Understanding the customer journey is a critical step for business success. This 5-stage process provides many touchpoints, and articulating how current and potential customers interact with businesses uncovers many actionable insights.
While mapping out a customer journey is an investment, 90% of those using customer journey mapping said the venture delivers a positive impact. The biggest effect reported was increased customer satisfaction while lower churn, fewer customer complaints, and higher net promoter scores (NPS) were also noted.
The question then is, how can businesses best utilize customer journeys to meet customers where they are and create sales momentum instead of merely letting the process play out?
Here are 10 tactics you can implement today to elevate the customer journey and create win-win situations.
- Cultivate reviews.
If you feel uncomfortable asking someone for a review, consider the alterative—72% of customers won’t take action until they read reviews. Developing customer advocates is a key component to building brand awareness and winning new clients. Encourage current customers to leave reviews on Google, social channels, and relevant industry-specific review platforms by sending email requests or including a note with their bill. - Kickstart lead generation.
Lead generation is a crucial part of winning new customers for obvious reasons. The more people you speak to about your product, the more opportunities you have for a sale. Lead generation is an ongoing process, and it’s important to pair inbound methods such as website forms with proactive outbound tactics. Running a quarterly or monthly campaign can be just the ignite your funnel needs. While some campaigns like trade shows take place on a set schedule, you can choose to run others like a webinar or promoting a piece of content anytime to fill up that funnel. - Upgrade your online presence.
In many cases the first place customers will meet you is online, so it’s important that your digital footprint is up to snuff. Review your existing website and make sure it’s up to date with current offerings and services, as well as optimized for search engine optimization (SEO). Add landing pages that speak to specific audiences as well as chatbots for faster customer service. - Nurture existing leads.
The bad news—79% of marketing leads never convert into sales. There’s good news—lack of nurture is the main cause, and that means you have the power to impact this number. Spend some time reviewing all of the open leads, and make a plan for each. Automated nurture campaigns can help keep warm leads engaged and move them through the customer journey and closer to a sale. Work to become faster at lead follow up too; you’re 100x more likely to connect with a potential customer and 21x more likely to qualify them if you call them within five minutes of them filling out a form. - Maximize micro-moments.
With the news cycle and constant advertisements begging for people’s attention, customer attention has never been at such a premium. This makes the time when you can capture your customer’s attention that much more valuable. Within the hustle and bustle of daily life, there are micro-moments when you briefly hold 100% of your customer’s attention, and it’s important to be ready. Small gestures like knowing your customer recently made a purchase and including a promotional message for a related product on their next bill or invoice can turn attention into retention. - Delight new customers.
Early days of a new customer relationship can set the stage for long-term loyalty—or a fast exit to a competitor. Make a first impression that leads to long-term gains, increased brand affinity, and higher engagement with a new customer welcome campaign. A strategic, well-planned welcome campaign sets expectations for your cadence of content and opens the lines of communication between customers and your business. - Retarget for expanded reach.
Retargeting is a form of advertising that reminds customers of your products. After they visit your website, they are strategically served your ads on other websites for a period of time. This is an important way to increase brand awareness and stay top of mind while customers are mulling their choice, and it gives them an easy way to come back and finalize their purchase. - Identify cross-sell opportunities.
In addition to gaining new customers, think about ways to increase existing customer revenue. Cross-selling, which is recommending a new product or service to a current customer, can increase sales by 20% and profits by 30%. Start by reviewing customer data to see what opportunities exist, then plan campaigns accordingly. Consider adding recommendations onto product pages, the checkout cart, or a follow-up email. - Deliver on the customer experience.
A good experience is key to happy customers, and the numbers prove it. Brands who provide a seamless customer experience earn 5-7 times more revenue than their competitors. On the other hand, customers who switch companies due to poor service cost companies $1.6 trillion. Work to create a frictionless experience for your customers to keep them happy and coming back for more. - Focus on retention.
A common mistake companies make is to go through the hard work of obtaining a customer and then let that work go to waste. Some reports indicate it costs 5 times more to attract new customers than retain existing ones! Ensure your customers are happy with excellent customer service and loyalty campaigns. As some turnover is inevitable, perform a churn analysis to understand why customers are leaving, and then act on the insights gained. And remember, previous customers are now prospects, so treat them accordingly.
Conclusion: Start with One Thing, then Build
Picking just one of these tactics can help elevate your customer journey and drive sales, revenue, and loyalty. To figure out the best place for your business to start, review EverView’s full suite of marketing solutions and then reach out.