The Customer Journey:

A Handbook for Meaningful (and Profitable) Engagement

INTRODUCTION

NEW GAME, NEW RULES. It did not happen overnight, but it happened. Commoditization and global competition have put the squeeze on nearly every industry. To make matters worse, financial markets have become more demanding than in decades past. Everyone is looking for sustainable growth, but few have found the secret formula for achieving it.

What does this have to do with customer engagement? Everything. The rules of the game have changed.

YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS

Customers are seizing control of the marketplace. They are more digitally connected, socially networked, and better informed than ever before. They have become savvy consumers in their personal lives and sophisticated buyers at work. They source most of their information from third parties, and when they finally decide to interact with a business, they expect to be able to do their research, make a purchase, and get assistance on any channel they choose. They expect that each new interaction will be personalized and occur within the context of the last one. Their tolerance for fragmented experiences is lower than ever, and they are very much in control of their own journey.

TIME FOR ADVANCED THINKING

This is a tall order for companies that have spent years investing in technology and establishing processes to manage a traditional customer relationship model. The old models were rooted in the idea that customers always move in a linear progression from awareness, to interest, desire, and action in a carefully orchestrated series of steps directed by a salesperson. That model divided marketing, sales, commerce, and customer service into silos with separate processes, tools, and goals.

It is time to toss out the old models. The modern customer journey is amorphous – spanning across channels and touch points. Most important, each journey is unique.

Whether buying or getting help for a product, customers will vary their process each time, based on what is convenient at that moment.

THE NEW CUSTOMER JOURNEY

The journey from awareness to advocacy varies for each customer. It snakes and shifts, depending on each customer’s needs throughout. Businesses must deliver consistent engagement at each entry point and every phase. 

Phase 1 – AWARENESS

The customer journey does not begin when people enter a store or visit a website. It starts when they first become aware they have a need. A variety of sources create that moment – some your company can control, others it cannot.

Phase 2 – DISCOVERY

Customers are evaluating options at a high level. Their research is generally light and focused on their need rather than a specific business, product, or service. From quick Web searches to casual conversations with peers, customers are trying to get a sense of the scope of their requirements. They are exploring both their need and potential ways to address it.

Phase 3 – INTEREST

During the Interest phase, customers cast a broad net to gather all their options, and quickly evaluate each one to determine if any can be dismissed. Their goal in this phase is to consider all of the possible solutions and narrow them down to a short list for an eventual purchase decision.

Phase 4 – CONSIDERATION 

Your customer launches into the Consideration phase to make a final decision. This phase can vary in length, depending on the size of the short list, the number of key decision criteria, the quantity of stakeholders, and the size of the purchase.

Phase 5 – ACTION

The Action phase is when the purchase occurs. From a one-click online transaction to months of contract redlining and price negotiation, the purchasing process varies widely by industry. The Action phase is ultimately driven by the buying process, your company’s selling process, and any regulatory requirements governing the sale.

Phase 6 – USE

In the Use phase, customers have purchased their solution and are actively using it. For most industries, this is generally the longest phase of the customer journey, when people form their opinion of the product or service, and decide if your brand promise has been fulfilled. This phase is critical to developing loyalty and setting the stage for positive customer advocacy.

Phase 7 – ADVOCACY

The Advocacy phase is often short and may be interspersed among the other phases. Here, customers share their opinions, good or bad, online or in person. These opinions are based primarily on experiences during the Consideration and Use phases, and are generally consumed by others during all phases of their customer journey. Engagement during the Advocacy phase should be a critical part of your growth strategy.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

Whether your customers are buying consulting services, camshafts, or cranberry juice, the phases of the customer journey do not change, and neither do their attributes. What does change, by industry, is the relative percentage of time that customers spend in each of the phases, the level of engagement within each phase, and the length of the overall journey.

Do not forget to account for these factors when you map out your customers’ journeys. 

For more information about customer engagement solutions from SAP, please visit us at sap.com/customer-engagement

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