Every process or procedure entails following a series of steps towards achieving a specific goal. And each step in the process contributes, as well as sets the stage for the next step in that process, inching closer and closer to that set goal.
To illustrate, visualise that you want to bake bread. Before you can have that freshly baked goodness, you need to prepare everything that will be needed to get everything going.
If it is your first try, you’d of course need the recipe for the type of bread you’d want to bake. Then you must gather all the ingredients needed as listed down in the recipe, the tools, and equipment you’d need. The steps in which to add all the ingredients one at a time, using the tools and baking implements. Then put in the pan, and then the oven, etc. You get the gist.
The same goes for a Consumer Sales Journey. Only that the steps you’d want them to follow are the stages. And each stage has its own end goal that will lead to the next stage and so on, until the customer reaches the very end of that journey. And, at this juncture, if you have provided nothing but a pleasurable experience, the chances of closing a sale will be at a high.
The point is, whether it’s baking or a sales journey, you must keep track of where you are (or where the customer is) at each step or stage. And ensure that your system seamlessly guide them and help them unto the next stage of the process smoothly and painlessly.
In sales, understanding your customer is of prime importance. If you understand your customer better, you will be able to provide for them a great user experience with your products and with your brand. In turn, you would be able to maintain or even possibly increase customer retention, and help your company maximise its profits.
What is a Customer Sales Journey?
When we talk of a customer journey, we are simply referring to the interaction a user has on their “journey” from the moment they find you to becoming a customer. Instead of just keeping focus on when and how a user closed into a sale, the customer journey looks at the full experience of a customer.
This process is of import to marketers, as they can properly gauge and understand the role of each channel and piece of content plays in driving users throughout their journey.
This journey evokes all cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioural consumer responses that customers experience throughout all stages of the consumption process.
Each customer embarks on a journey that may ultimately lead to purchasing your product or engaging your services. Five distinct phases are involved in the process from start to finish. Each stage, or phase, brings with it, its own challenges, and hurdles that you will need to guide your customer through.
These stages or phases are:
- Awareness – The discovery stage is where a user first encounters your brand. They might have discovered you via various marketing methods, information gathering, or when they are simply looking for clear messaging that may cater to their initial problem-solving. The thing to remember in this stage is that the user is not yet looking to buy here.
- Consideration – At this stage, the user already knows what the solution is to their pain point/problem, but they still don’t know where to go to solve it. It is also at this stage where the user is mulling options, perhaps comparing yours vs. another product/provider, considering price points, which offers the best solution, weighing benefits and features, etc.
- Purchase – This the stage when the decision to purchase is made. NEVER leave a void between this stage and the first contact. The customer needs to be acknowledged and start-up your welcome and messaging machine to progress the journey to move them into further stages.
- Retention – Retaining a customer is difficult, and many marketers fail off this process if they are not sufficiently supported. Constant communication is the key to develop customer loyalty and retention.
- Advocacy – If you handled all the other phases correctly, your customers would turn into your fans. Fans provide the best marketing you can get. Their influence on the purchasing decisions of others can provide for you further sales.
Consumer journeys must be extremely specific to each business. But the underlying aim is to ensure the positive mental and physical experience of their clients. Achieving this creates a loyal target market.
Why is a Customer Sales Journey Important?
For a lot of business owners, the concept of working on sales in the operation of their business can be quite scary. If you are in this position, you are not alone.
Sales can indeed be scary. But if you know and better understand who you are selling to, the easier it will be.
We are all consumers; think about the last time you had a really great experience as a customer. Remember the ways that experience left you feeling. Now do the same the last time you had a poor experience.
It is easy to see above that a positive customer experience is much more crucial to the success of your business, simply because a happy customer will more likely become a loyal customer.
If you successfully guided your customer to the point that they become advocates for your business, they also become the best people marketing money can buy. Not only can they give you revenues with their business, but they also become promoters of your business through word-of-mouth marketing, and advocates for your brand, products, and services.
Mapping the Journey.
Customer expectations are in constant transformation. The big question is, how can you meet these ever-changing expectations to be able to ensure every customer’s journey runs smoothly?
One excellent way to understand and optimise the customer experience is by mapping out the customer journey. Doing so assures you that you are not missing out on interacting with your customers at any stage of the journey.
Additionally, mapping out the customer journey helps you, as a business owner/leader, gain insights on your customer’s common pain points. With these valuable insights, you will be able to deliver optimised and personalised customer experiences.
To conclude…
Helping and satisfying your clients is easy when you know what to do. Develop a plan, track the results, and strive to provide the best service you can to create loyal customers who will eventually be the ones selling the product for you.
The Growth Manager can help to provide a seamless experience for your customers, both existing and new. Take advantage of our Consumer Sales Journey Guide, and let us show you how to map out your consumer sales journey and help you understand how to increase sales while leaving you feeling confident in your business offerings.
