Letting go of linear
One thing is clear in the digital shift on the customer’s journey. It’s no longer linear, which makes every interaction and touchpoint with your customer incredibly valuable.
Today’s customer journey can resemble the ascent of a mountain – it’s not neat nor contained and changes in digital technology have made this customer journey even more chaotic. Product discovery via search engines with all your competitors listed next to you, online reviews, product information at people’s fingertips, green credentials openly scrutinised, blended in-store digital experiences like click and collect, and live-chat support – the shift to digital has had a huge impact on how customers purchase and access information across multiple channels to get information on your business and products.
It pays to pay attention to your ‘micro moments’. Focusing on a more personalised journey, meeting customers in their chosen digital spaces and making those experiences fulfilling helps amplify the personal touch. As Bernard Marr states in Forbes, “The window to give customers what they're looking for may be just a few seconds.”
Data for the journey
The frenzy is not all bad! A huge benefit of having so many digital platforms and touchpoints available to brands is the additional data you can get your hands on. Previously, you might have relied on a customer survey or in-store feedback to help understand a customer’s motivations and pain points. Now, you have the ability to collect raw, granular data from everything from your website to link-hosting sites and Google search terms.
In McKinsey’s report, ‘The Future of CX’, it states that ‘companies now have access to a broad array of data sets: internal data on customer interactions (both digital and analog), transactions, and profiles; widely available third-party data sets that cover customer attitudes, purchase behaviors and preferences, and digital behaviors, including social-media activity.’
This knowledge can have a transformational impact on your understanding of the customer journey and help you to improve it, leading to more sales and a better brand reputation.
Growing your customer journey data will bring a plethora of benefits in 2023. In a recent report from Deloitte, it states that ‘Future touchpoints will increasingly skew toward digital and provide a real-time customer experience that is contextualized, personalized, and data-and-usage-driven.”
Bad experiences can make or break your brand
When it comes to the customer journey, bad experiences can result in a bad brand reputation before your prospects even become customers. The ease with which bad reviews and bad brand reputation can travel thanks to digital shifts in the customer journey means that it’s that bit harder to ensure a harmonious customer journey in 2023.
Before buying, most people will conduct a quick search to check out the company they are buying from, or the product they are buying. In fact, recent research shows that 94% of consumers have avoided a company due to bad reviews.
And it’s not just the bad reviews consumers will be paying attention to – it’s also how a brand responds to those reviews that gives the consumer vital insights into your customer service levels. And with all of this found so easily online, this part of your customer journey is essential to prioritise.
With so many ways to leave a review today like Google reviews, Trustpilot, TripAdvisor and others, keeping your ear to the ground to listen to what people are saying about your brand is one of the biggest shifts within the customer journey.
Curious about how Worldpack can help you create a better customer journey? Speak with us on +31 (0) 88 494 20 80 or email us at online@worldpack.eu
