The point at which a consumer purchases your product or service is just a single step in a long journey that has been shaped by all the moments leading up to it. And an unfavorable incident at any phase of this journey can result in a lost customer. As a business owner, you must make this customer journey as positive as possible at every step of the process.In order to do that, you must fully understand the entire experience of doing business with your company, from your customer’s point of view. This means ensuring that each customer touchpoint – or interaction – is a positive one.
What are your customer touchpoints?
Any time a customer makes contact with your brand – before, during and after the sale – is a touchpoint (TP). Let’s take a look at an example.
Your potential customer is shopping and sees your signage (TP).
She walks in and notices the layout of your store (TP).
An employee greets her and offers her help (TP).
The employee is friendly and knowledgeable (TP) and helps her make a decision about what to buy (TP).
You employee explains that if she changes her mind about her purchase, she can return it (TP).
Your employee collects her email address for future communications (TP).
Your customer tweets a picture of her purchase and references your store (TP).
She recommends your store on social media (TP).
A short time later, she receives a promotional email from you (TP) that offers a discount on her next purchase (TP) and reminds her of your brand and its core values (TP).
To simplify the identification of these touchpoints, you can start by dividing them into three common stages.
Prior to purchase (marketing materials):
- Online or print ads;
- Direct mail campaigns;
- Landing pages that draw the customer in;
- Testimonials about your products and services;
- Product reviews
- Social media posts.
During the purchase:
- Physical store;
- Online shop;
- Reseller;
- Sales representative;
- Catalogue;
- Call center.
Following the purchase (dependent on our type of business):
- Customer service;
- Billing;
- Returns;
- Newsletters;
- Email/direct mail campaigns;
- Customer feedback surveys.
Identifying your customer touchpoints is important because it provides a roadmap of your brand’s complete customer journey. Some are more important than others, but knowing what they are can help you assess the customer experience you’re providing and make improvements where needed.
If you are not sure where your customer touchpoints are – or where improvements are necessary – you need a system that will examine your entire customer journey from an outside point of view. Our comprehensive mystery shopping programs can do that for you.
Mystery Shopping Looks At The Customer Journey
You may not realize it, but in today’s competitive landscape, a negative customer experience can have a direct effect on your bottom line. For more information regarding our mystery shopping programs and how they can boost your bottom line, call Reality Based Group today.
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