To me, your customer journey is one the of the most FUNDAMENTAL components of your marketing strategy. Why? Hanging on to the customers you already have, and giving them an experience they can't help but rave about, is hands down one of the best ways to grow and promote your business.
Did you know it's about five times more expensive to attract a new client than it is to retain an existing one? In addition, the conversion rate on a brand new client is only around 5-20% whereas an existing client is closer to 60-70%.
So when it comes to thinking strategically about where and how you should market your business, starting with your internal processes and your overall customer journey is one of the best places to begin. And it doesn't need to cost the earth either. Some times its those small, refined touches that make all the difference.
WHAT IS A CUSTOMER JOURNEY?
Your customer journey is the complete and ongoing journey your customers/clients experience with you and your business. It starts from the moment they very first make contact with you or buy a product, and spans not just that first sale, but the entire lifecycle of your relationship including all of the time in between each and every repeat purchase or service exchange.
To help you on your way, here are three low-cost things you can do to enhance your customer journey today.
1. PERSONALISE IT
Go through all of the communication touch-points in your customer journey and personalise them to match your brand voice and style. Pay particular attention to anything templated or automated (think invoice and booking reminders). Re-write everything in your own language and tone so that your clients really feel like you're right there with them at every step.
2. INTEGRATE IT
Streamline your processes as much as possible to avoid asking customers for the same details more than once.
Connect up your different apps and sync your software so that your clients can move through each stage of the process with ease and minimal delay or double-handling.
3. RESPOND IN REASONABLE TIME
Don't leave them hanging. Reply in some form to all customer communications within 24-48 hours. Even just an acknowledgment with a timeframe for when they can expect a full response will do the trick.
To help maintain good business boundaries, set up personalised automatic replies for those periods of time when you're away from your desk. This will ensure people are kept in the loop without you feeling the need to sit on your phone when you're meant to be offline.
While these tips may sound simple, never underestimate the power of personalised, streamlined, open communication. It can honestly make the biggest world of difference to your customer journey and in-turn your customer referrals and retention.
