As a business owner, when do you think a customer journey begins? If you pointed at the moment they contact you as the start, you’re probably thinking about just the sales process. The truth is, by that point the customer has already gone through multiple places and sources before talking to you directly.
Their discoveries on the way are what influence their final choice for a business to contact or buy from. That’s why entrepreneurs need to learn what kinds of findings can send positive or negative signals to customers, and which ones are the most impactful.
In this article, we’ll describe the entire journey a customer usually goes through – from their desire to buy a specific item or order a service to the moment of finalizing a transaction.
Research Always Comes Before Contact
The first thing business owners need to understand is that today’s customers are significantly more proactive. Long gone are the times when any business info could be found only on printed ads, leaflets or phonebooks – and that info was usually very limited. Now that all data is easily accessible and publicly available online, people take their time to learn about the relevant companies by themselves.
With that said, the journey usually starts with a search engine. A potential customer enters what they need, and receives a list of websites where a solution is offered or at least mentioned. Search engines by themselves can also display basic business info, such as location, phone number, and hours of operation.
From that point, the journey can take customers to many places, including:
- Business websites
- Business social media pages
- Review platforms
- Forums (such as Reddit)
- News and expert articles
This is where businesses already start getting evaluated, often without realizing it yet. Those aware of that journey have created a strong online presence by building a professional website and claiming profiles on review portals while encouraging positive feedback.
Trust Is Built Through Small Interactions
Purchasing decisions are rarely made after a single definitive interaction with a business. Trust is built over time through multiple smaller experiences.
A potential customer may be encouraged to contact a company after learning about their services through detailed and easy-to-understand descriptions. They can also be convinced by stories from satisfied clients along with photo evidence of the company’s work. Or they discovered an insightful blog article from the business owner that improved their perception of the business as a whole.
At every step, the prospect forms answers to these important questions:
- Can this company address my needs?
- Are their services or products high quality?
- Can they be trusted?
- Are they easy to get in touch with?
- Do they actually know their field?
Arguably, a business that is unable to answer these questions at all is in a worse position than one that can at least provide an outright “No”.
Contact Confirms or Denies Customer Beliefs
The moment a customer directly contacts a business might not be the actual start of their journey, but it’s as important as the steps a client took before reaching you. A business’s way of communicating is either the final dealmaker or a dealbreaker.
There are two key aspects to direct interaction between both parties. First is the response speed – optimal response time depends on the contact method. Emails are expected to get answered in the span of a day, while phone calls shouldn’t take more than two attempts within minutes. Businesses are also increasingly integrating website live chat, allowing for effortless text communication with potential customers. An AI assistant can make chat even more convenient, since it’s capable of answering general questions in an instant, making the customer journey even smoother and faster.
The other key aspect is consistency with the customer’s earlier impressions. If the business presents itself as professional and customer-focused, then the communication should reflect the same qualities. Trust gets easily broken when the actual interaction doesn’t match the expectations birthed from a business’s online image. Customers may ultimately see the business as dishonest, even if it was never the intention.
The Final Steps of the Customer Journey
A customer decides to order a service or purchase an item once they confirm that their business of interest meets both their expectations and requirements (location, price, available payment method, etc.). That’s why companies need to leave trust signals in any place that a customer will check for information.
Handling the purchase itself should be the easy part for most businesses. From that point, it’s a matter of providing support when necessary and keeping the customer updated. If a business gets every step of that journey right, it’ll gain customers’ trust. And trust leads to repeat customers, as well as referrals.
