𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀

The path to success can be challenging and rewarding, whether climbing a mountain peak or scaling your customer base.

To grow your business, you want customers to remain for a long time, embrace upsells, and refer new business. To profit, you want to avoid wasting time or money. Optimizing the customer experience increases your chances of success.

This post covers each stage of the customer journey, addresses potential issues that could be harmful, and provides ways to improve them. Let's grow!

The Problems

The customer journey at a high level:

Branding ➡️ Marketing ➡️ Sales ➡️ Onboarding ➡️ Support ➡️ Growth

At each stage, determine the best customer experience and transitions.

You may not think all these steps are necessary e.g. does a mobile app need onboarding? However, if someone cannot use the app immediately, they may leave never to return. Also, when customers face a discrepancy between their expectations and reality, it can cause problems even if the quality is good.

Understand the purpose of each stage for the customer, and then determine how to measure success within and transitioning across each stage.

The Improvements

Objectives – Define success in simple, clear terms.

“Fewer things, better things."

- Steve Jobs

By concentrating on only highly impactful ideas, Apple customers expect quality innovation and willingly pay a premium for their products.

Level up: Regardless of your company's mantra, be clear on your vision and value. Announce success stories about customers, such as designing a new feature or delighting a customer. These stories inspire commitment.

Filters – Strategically determine the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) based on consumer or company demographics.

Level up: Focus marketing and sales on ICP targets. This approach optimizes your resources and ultimately benefits both you and your customers.

Content – People learn differently, so offer videos, illustrations, and messaging to share the optimum experience.

Level up: Share case studies and other customers' successes to reinforce your value.

Responsibilities – Startups often benefit from loosely defined roles. However, a lack of accountability at each step may result in a bad customer journey.

Level up: Assign ownership for each responsibility and establish best practices for transitions and overall success.

Support – When someone becomes a customer, explain how to get support and offer suggestions since users often share valuable insights.

Level up: Fight fires AND fireproof. After you extinguish the flames, prompt ways to prevent future blazes, saving time and money in the long run.

Metrics – Startups typically measure a range of financial indicators. However, customer success affects revenues and profitability.

Level up: Align customer success with team and individual performance by measuring churn and user engagement then collaborating on improvements.

Appreciate the impact of the customer journey on long-term success since revenues and scalability depend on efficiency and retention.

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𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲: 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗸 is a modular handbook with over 130 articles that ascend into topics like leadership, growth, sales, marketing, operations, finance, and teams.

In five minutes, learn the best methods and practical solutions to reach your dreams.