Technology has revolutionized the way customers make purchases. Before we explore further, let’s understand the typical customer journey in buying a product or service, regardless of whether it’s a B2B, B2C, offline, or online business.

Businesses must adapt to changing customer behavior driven by the digital world. The traditional customer journey has been disrupted, and while companies understand the importance of evolving with technology, successfully implementing digital processes and solutions remains a challenge. The basic customer journey involves four stages: awareness, consideration, purchase, and advocacy.

This journey can be visualized as a sales funnel.

Sales funnel. Image Credit: J C Sum

Awareness

The awareness stage involves the potential buyer learning about your product or service through exposure to your brand. This could be through traditional marketing channels or digital avenues like Google searches, social media, and email campaigns.

The goal is to generate interest, and the prospect may visit your website or store to learn more. Building awareness initiates a relationship with the prospect, setting the stage for further engagement.

Consideration

During this stage, the prospect evaluates whether to purchase your product or service. They compare options, gather information from various sources, and weigh the benefits.

Attractive offers and social proof can influence the decision-making process, nudging the prospect towards a purchase.

Purchase

Once the decision is made, the prospect becomes a customer by finalizing the transaction. This typically involves signing a contract or clicking the ‘buy’ button.

The customer journey shouldn’t end here; businesses should focus on turning customers into advocates for their brand.

Advocacy

Advocacy involves retaining customers, fostering loyalty, and encouraging repeat purchases. After-sales service and post-purchase marketing play a crucial role in building brand advocates through positive experiences.

Happy customers who are engaged with your brand can drive word-of-mouth referrals and boost brand reputation.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY (SALES FUNNEL)

Understanding your customer’s journey is essential for mapping out how your business caters to customer needs at different stages. It’s crucial to adapt to the changing landscape of digital customer journeys and optimize your strategies accordingly.

Let’s consider two scenarios to illustrate the evolving customer journey:

First, the traditional customer journey before the digital age, and then the current journey in today’s digital landscape.

The customer journey has evolved significantly due to digital advancements and will continue to transform as the digital world evolves.

—

This content is an excerpt from the book Evolve, Adapt or Collapse by J C Sum (Evolve&Adapt, 2020).

To purchase the book, please visit this site.

Image Credit: Cam Morin on Unsplash

This post was first published on March 26, 2020

The post Book Excerpt: In this digital age, customer journey as we know it may no longer exist appeared first on e27.