Today, customers expect that their experience with a business will be just as good as their experience with big brands like Amazon, Google, and Netflix. Customer journey management is a proven approach to delivering the seamless experience your customers demand. With the customer journey evolving rapidly, it’s now more important than ever to understand how to manage the customer journey for better business results.

What is customer journey management?

Customer journey management is the process of optimizing a brand’s interactions with customers at each stage of their journey. Using technology and behavioral science, customer journey management aims to make interactions enjoyable for your prospects so you can move them through your sales funnel.

Benefits of customer journey management

Customer journey optimization allows you to enjoy the following benefits:

• Return on Investment (ROI) is higher. The benefits of customer journey management don’t stop at capturing leads. With optimized customer journeys, your business will enjoy improved ROI by acquiring new leads and turning them into customers.
• Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Because customer needs are addressed through an enjoyable interaction with your brand, their satisfaction will increase. As a result, you will have more loyal customers.
• Add referrals from existing customers. Did you know that recommendation from a friend makes someone four times more likely to make a purchase? If your customers are satisfied, they will not only buy from you again but will also refer you to their family and friends. You should also have referral programs for your loyal customers, as this type of program is said to generate a significant amount of leads for  60% of marketers.
• More opportunities to cross-sell and upsell. Satisfied customers are more likely to repurchase from businesses that have earned their trust, so you have more opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell.

5 best ways to manage the customer journey

1. Define your goals

Before you start mapping the customer journey to optimize it, set clear goals. This way, you can measure the success of your customer journey optimization efforts. Do you want to understand customer behavior when using your website? Or do you want to improve customer engagement? Are you identifying customer bottlenecks when using your site? Identify the questions you want answered. Then, set clear goals so you know what metrics you want to track later.

2. Know your customers

Before understanding how customers navigate your website, it’s important to first know who your customers are. Who is your target audience and ideal customer? You can conduct market research to identify your customers and prospects. You can also collect first-party data from your existing customers with the help of customer relationship management software. Send short surveys to your existing customers to get to know them better.

3. Map the journey of different customer segments

Map out the route your customer takes from the first point of contact to the final sale. Identifying the touchpoints different customers have made can help you better understand their different behaviors.

Which pages encouraged them to add items to their cart? What call-to-action (CTA) buttons made them decide to buy from you? Additionally, it also helps you identify various bottlenecks that keep your customers from making a purchase.

Segment your customers by their journey. A flexible and easy-to-use CRM can help you segment customers by customer journey, first touchpoint, or the way you need to segment them.

For example, you have a customer segment whose journey begins with engaging with an organic post on social media. Their next touchpoint is your blog posts and a product page where they will eventually convert.

Other journeys may begin with a search. These customers visit one of your blog posts and sign up for your newsletter before converting.

4. Engage different stakeholders in your organization

Managing the customer journey is not the responsibility of any one department. Collaborate with different teams that have insights into your customer interactions and how to improve them.

Your sales team can share valuable insights they’ve gathered from the customers they’ve interacted with. The customer service team can give their opinion on the most frequently asked after-sales question. The marketing team can share which channels are bringing the most people to your site.

5. Track your customer journey management results

Track your key performance indicators (KPIs), based on the goals you set. This way, you can measure the impact of customer journey optimization on your bottom line.

Are you trying to increase your brand awareness? Follow these metrics:

• Impressions
• SEO Ranking
• Bounce rate
• Time on page

If you want to find out if potential customers are reviewing your product, keep an eye on the following:

• Clicks
• Controlled content click-through rate
• Cost per click (CPC) of paid advertising

Are your leads moving further down the funnel to make a purchase? Follow:

• Conversion rate
• Cost per conversion
• The sale

Customer journey management is not a one-time deal. It’s a process that continually evolves as you introduce new products and services, as customer needs change, and as you change any touchpoints.