Is your customer journey a trek, a treasure hunt, or a treat?
How would you like to make it a treat every time?
A lot of clients have been asking me about customer journeys. They come to me with some sort of a diagram and say, “We think this our customer’s journey.”
I ask, “How do you know this is the process?”
They generally have some sort of answer that falls along the lines of, “Well, we had a marketing meeting, and this is what we came up with. We think it’s pretty good.”
At that point, I take a closer look and find that one step is usually missing: The origin of the journey – the need establishment. What caused people to start the journey in the first place? The origin has a large effect on how a customer will perceive the journey – and ultimately cause them to spend money on your product or someone else’s.
In listening to customers, I find there are three kinds of customer journeys:
Treks – The journey is long and complicated, and the customer is forced to go on a hike to do business with you. The signs are clear, but there are no shortcuts, no sprints. The process is the process, and every customer is going to start from the beginning, hit every touch point, and fill out every bit of paperwork until they reach the end. Think of the television series “The Amazing Race,” and you’ll have an idea of how your customers feel at the end: Exhausted.
Treasure Hunts – When your customer journey is a treasure hunt, your customers are always looking for clues to the next step. Do they contact sales or customer service? Are the terms cash or financing? Will the product be delivered or do they have to pick it up? If your customers are continually guessing as to what’s next, the journey might be a treasure hunt. Think of the popular escape room puzzles and you’ll have an idea about how your customers feel: Lost.
Treats – The best customer journey, of course, is a treat. It’s tailored to each customer’s unique situation, or at least they feel like it is, and the tailoring starts with knowing where they are starting and what their needs are.
Do they know what they want and need it fast? DONE.
Do they need education to understand the different choices that exist and how each one would meet their needs or not? EASY.
Do they want to buy but don’t have the resources right now? THERE’S A STEP FOR THAT.
The most important part of creating an exceptional customer journey is understanding what different customers want, how and why they want, and creating pathways that feel unique and special to everyone, as if they were designed just for them. That’s how we help companies and products create breakthrough sales results and industry-leading customer satisfaction.
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