Walking in the Customer's Shoes: The Importance of Designing the Customer's Journey.

The world of customer service is undoubtedly vast and complex. It is important to know that you are not limited to just a single interaction, but rather to the sum of the interactions that make up the overall customer experience.

 The customer journey doesn't just come out of nowhere, it requires careful planning of every interaction. To this end, companies create visualization maps that allow defining the steps, stages, and contact points that customers go through.  

The customer experience is generally divided into 3 stages:

PRE-PURCHASE

 The pre-purchase stage is the moment in which the client is investigating, looking for information and alternatives to meet their needs. At this stage, companies should consider using communication channels that are convenient, accessible and informative to attract customers. Typically, touchpoints to consider include: Social Media, Ratings and Feedback from Existing Customers, Testimonials, Marketing, and Public Relations.

 PURCHASE

During this stage, one of three situations happens, the consumer buys, they plan to buy, but they do not complete the order, or they decide not to buy. In this stage, businesses have the opportunity to become familiar with the motivations and reasons for decision or indecision of customers through the use of metrics. The purchase process includes direct interactions with the company through contact points such as: Physical establishment, Point of sale, Website or E-Commerce, Catalogs, Sales personnel, Telephones.

POST-PURCHASE

After the purchase of the product or service, the post-purchase stage arises, which is essentially the follow-up to the different needs that arise from the acquisition of the product or service. During this stage, the priority for the company at this time are the customer service management strategies. In general, the contact points after a purchase are: Service and Support, Transactional Communications, Help Center, Marketing Emails, Among Others.

Taking into consideration these three stages of the customer journey, it is important that businesses take several steps to plan and implement the desired experience. This planning is summarized in a general way to the following steps:

• Define intention and criteria of the customer experience
• Map the customer's journey and points of contact
• Monitor metrics with goal of redesigning the point of contact
• Educate and train team so they can understand the process
• Gather client feedback
• Execute and internal Communications plan

Planning and visualizing the customer journey is extremely beneficial for businesses as they help to:

• Visualize customer motivations
• Coordinate internal operations effectively
• Improve the sales process according to customer needs
• Improve customer satisfaction, and therefore have a higher degree of retention and a better brand reputation.

Millennia Solutions is a multi-service company that helps companies in the design and execution of the different stages of the service experience. In addition, it provides digital tools and communication channels so that each of these stages is satisfactory for both the company and its customers.

 For more information and / or inquiries, please contact us at 1-855-966-8338 or email us at info@millennia.solutions.