Most people understand the basic concept of what a journey map is, but the details of what goes in them and how they’re used in real day-to-day business are rarely discussed.
When you strip away all the buzzwords around mapping your client/customer journey, you’re left with a simple outline for each phase of your audience’s experiences and touchpoints. This framework should empower businesses to identify areas for improvement, streamline processes, foster loyalty, and ultimately drive growth.
Basic Customer Journey Map Template
At its core, a journey map consists of 4 critical phases: Marketing, Sales, Delivery, and Retention.
Marketing & Branding | Sales & Acquisition | Purchase & Service | Retention & Advocacy |
---|---|---|---|
Articles & blogs | Audience outreach | Account management | Social events |
Social media | Webinars & workshops | Personalized updates | Loyalty programs |
SEO/SEM | Product & service demos | Online/app client portals | Gifted swag |
Email campaigns | Prospect calling | Training & documentation | Aftercare & support |
Paid advertising | Free advice “sell by helping” | Warranty programs | Brand ambassadorship |
There could be 20+ touchpoints and interactions in each phase of your specific company. These are just examples that apply to the vast majority of small to medium-sized businesses.
How to Use a Customer Journey Map
Like a traditional map leading to a destination, you need to follow the customer journey map so you can identify areas for improvement, optimize touchpoints, and enhance the overall customer experience so you can lead the customer to a sale.
- Losing out on repeat business? Introduce post-service follow-ups 30, 60, and 90 days later
- Having a hard time bringing traffic to your website? Revisit your SEO strategy
- Struggling to bring leads to a sale? Offer a personalized demo of your services
Getting Your Team On Board
Using the customer journey map as a tool is about creating a balance in each phase (marketing, sales, service, and retention) so everyone on the team understands their role and responsibility.
Here are examples from each phase:
- If your sales team regularly hosts product demos, you’ll want to incorporate those events into your marketing to increase audience reach
- If your product/service team starts offering something new, marketing and sales will need to get that messaging in front of customers
- When the marketing team qualifies a prospect, those leads should be passed on to sales for follow-up calls
- If there’s a company-wide sales goal to increase repeat business and improve customer retention, you’ll need a sales package to remarket to existing clients
Turn Your Business Challenges Into Opportunities
Consult with Derek.
If you’d like to go into detail and make a custom journey map for the unique touchpoints in your business, that’s why I’m here.