses to come running to your company to buy your products?

You hit the publish button on your ad and eagerly wait for the crowd…

But nothing happens. Just Crickets!

This usually happens because you are talking to everyone, and it resonated with no one. Avoid this by speaking directly to one customer persona and addressing their pinpoints.

Customer-focused company

You can turn your customers into brand ambassadors when customer experience is at the center of everything you do.

Avoid the price war with your competitor

You will have your customer even if your competitors lower their prices. Studies have proven that emotions drive decisions rather than logic.