business decision journey

Skip to main content
Skip to primary sidebar
Skip to footer
QuestionPro

Solutions Industries Gaming Automotive Sports and events Education Government Travel & Hospitality Financial Services Healthcare Cannabis Technology Use Case NPS+ Communities Audience Contactless surveys Mobile LivePolls Member Experience GDPR Positive People Science 360 Feedback Surveys
Resources Blog eBooks Survey Templates Case Studies Training Help center

Consumer Decision Journey: What it is + Free Guide

Talking about a consumer decision journey is essential for any sales, marketing, and customer experience strategy . More and more customers are skipping the established schemes in the classic funnels and making decisions based on new factors in the match.

If you want to get to know this concept in-depth, in this article, you will find what it consists of, its main stages, and how to generate a successful journey for your clients.

Content Index

What is the consumer decision journey?

Importance of the consumer decision journey, stages of the consumer decision journey, how to guide a good customer decision journey, create your successful consumer decision journey with questionpro.

The consumer decision journey is a model of the customer buying process that describes how consumers make their decisions throughout their experience or relationship with the brand. This model evaluates how it can influence the customer’s purchase decision process by recognizing key touchpoints and customer interactions.

The consumer’s decision journey is not a linear model, so the actions they describe overlap and repeat until the purchase decision. The importance of factors such as customer loyalty and post-sale strategies is highlighted.

LEARN ABOUT: Perfect Customer-First Strategy

Understanding the consumer decision journey is vital because it can help a business understand how and when to engage with customers throughout their journey, from brand discovery to post-purchase and beyond.

This framework helps marketers better understand the key customer touchpoints where the right message to the right consumer can change their behavior.

The consumer decision journey model can help companies make continual improvements to customer lifetime value experience and lifecycle, fueling brand loyalty for years to come.

LEARN ABOUT: Customer Lifecycle

The consumer decision journey (CDJ) is an important part of brand marketing, marketing campaign, and figuring out how people act. It’s the process people go through when deciding what to buy, from realizing they need or want something to weighing their options to the experience they have after buying something.

From the following points of view, you can see how important the consumer decision journey is:

importance_of_the_consumer_decision_journey

Understanding consumer behavior

The CDJ gives useful information about what people think, feel, and do during buying. By looking at the different steps of the CDJ, marketers can learn more about consumer purchasing behavior and what drives consumers, what their preferences are, and what makes them make decisions. This helps businesses change their marketing strategies and messages so they can connect with customers at each stage of their trip.

Strategic marketing planning

By making a map of how a consumer makes a decision, marketers can find the key touchpoints and interactions where that can affect a consumer’s choice. Businesses can make the most of their marketing resources by strategically allocating them to touchpoints like online research, social media interaction, and in-store experiences. It lets marketers build targeted marketing campaigns and personalized experiences that resonate with customers at every stage of their journey.

Customer engagement and relationship building

The CDJ knows that a consumer’s trip doesn’t end when they buy something. It talks about how important the experience after a purchase is and how it can create loyal customers and company advocates. Businesses can build long-term relationships with their customers by focusing on giving great customer service, asking for feedback, and staying in touch. This can lead to repeat purchases and good word-of-mouth recommendations.

Adaptability and flexibility

The path a consumer takes to make a choice is not a straight line. Today’s consumers have access to a wide range of channels, platforms, and information sources that can affect their decisions at any point. By understanding that the CDJ is always changing, companies can change their marketing plans to keep up with consumer behavior and preferences changes. This ability to change helps businesses stay relevant and connect with customers in a digital world that is always changing.

Competitive advantage

Knowing and improving the consumer decision journey can give a business an edge over its competitors. By looking at how people act and what they like, businesses can find holes or pain points in the market and come up with new goods, services, or marketing plans to fill them. By giving customers a smooth and personalized experience, companies can set themselves apart from their competitors and give customers a positive and memorable experience.

Build your own Customer Journey Map .

The consumer decision journey consists of 5 main stages:

The trigger
The search for information
The evaluation of alternatives
The purchase
The post-sale experience

Now we will detail each one.

1. Discovery

A stimulus or trigger starts the customer journey when an individual realizes they have a problem and need a company product or service to solve it.

The first step of the consumer’s decision journey is recognizing the need for a service or product.

LEARN ABOUT: Customer Journey Mapping Tools

2. Familiarization with the solution

When considering a purchase, a person reflects on a set of initial consideration or brands that immediately come to mind due to their level of brand awareness .

When researching their options, consumers will again rely on internal and external factors and previous interactions with a product or brand, both positive and negative.

Consumers can search for options in a physical place or consult online resources such as Google My Business Reviews and their degree of recommendation on various brands in the information or familiarization stage.

3. Consideration

Consumers gather information by searching multiple sources and reading reviews to decide which brand has what they want or need.

Alternatives can come in the form of lower prices, additional product benefits, immediate availability, or something as personal as color or style choices.

4. Purchase

Once the consumer filters their options based on the information they have gathered in the evaluation phase, they choose a brand and begin the purchase.

Once they have gathered all the data, including comments from previous customers, consumers must come to a logical conclusion about the product or service to buy.

5. Post-sale experience and loyalty

This part of the consumer decision journey involves both the consumer and the seller reflecting on the post-sale experience as part of the process.

As a seller, you should try to assess whether the purchase met the consumer’s identified need, whether the customer is delighted with the purchase, and how you can continue the relationship to ensure customer retention and loyalty.

LEARN ABOUT: Employee Experience Framework

Now that you know what the customer decision journey consists of, we will present you with five ways to guide your customers to ensure a smooth process that guarantees the satisfaction of their needs and your sales success.

Boost your company’s brand awareness

The first step to creating a successful consumer decision journey is to develop a comprehensive brand advertising campaign to build brand awareness. This way, existing customers will be able to think of you as part of the first options that come to mind when they think of you.

You want consumers to know and trust you. And more importantly, you want them to feel like they have a problem that only you can solve.

Map your consumer decision journey

Building Customer Journey Maps are critical to comprehend the client’s key moments and pain points to which you must pay special attention to guarantee a smooth experience.

Knowing how to map customer journeys is a skill that your Customer Experience team must have or develop as soon as possible to offer potential customers access to the information they need at the right time so that they decide to buy your product or service.

Creating a funnel and planning the types of content that people may need is also advisable. Present yourself as a trusted source of knowledge and information, and include consumer-generated content such as customer reviews or case studies of your solutions on your website.

Know your competition and surpass it

Your sales, marketing, and customer service strategies should convince consumers that your product is superior to alternatives.

For this, you must prepare to overcome any objection; for example, on sales calls or post-calls , get to know your competitors so you can answer questions and compare benefits.

Evaluate the experience throughout the consumer decision journey

Having reliable data in real-time is one of the best ways to evaluate the consumer decision journey to take improvement actions at critical points.

To do this, you can use various customer experiences metrics such as CSAT , CES, NPS , and the Things Gone Wrong index to understand the most essential moments and the most appropriate strategies for each point of the customer journey.

Keep your commitment to the client

Make sure your customer continues to have a positive experience with your products. Post-purchase customer engagement can include follow-up emails, discount coupons, and newsletters to entice the customer to make an additional purchase.

One way to ensure a successful consumer decision journey is to develop loyalty strategies that help you promote long-term customer interaction and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Suppose you want to go further and offer a wow experience. In that case, you can create a community of customers and invite them to actively participate to earn rewards, interact with other customers, and develop new business ideas.

LEARN ABOUT: Buying behavior

The consumer decision journey involves various business areas, from digital marketing strategy to generating attraction in the discovery stage to the customer service and experience team to complete post-sale and loyalty successfully.

For a successful customer satisfaction journey, you’ll need tools that help you measure every moment in real-time, see your metrics, automate processes, and connect the organization so your team can make decisions to resolve any friction instantly. If you would be interested in having all these tools in the same solution, remember that with QuestionPro CX you can have them at your fingertips at any time. Request a free demo or write to us in our online chat for more information!

LEARN MORE FREE TRIAL

MORE LIKE THIS

QuestionPro BI: From Research Data to Actionable Dashboards

Apr 22, 2024

21 Best Customer Advocacy Software for Customers in 2024

Apr 19, 2024

10 Quantitative Data Analysis Software for Every Data Scientist

Apr 18, 2024

11 Best Enterprise Feedback Management Software in 2024

Other categories.

Academic Research
Artificial Intelligence
Assessments
Brand Awareness
Case Studies
Communities
Consumer Insights
Customer effort score
Customer Engagement
Customer Experience
Customer Loyalty
Customer Research
Customer Satisfaction
Employee Benefits
Employee Engagement
Employee Retention
Friday Five
General Data Protection Regulation
Insights Hub
Life@QuestionPro
Market Research
Mobile diaries
Mobile Surveys
New Features
Online Communities
Question Types
Questionnaire
QuestionPro Products
Release Notes
Research Tools and Apps
Revenue at Risk
Survey Templates
Training Tips
Uncategorized
Video Learning Series
What’s Coming Up
Workforce Intelligence

Admissions Overview
Student Experience
Careers Overview

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY ONLINE

The Consumer Decision Journey Explained

November 17, 2023

View all blog posts under Articles

A consumer looks at items on a store shelf.

Understanding the consumer decision process is essential for effective marking, and those with an advanced education in applied psychology can better understand the motivations behind individual spending decisions, as well as consumer behavior on a larger scale.

What Exactly Is the Consumer Decision Journey?

The consumer decision journey is a behavior-driven framework that allows marketing professionals to assess how consumers decide to buy certain goods and services. It also helps marketing professionals strategize about how to influence these decisions. It is a template for building targeted marketing strategies. Factors considered in these strategies include target demographic, medium used, online presence and societal trends.

Why Understanding the Consumer Decision Journey Is So Important

Decades ago, businesses could seamlessly guide consumers through the sales funnel since most potential buyers had similar information and followed identical steps as they made purchasing decisions. But today’s consumer decision journey is more fluid and can be very different for different target audiences. Businesses must take steps to understand their customers’ different paths.

These days, consumers are bombarded with information about products and services, and it is easy for them to sift through it on their own. They no longer have to rely on in-person retail businesses for education or information. Instead, they can proactively research potential purchases, read testimonials, get to know brands and comparison shop online. This has led to more informed consumers, requiring marketers to build strategies that acknowledge this new reality.

Marketers need to use information derived from each of the consumer’s touch points with the product or brand to build proactive strategies that not only meet consumers where they are but also anticipate where they may be going. To do this, businesses must understand the psychology of the consumer decision journey and determine how they can influence its trajectory.

How to Map the Consumer Decision Journey

When McKinsey & Co. launched their road map for the consumer decision journey, they suggested a six-stage journey that began with consideration and evaluation. They have since transitioned to a shorter loop model built on the following stages:

Buying : the process of the consumer buying the product or service
Experiencing : how the consumer feels about the product or service after purchasing it
Advocating : the consumer proactively spreads the word about the product or service
Bonding : the customer develops brand loyalty

The final stage, bonding, creates a loop that brings the consumer back to the journey’s starting point. This loop provides marketers with a template for developing key consumer marketing strategies.

The decision journey is a process personal to each consumer. Businesses should use internal data to map out their customers’ unique paths. Some customers may even skip steps depending on their needs or their research.

Similarly, businesses are likely to find that customers tend to get caught up at similar points along the journey. Marketers who can identify these bottlenecks can much more effectively guide customers past the pain points and through the remainder of the journey. In some cases, website analytics can shed valuable light on when and where businesses tend to lose customers.

Businesses should also strive to determine the typical length of their customer decision journey, since it can vary greatly depending on the product or service. For many customers, the initial consideration stage includes an extended shopping phase. During this phase, customers read online reviews, use search engines to learn more about a brand or a product, visit stores to see products in person and look for deals.

When mapping their customer decision journey, businesses may also find it useful to take their research a step beyond normal practices. For instance, businesses that build their consumer decision journey around the values of their targeted consumers may develop new pathways on their consumer decision journey. Marketers should also consider looking at their competitors’ purchase paths to determine key places to intervene.

How Psychology Factors Into Consumer Decision Journey Mapping

Once they have mapped out their typical customer decision journey, marketers can begin targeting customers proactively. To guide the journey effectively, however, an in-depth understanding of consumer psychology and how it relates to purchasing decisions is key.

Marketers who understand the psychology of purchasing and consumer behavior can create campaigns that forge connections with potential customers. In this way, they can guide the customer along their decision journey while adding even more value to the customer’s experience. Ultimately, this may result in more satisfied customers who become loyal brand advocates.

While marketers have had to take manual actions to guide customers in the past, today, they can take full advantage of the digital tools at their disposal. Automated marketing tools enable professionals to streamline each step of the process, while proactive personalization gives them the power to alter their messages based on what they know about each customer. Contextual interaction allows marketers to change their behaviors depending on where customers are in the buying journey, while journey innovation gives them the power to A/B test continually.

Psychological Tools for Mapping the Customer Journey

It’s important to acknowledge psychology’s role in mapping the customer journey. For companies looking to forge deeper connections with consumers, it’s imperative to know how to optimize the application of psychological principles. To do this, companies can deploy specific tools whose purpose is to create efficient pathways for these intricate connections.

Customer Journey Maps

Raw data analysis typically yields “what” data. This type of information relates to concrete surface data quantified by predetermined metrics like a customer’s age, how long they stay on a web page, or how much money they spend at a specific location. A customer journey map goes beyond this surface by using psychology to help determine the “why” of the customer decision journey data that may ultimately drive interest in a product or a service.

Answering these questions can be difficult because the impetus of consumer behavior is primarily within their subconscious. While digging into the subconscious of each individual is not feasible, customer journey maps can help build a psychological profile of customers. This can help businesses extract educated guesses on what may psychologically motivate consumer behavior.

These tools can use data that slots consumers within a psychological archetype, which is then combined with “what” data to construct a more holistic consumer profile. This combination can help mitigate the potential for assumption and risk, which could help create more targeted campaigns that acknowledge current needs while anticipating future needs.

Empathy Maps

An empathy map doesn’t try to glean insights from an individual’s subconscious level. However, it does inform purchasing by using psychology to build understanding from the customer’s perspective. This typically requires the company to ask specific questions that may drive consumer decisions. These questions could cover topics such as:

What the consumer may feel when they use the product
What the consumer may see when using their product
What the consumer may be doing while using the product
What benefits the consumer may receive by using the product

Using psychology to see a product or service through the eyes of the consumer can further shift focus to consumer interests, which could allow them to develop more intuitive campaign strategies. It could also help them uncover potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses in their product or campaign. This can ultimately lead to improvements that can garner deeper consumer connections.

Become an Invaluable Part of a Company’s Growth

Psychology plays a vital role in both mapping and guiding the consumer decision journey. Understanding important psychology concepts can help marketers become more effective at targeting their audiences and communicating the right things about their products. Professionals skilled in applying these concepts can help a company optimize its marketing strategies.

The USC online Master of Science in Applied Psychology can help marketing professionals better understand and capitalize on the psychology behind consumer behavior. Earning this degree can help marketers shape campaigns that successfully leverage psychology on the path to purchase. Learn how our program can help prepare professionals to become game changers in business.

See how XM for Customer Frontlines works

The complete guide to customer journey stages.

12 min read If you want to turn a potential customer into a lifetime one, you’ll need to get to know every step of the entire customer journey. Here’s why the secret to customer retention lies in knowing how to fine-tune your sales funnel…

What is the customer journey?

What do we actually mean when we talk about the customer journey? Well, the simplest way to think about it is by comparing it to any other journey: a destination in mind, a starting point, and steps to take along the way.

In this case, the destination is not only to make a purchase but to have a great experience with your product or service – sometimes by interacting with aftersale customer support channels – and become a loyal customer who buys again.

And, just like how you can’t arrive at your vacation resort before you’ve done you’ve found out about it, the customer journey starts with steps to do with discovery, research, understanding, and comparison, before moving on to the buying process.

“Maximizing satisfaction with customer journeys has the potential not only to increase customer satisfaction by 20% but also lift revenue up by 15% while lowering the cost of serving customers by as much as 20%”

– McKinsey, The Three Cs of Customer Satisfaction

In short, the customer journey is the path taken by your target audience toward becoming loyal customers. So it’s really important to understand – both in terms of what each step entails and how you can improve each one to provide a maximally impressive and enjoyable experience.

Every customer journey will be different, after all, so getting to grips with the nuances of each customer journey stage is key to removing obstacles from in front of your potential and existing customers’ feet.

Free Course: Customer Journey Management & Improvement

What are the essential customer journey stages?

While many companies will put their own spin on the exact naming of the customer journey stages, the most widely-recognized naming convention is as follows:

Consideration

These steps are often then sub-categorized into three parts:

Sale/Purchase

It’s important to understand every part of the puzzle, so let’s look at each sub-category and stage in turn, from the awareness and consideration stage, right through to advocacy:

Customer journey: Pre-sale

In the pre-sale phase, potential customers learn about products, evaluate their needs, make comparisons, and soak up information.

Awareness stage

In the awareness stage, your potential customer becomes aware of a company, product, or service. This might be passive – in that they’re served an ad online, on TV, or when out and about – or active in that they have a need and are searching for a solution. For example, if a customer needs car insurance, they’ll begin searching for providers.

Consideration stage

In the consideration stage, the customer has been made aware of several possible solutions for their particular need and starts doing research to compare them. That might mean looking at reviews or what others are saying on social media, as well as absorbing info on product specs and features on companies’ own channels. They’re receptive to information that can help them make the best decision.

Customer journey: Sale

The sale phase is short but pivotal: it’s when the crucial decision on which option to go with has been made.

Decision stage

The customer has all the information they need on the various options available to them, and they make a purchase. This can be something that’s taken a long time to decide upon, like buying a new computer, or it can be as quick as quickly scouring the different kinds of bread available in the supermarket before picking the one they want.

Customer journey: Post-sale

Post-sale is a really important part of the puzzle because it’s where loyal customers , who come back time and again, are won or lost.

Retention stage

The retention stage of the customer journey is where you do whatever you can to help leave a lasting, positive impression on the customer, and entice them to purchase more. That means offering best-in-class customer support if they have any issues, but it also means being proactive with follow-up communications that offer personalized offers, information on new products, and rewards for loyalty.

Advocacy stage

If you nail the retention phase, you’ll have yourself a customer who not only wants to keep buying from you but will also advocate on your behalf. Here, the customer will become one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal, in that they’ll actively recommend you to their friends, family, followers, and colleagues.

What’s the difference between the customer journey and the buyer’s journey?

Great question; the two are similar, but not exactly the same. The buyer’s journey is a shorter, three-step process that describes the steps taken to make a purchase. So that’s awareness , consideration, and decision . That’s where things stop, however. The buyer’s journey doesn’t take into account the strategies you’ll use to keep the customer after a purchase has been made.

Why are the customer journey stages important?

The short answer? The customer journey is what shapes your entire business. It’s the method by which you attract and inform customers, how you convince them to purchase from you, and what you do to ensure they’re left feeling positive about every interaction.

Why this matters is that the journey is, in a way, cyclical. Customers who’ve had a smooth ride all the way through their individual journeys are more likely to stay with you, and that can have a massive effect on your operational metrics.

It’s up to five times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer, but even besides that: satisfied customers become loyal customers , and customer loyalty reduces churn at the same time as increasing profits .

So companies looking to really make an impact on the market need to think beyond simply attracting potential customers with impressive marketing, and more about the journey as a whole – where the retention and advocacy stages are equally important.

After all, 81% of US and UK consumers trust product advice from friends and family over brand messaging, and 59% of American consumers say that once they’re loyal to a brand, they’re loyal to it for life.

Importantly, to understand the customer journey as a whole is to understand its individual stages, recognize what works, and find things that could be improved to make it a more seamless experience. Because when you do that, you’ll be improving every part of your business proposition that matters.

How can you improve each customer journey stage?

Ok, so this whole customer journey thing is pretty important. Understanding the customer journey phases and how they relate to the overall customer experience is how you encourage customers to stick around and spread the news via word of mouth.

But how do you ensure every part of the journey is performing as it should? Here are some practical strategies to help each customer journey stage sing…

1. Perform customer journey mapping

A customer journey map takes all of the established customer journey stages and attempts to plot how actual target audience personas might travel along them. That means using a mix of data and intuition to map out a range of journeys that utilize a range of touch points along the way.

One customer journey map, for example, might start with a TV ad, then utilize social media and third-party review sites during the consideration stage, before purchasing online and then contacting customer support about you your delivery service. And then, finally, that customer may be served a discount code for a future purchase. That’s just one example.

Customer journey mapping is really about building a myriad of those journeys that are informed by everything you know about how customers interact with you – and then using those maps to discover weaker areas of the journey.

2. Listen like you mean it

The key to building better customer journeys is listening to what customers are saying. Getting feedbac k from every stage of the journey allows you to build a strong, all-encompassing view of what’s happening from those that are experiencing it.

Maybe there’s an issue with the customer sign-up experience, for example. Or maybe the number advertised to contact for a demo doesn’t work. Or maybe you have a customer service agent in need of coaching, who only makes the issue worse. By listening, you’ll understand your customers’ issues and be able to fix them at the source. That customer service agent, for example, may just feel disempowered and unsupported, and in need of the right tools to help them perform better. Fixing that will help to optimize a key stage in the customer journey.

Qualtrics in action with sentiment analysis

The key is to listen at every stage, and we can do that by employing the right technology at the right customer journey stages.

Customer surveys, for instance, can help you understand what went wrong from the people who’re willing to provide that feedback, but conversational analytics and AI solutions can automatically build insights out of all the structured and unstructured conversational data your customers are creating every time they reach out, or tweet, or leave a review on a third party website.

3. Get personal

The other side of the ‘listening’ equation is that it’s worth remembering that each and every customer’s journey is different – so treating them with a blanket approach won’t necessarily make anything better for them.

The trick instead is to use the tools available to you to build out a personalized view of every customer journey, customer journey stage, and customer engagemen t, and find common solutions.

Qualtrics Experience iD , for example, is an intelligent system that builds customer profiles that are unique to them and can identify through AI, natural language processing , and past interactions what’s not working – and what needs fixing.

On an individual basis, that will help turn each customer into an advocate. But as a whole, you’ll learn about experience gaps that are common to many journeys.

Listening to and understanding the customer experience at each customer journey stage is key to ensuring customers are satisfied and remain loyal on a huge scale.

It’s how you create 1:1 experiences, because, while an issue for one person might be an issue for many others, by fixing it quickly you can minimize the impact it might have on future customers who’re right at the start of their journey.

Free Course: Customer Journey Management Improvement

Related resources

Customer Journey

Buyer's Journey 16 min read

Customer journey analytics 13 min read, how to create a customer journey map 22 min read, b2b customer journey 13 min read, customer interactions 11 min read, consumer decision journey 14 min read, customer journey orchestration 12 min read, request demo.

Ready to learn more about Qualtrics?

Gamification Engine Grow engagement with powerful gamification features.
Enterprise ready Security, scalability, reliability and integration.
Financial Services
Professional Services
Travel & Hospitality
Telecommunications
Manufacturing
Media & Entertainment
Learning & Training
Call Center Engagement
Sales Motivation
Channel Motivation
Performance Management
Development Teams
Customer Loyalty
Employee Onboarding
Remote Work
Community Engagement
Product Managers
Training Learn how to unlock the power of the Mambo platform.
Support Customer success and support at your service.
Blog Catch-up with product, industry and company updates.
Infographics Collection of infographics with gamification insights.
Gamification guide Step-by-step guide to learn in-depth about gamification.

Mapping the B2B Customer Journey: Key Stages and Touchpoints

The B2B customer journey serves as a compass for businesses navigating the complex realm of buyer interactions and decision-making. Understanding the intricacies of this journey is crucial for organisations looking to build lasting partnerships and drive exceptional business outcomes.

A customer journey map helps B2B operators re-imagine their customer journey and deliver more personalised experiences. It presents a great opportunity to reinforce brand awareness and drive customer satisfaction.

This article explores B2B customer journey mapping, unravelling its key stages and touchpoints that pave the way to fruitful business relationships.

Table of Contents

How B2B and B2C customer journeys are different

What makes an effective b2b customer journey map, why you need a b2b customer journey map, #1. awareness, #2. consideration, #3. decision-making, #4. implementation, #5. support and relationship management, #6. renewal and expansion, awareness stage, consideration stage, decision-making stage, implementation stage, support and relationship management stage, renewal and expansion stage, define buyer personas, conduct customer interviews, analyse data and metrics, collaborate with sales and customer service teams, conduct journey mapping workshops, analyse competitor journeys, how gamified websites are engaging their audience, 19 awesome gamification ideas – ted talk edition, 12 ways to use gamification in banking for better engagement, what is the b2b customer journey.

The B2B customer journey refers to the process that business-to-business (B2B) customers go through, from problem identification to post-purchase.

The process encompasses the entire lifecycle of a B2B buyer’s interactions with a company or brand. This includes their research, evaluation, purchase, ongoing relationship with the business and experiences along the way.

Consider a small business needing a scalable CRM (customer relationship management) solution, for example. There are many steps that it goes through before committing to a purchase. Even after the purchase, there are still post-purchase steps to cover, such as setting up the CRM system and providing after-sales services. That’s all part of the customer journey.

The B2B customer journey is characterised by multiple touchpoints across various channels. It is influenced by several factors, including industry-specific needs, organisational dynamics, and the involvement of decision-makers. Ultimately, the lasting impression of this journey is what defines the overall customer experience

Businesses and individual consumers approach the buying process quite differently. Understanding these differences is crucial for companies to tailor their strategies effectively to meet their customers’ unique expectations.

Some key aspects in which B2B and B2C (business to customer) journeys differ include:

Target audience — As a B2B operator, you rarely buy or sell to one person. More likely, you’ll transact with businesses, organisations, or a diverse group of individuals composed of stakeholders, senior management, and end-users
Complexity — B2B customer journeys tend to be more complex and involve longer sales cycles compared to B2C journeys. For example, B2B purchases typically involve higher stakes and larger investments, so there are often multiple decision-makers and longer negotiation processes.
Decision-making factors — B2B customer journeys prioritise factors such as ROI, efficiency, scalability, and alignment with organisational goals. On the other hand, B2C journeys are frequently influenced by emotions, lifestyle preferences, and individual satisfaction.
Relationship duration — B2B customer journeys typically involve longer-term relationships compared to B2C. This often necessitates continued engagement and support beyond the initial purchase. With B2B transactions, you look at ongoing partnerships, term contracts, or retainer arrangements.
Personalisation approach — B2B journeys often emphasise customisation to meet the specific requirements of the purchasing organisation or target market segment. B2C customer journeys, on the other hand, may prioritise personalisation based on individualised experiences.
Communication channels — B2B customer journeys typically involve multiple touchpoints across various channels, including direct sales interactions, professional networks, and industry-specific publications. B2C customer journeys rely heavily on digital channels such as websites, social media platforms, and online marketplaces.

What is the B2B customer journey map?

Simply put, the B2B customer journey map is a framework for capturing the customer experience. This visual representation illustrates customers’ pain points and their internal perception of the company throughout the business relationship.

Source: apizee.com

These insights help the business identify areas to optimise to design and deliver more positive customer experiences.

Mapping the B2B customer journey requires a business to step into the customer’s shoes to see how its processes impact its purchase decisions.

The customer journey map is a blueprint for the journey the customer takes. This means it should be comprehensive enough to cover all the important touchpoints — from initial awareness to post-sale.

Depending on the type of business relationship, customer journey maps should also cover the cessation of the relationship with the company. How a business handles this stage can be crucial to minimising churn and encouraging future relationships.

Generally speaking, effective customer journey maps should include the following:

A detailed flowchart of the customer journey showing the various interactions between the customer and the company
Clearly outlined customer pain points or issues that may get in the way of a positive customer experience
Identified areas where the company can take action to improve overall customer satisfaction
Details about what departments or people are responsible for moving the customer relationship forward at each touchpoint
Well-defined linkages between touchpoints
The company’s performance at each touchpoint

Mapping the B2B customer journey gives businesses a powerful way to understand and cater to their customers effectively.

Here are the key reasons to design a B2B customer journey map:

Enhanced customer understanding — A customer journey map provides valuable insights into the needs, motivations, pain points, and behaviours of your B2B customers. It helps you better understand their challenges, preferences, and decision-making processes.
Strategic decision-making — A customer journey map helps businesses make data-driven decisions about their marketing, sales, and customer service strategies. It allows them to identify areas of improvement, optimise touchpoints, and align resources better to serve customers at each stage of their journey.
Personalised experiences — A customer journey map enables a company to deliver tailored experiences to its B2B customers. This ultimately fosters stronger relationships and dramatically improves customer satisfaction.
Alignment across teams — A customer journey map is a common reference point for different teams within an organisation. Marketing, sales, customer service, product development, and other departments can become more aligned and collaborative. This ensures consistent, cohesive customer experience across all touchpoints.
Continuous improvement — Mapping the B2B customer journey is an iterative strategic process. It provides a framework for ongoing evaluation and optimisation of the customer experience to drive better business outcomes.

Key Stages of the B2B customer journey

The B2B customer journey typically consists of the following stages:

In this stage, the B2B vendor aims to raise awareness about what their business offers. The B2B customer, on the other hand, becomes aware of a need or problem they want to address. For example, the company might be planning to attend an industry event in another state. So one of the first things they’ll need to sort out is the transportation for their staff.

Now they’re aware of the need, so they start researching potential solutions and exploring available options.

As the name implies, this is where the customer “considers” their options. In the consideration stage, the B2B customer narrows their choices and evaluates different vendors or providers.

Here, they delve deeper into the features and benefits of each option. They may compare the prices offered by the shortlisted vendors and consider payment options, flexibility, and customisation. At the end of the day, it’s about arriving at an informed decision about who they will purchase from.

Having narrowed down their options, it’s time for the B2B customer to decide what B2B vendor to contact to initiate the buying process.

This is a pivotal moment in the B2B buyer journey. For one, it represents a successful conversion for the vendor, and is a sign that their lead nurturing methods are sound.

After the decision is made, the customer moves into the implementation stage. This involves the buying process, onboarding, and installation/configuration.

Depending on the product or service being provided, this stage may also include special training for specific staff within the B2B customer’s organisation. Once everything is properly set up, the customer integrates the chosen solution into their existing business processes.

With the solution fully implemented, the customer enters the support and relationship management stage. For instance, they might require ongoing technical support or they might be assigned an account manager to handle post-purchase concerns and requests.

This is the B2C equivalent of customer loyalty. In this stage, the B2B customer evaluates their experience with the vendor and decides whether to continue the relationship. Additionally, there may be opportunities for upselling or expanding the scope of services provided to the customer.

It’s important to note that the B2B buyer journey is not strictly linear. This means it’s not uncommon for buyers to move back and forth between stages based on their specific needs and circumstances.

Touchpoints in B2B customer journey mapping

The customer journey mapping process includes several critical touchpoints that occur before, during, and after a sale. Touchpoints are the various customer interactions or moments of engagement with a company throughout the customer journey.

Each one provides an opportunity for the company to leave an impression on the customer and ultimately impact their decision-making process. That’s why optimising touchpoints to deliver a consistent and personalised experience is essential in building strong relationships and fostering customer loyalty.

Source: salespanel.io

These touchpoints can occur through various channels, both online and offline, and are crucial in shaping customer experiences.

Customer touchpoints can occur at different stages of the buying journey. Here are some examples:

Industry events and conferences — These events are great for learning about new trends, technologies, and potential solutions.
Online research — Conducting searches on search engines and exploring industry publications and social media communities are great ways to facilitate customer interactions.
Word-of-mouth referrals — Seeking recommendations and feedback from colleagues, industry contacts, or trusted sources make for great customer touchpoints.
Company website and landing pages — Visiting the company’s website and landing pages to explore detailed information about potential solutions.
Product demonstrations or webinars — Participating in live or recorded demonstrations and webinars to gain insights into the functionality and benefits of the offerings.
Case studies and success stories — Reviewing real-world examples and success stories that highlight how the product or service has helped other businesses.
Consultations — Engaging in meetings or consultations with sales reps to discuss requirements and solutions.
Proposal and pricing discussions — Collaborating with the B2B vendor on contract terms and negotiating proposals that align with the B2B customer’s requirements.
Reference checks — Seeking references from existing customers to validate the company’s reputation and track record.
Vendor presentations or pitches — Attending presentations or pitches by vendors to assess their expertise and how well they understand the business’s challenges.
Onboarding and training sessions — Participating in onboarding sessions and training programs to learn how to use the solution effectively.
Technical support and guidance — Seeking technical support and advice during the implementation stage to resolve any issues that arise.
Documentation and user manuals — Accessing comprehensive documentation, user manuals, and resources to support the implementation process and user adoption.
Dedicated account managers or customer success representatives — A designated point of contact is great for nurturing current customers.
Helpdesk or support ticket systems — Utilising helpdesk or support ticket systems to log and track support requests, ensuring timely resolutions. This is a key part of modern B2B customer expectations and is a leading factor in increasing customer retention.
Surveys and feedback mechanisms — Providing feedback through surveys or related mechanisms to help the vendor improve their offerings and sales process.
Contract renewal discussions — Engaging in discussions with the B2B vendor regarding contract renewal terms and potential adjustments based on changing business needs.
Cross-selling and upselling opportunities — Exploring opportunities to expand the relationship by considering additional vendor offerings.

Mapping the B2B buyer journey

Customer journey mapping requires a thoughtful approach to design truly innovative experiences tailored to the B2B context.

It’s important to look for common pitfalls that typically accompany a journey mapping exercise.

Some businesses make the mistake of overgeneralising the buyer’s journey. This results in them creating a one-size-fits-all customer journey map that doesn’t account for the unique needs of different customer segments.

Another common mistake is focusing primarily on the sales stages and neglecting other key touchpoints of the buyer journey. This makes it difficult to capture the nuances of the buying experience truly.

The ideal customer journey map takes into account all the key stages of the journey with the view to achieving repeat business. It must also contain all the major elements necessary to improve customer touchpoints.

Check out the B2B customer journey map template below for an idea of the mapping process.

Source: slideteam.net

Here are some techniques you can use to map the B2B customer journey:

Start by developing detailed user personas that represent your target B2B customers. The most effective way to create personas is first to identify the pain points, motivations, and decision-making criteria of various customer segments.

This helps you understand their needs and tailor the customer journey map accordingly.

Engaging in one-on-one interviews with existing customers is a surefire way to gather insights about their experiences and interactions with your company. You can also collect customer feedback data through the usual tools — customer satisfaction surveys, feedback forms, focus groups, etc. This helps identify areas of improvement and shape the customer journey map.

Leverage data analytics tools to analyse customer behaviour, engagement metrics , conversion rates, and customer journey progression. This data provides a quantitative understanding of the customer journey and helps identify bottlenecks or areas of improvement.

Involving your sales and customer service teams in the B2B customer journey mapping process is important. They have valuable insights into customer interactions and can provide detailed accounts of the pain points at each journey stage.

Additionally, this collaboration can help buoy your marketing efforts and drive quicker outcomes.

Conduct workshops involving cross-functional teams from all relevant departments. Encourage brainstorming and collaboration to gain different perspectives.

Study the customer journeys of your competitors in the B2B space. Identify areas where they excel or fall short and use that knowledge to differentiate your own customer journey mapping.

Keep in mind that the B2B customer journey is not static, so regularly review your customer journey map. There will always be new customer insights, market trends, and changing customer expectations to incorporate down the line. This ensures your customer journey map remains accurate and relevant.

Mapping the B2B customer journey is an essential practice for businesses seeking to understand and optimise their interactions with customers. By comprehensively mapping the key stages and touchpoints, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and pain points.

Understanding the B2B customer journey enables companies to align their efforts to deliver a seamless and satisfying experience at every touchpoint. Ultimately, an effective B2B customer journey map serves as a roadmap for success, guiding businesses towards delivering exceptional experiences.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

GDPR Consent I would like to receive email updates from Mambo Solutions Ltd.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Using Gamification in Business to Increase Performance

Broaden your Gamification knowledge with 19 awesome gamification ideas extracted from TED Talks.

Improving Contact Center Performance Using Gamification

Customer journey stages

Key Takeaways:

There are five stages to the customer journey: awareness, consideration, purchase/decision, loyalty, and advocacy.
While the high-level stages are the same, there are nuances among the B2C and B2B customer journey stages.
Not every customer journey is linear; the stages for each customer may not fall in the same order.

No matter the type of business, each customer takes a journey with a brand. During this journey, customers progress from hearing about a business or service to engaging the business and then (ideally) sharing their positive experiences with friends and colleagues. In short, the customer journey is how customers go from being a target audience to loyal fans.

Before improving or optimizing the customer journey , it’s critical to first understand the customer journey stages.

What are the stages of the customer journey?

There are five main stages of the customer journey. Each stage represents customer touchpoints between clients and a company. In many cases, organizations outline these stages on a customer journey map.

It’s important to note that not every customer journey is linear and follows these stages in this order. But in general, companies look at the five customer journey stages as:

1. Awareness - This is when a potential customer becomes aware of your company and services. They could become passively aware, such as by seeing an advertisement, or they may become aware proactively, such as by searching for companies in your area that offer the services you do.

2. Consideration - At the consideration stage, the potential customer is now aware of your company and that you offer services that could fit their needs. During this stage, prospective customers weigh their options and evaluate your services against your competition. They may be completing activities such as checking online reviews or inquiring with trusted friends or colleagues to learn what others say about your brand. In doing so, they seek a clear answer on whether to purchase from your brand.

3. First purchase/decision - A potential customer reaches this stage when they have all the information they need to decide whether your company can meet their needs within their determined budget and scope. The individual or purchasing team goes from being a potential customer to a customer. Depending on the perceived importance of the purchase — as well as the personality of the buyer — it may take a long time to reach this phase.

4. Retention/loyalty: - The retention phase focuses on keeping your customers happy and engaged. As your customers use your product or service, they make repeat purchases and continue to buy again from your company. During this stage, you are also focused on providing excellent customer service.

5. Advocacy - In this stage, customers to whom you have delivered value that exceeded their expectations are doing their own marketing work for your company. They voluntarily talk about your business and encourage their colleagues and friends to try your services for themselves. Customers who share positive reviews about your company show that you deliver on brand promises you’ve made. Not all customers will reach this stage, but your goal should be to plan programs that ensure many of your customers will become loyal advocates for your brand.

What is a customer journey map?

A customer journey map visually represents the entire customer journey or lifecycle. It covers all five customer journey stages and the different interactions or touchpoints across channels, including social media, in-store, website, or email. Journey maps may also include information about customer or buyer personas .

For example, a customer’s first touchpoint with your organization may be a paid search ad, which is the starting point on their customer journey map. The map then charts all of that user’s interactions and may have branching points for choices they could make.

Customer journey mapping is valuable for any organization looking to improve customer experience, customer retention, and loyalty.

Stage 1: Awareness stage

The awareness stage is a potential customer’s first impression of your brand, so it is worth a significant investment. They may encounter your brand passively by viewing an online or in-person advertisement. Or, they may have actively discovered your brand while researching a problem using a search engine.

You should aim to educate prospective customers about your brand and offerings through ads, social media accounts, your website, and other high-level touchpoints (also known as “top of the funnel” touchpoints).

This customer journey stage aims to meet the right customers at the right time. It’s all about getting your brand name in front of your ideal customers, even if they don’t know they need your service.

Using analytics platforms has greatly improved marketers’ efforts to reach their target audience effectively. Examples of these platforms include Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence , Dstillery , Audiense , and Adverity . These platforms can provide rich data about potential customers, such as location, age, choice of device, and conversion rates. Choose an analytics platform that fits your marketing practices and goals.

Best practices for the awareness stage

Target the channels your prospects use most - Using data from a consumer analytics platform, develop strategies that keep your brand front and center on the channels your customers use most. For example, if your potential audience is more senior and primarily on Facebook and Instagram, skip advertising on TikTok.
Focus on education - Create content — such as infographics and blog posts — that help educate consumers about why they need a product or service like yours.
Skip the hard sell - Avoid coming on too strong with sales tactics. Give your customer the content and space to learn about your product and brand.

Awareness stage content examples

The type of awareness phase content you develop will depend on your audience and whether you’re in the B2B or B2C space. In some cases, social media ads may be the right fit. Other companies may have more success with downloadable content like eBooks.

Once potential customers see your brand, keep them engaged with easy-to-digest information about your services and offerings. Awareness stage content can include:

Infographics
Free courses
Social media posts/ads
General eBooks related to your product category or industry
General videos related to your product category or industry
Paid search ads
General whitepapers related to your product category or industry
How-to articles and guides

Stage 2: Consideration stage

In this stage, a potential customer is now aware of your brand and is researching whether your company or product is what they need. This customer journey stage aims to move the customer to further engage with your brand and closer to a purchase or decision.

During the consideration phase, you must ensure your offering stands out among the competition. A customer in the consideration phase may spend time on your website, review your social media pages, engaging with your sales team, and seek out what others say about your brand. This can include Google, G2, Capterra, Yelp, or Facebook reviews. They may also ask experienced friends, colleagues, or family members for recommendations.

Many items are outside your control during this phase: your potential customer’s needs and budget, your competitors, online review websites, and individuals who have prior experience with your brand or your competitor.

Best practices for the consideration stage

While there are some factors you cannot control during the consideration phase, you have many opportunities to portray your brand as the best choice for prospective customers.

Take ownership of reviews - Responding to past negative reviews or past customer service complaints can show that your company is moving in a positive direction. Addressing significant issues from past reviews shows potential customers that your team takes customer service seriously.
Highlight your differentiators and value - Consumers in this phase are likely comparing your brand to others. Make sure your brand’s key differentiators are featured throughout your consideration phase content. Review your website’s product and service pages to ensure they are easy to understand and highlight your product’s value.
Build trust - A consumer is more likely to select a credible, trustworthy brand. Remember this as you’re developing content. Use customer quotes to boost credibility and avoid making unsubstantiated claims about your product or brand.
Consider using third-party research - C onsider bringing in an expert third party to review your brand’s web presence — including properties you own and control and those you don’t. During this exercise, your marketing team can partner with other key business units to identify positive changes you can make to ensure your brand stacks up well against your competition during the consideration phase.

Consideration stage content examples

Consideration phase content should highlight how your offering is the right choice. In some cases, content can overlap in other stages of the customer journey, such as the awareness phase.

Some types of marketing content that can be helpful during the consideration phase include:

Case studies and customer testimonials
Product comparison guides and charts
Product-focused videos
Product-focused white papers
Retargeting ads on social media that target prospects who have been on your website

Stage 3: First purchase/decision stage

By now, the customer has gathered all the information they need about your brand — such as case studies or online reviews — and is ready to purchase. At this stage, they decide between your brand or product and your competition. This phase is significant because it demonstrates that the customer has confidence in your brand and may lead to a purchase or sale.

The main players during this stage are the customer and your sales team. Your customer service or implementation teams may also be involved if the purchase includes an integration or installation process.

Best practices for the purchase/decision stage

Eliminate purchase barriers - Take the necessary steps to make the buying process as smooth as possible. If your company uses an online storefront, ensure your checkout process is straightforward. Consider providing resources to help them with financing, if needed. And if there is an integration or installation involved, get your customer success or implementation team involved as soon as possible.
Provide incentives - Look for ways to move a deal or a purchase across the finish line. Discounts, coupons, or add-ons are some ways you can motivate customers to purchase.
Offer references - If appropriate, offer to connect prospects to existing customers. Having conversations with individuals who are happy with your product or service may help convince the consumer to move forward with your brand.
Collaborate with sales - Touch base with your sales contacts regularly to find ways to improve the purchasing process.

Purchase/decision phase content examples

Once a customer is ready to make a purchase, they likely understand the value of your product. They may, however, require additional resources to convince internal stakeholders or blockers. Content types you may want to create for this stage of the customer journey include:

Free consultations
Product sign-up pages
Pricing pages
Limited time product promotions or coupons – “Sign up within 48 hours and save 25%!”
Influencer videos

Stage 4: Retention/Loyalty stage

The overarching goal of this phase is to keep your customers happy, so they become loyal, lifelong customers.

59% of U.S. customers say that once they’ve found a brand they love, they are loyal for life. However, just because a customer has made an initial purchase with your company doesn’t mean your work is finished. Your team still has opportunities to educate the customer on the value of your brand, paving the way for additional purchases, upsells, or contract renewals.

Retaining customers is crucial, as selling to or retaining an existing customer is much more cost-effective than acquiring a new one. Optimove estimates that it costs businesses five times as much to market to a new customer than a current customer.

What’s more, keeping repeat customers happy makes your job easier. Semrush found that your chances of selling to an existing happy customer are between 60 and 70%. Your chances of selling to a new customer are between 5 and 20%.

There are many players in the retention phase including:

Your customer
Your marketing teams who can help to keep your brand top-of-mind for your customer
Your customer service team, who is responsible for quickly and effectively remediating any issues that arise
Your analytics teams, who can provide insight on customer data
Your product team, who is responsible for providing suggestions on which new products or additional offerings may be relevant to specific customers or developing new features for users
Your sales teams, who can individually reach out to target customers with personalized offers and upsells

Best practices for the retention stage

Leverate your customer data - Now that your customer has purchased from you, you have valuable data about them. Use this data to send them regular, personalized communications with opportunities for upselling them with premium offers or cross-selling for related product purchases.
Make it easy to contact your team - Ensure your company is easy to contact — especially if a customer has encountered an issue. Provide your phone number or support email in a prominent location on your website and in all of your email communications. And consider adding a chatbot to your website if you have a team to support it.
Maintain regular communication with your customers - Keep customers in the loop with regular newsletters and updates about your products and company.
Collaborate with customer success - While you may have collaborated closely with the sales team up to this point, now is the time to work closely with your customer success (CS) team. Collaborate to identify ways to improve the customer experience through content and communication.
Establish a seamless onboarding process - Work together with your CS colleagues to develop an onboarding journey that helps customers fully understand how to use your product or service.
Create a knowledgebase or FAQ - This resource can help customers find answers to questions and troubleshoot issues without needing employee resources.

Retention stage content examples

One key aspect of the retention phase is to provide best-in-breed customer service. If a customer runs into an issue with your service, your customer service team should work diligently and quickly to solve the issue so that the customer maintains a positive image of your brand.

Another aspect of this customer journey stage is proactively following up with customers. This involves sales teams reaching out to customers individually to ensure all is well with their services and to provide support when needed. Proactive communication also involves marketing teams sending out meaningful, relevant emails that may include:

Information on the latest product offerings
Suggestions for cross-sell/upsell
Personalized offers based on prior purchases
Rewards for loyalty

Other retention phase content examples may include:

SMS texts or push notifications
Customer newsletters
FAQ/knowledgebase documents or webpages

Stage 5: Advocacy stage

The advocacy stage aims to enable your most loyal customers to recommend and advocate for your brand.

Customers can become vocal supporters of your brand when they have positive and meaningful experiences with your products or services. This support can drive significant results for your organization, with 81% of U.S. and U.K. customers stating that they trust product recommendations from family and friends over brand messaging.

You should aim for all customers to reach the advocacy stage. When you understand the needs of your customers and meet or exceed customer expectations through high-quality products and services, as well as exceptional customer service, they become loyal and are more likely to tell others about their experiences with your brand.

The advocacy phase involves your customers, your brand, their contacts, and how they share information about your brand with the people they know. For example, a loyal customer may share your Instagram profile with a friend looking for a service you provide. Another loyal customer may forward a relevant product marketing email to a colleague who has never heard of your brand. When the customer journey comes full circle in this manner, the new contact (potential customer) enters the first stage of the customer journey — the awareness phase.

Best practices for the advocacy stage

Simplify referrals - Make it easy for your loyal customers to refer their friends, colleagues, and family to you. Encourage social media shares and provide intuitive ways for customers to tell friends about a product or service.
Provide referral incentives - Encourage advocacy by incentivizing referrals with discounts, coupons, or loyalty points.
Look to competitor referral programs - Consider researching what your competitors offer for loyalty programs and referral rewards.
Give opportunities for feedback - Periodically survey your customers and conduct NPS, or customer satisfaction, surveys to identify potential advocates for case studies or testimonials. These ratings will also highlight key areas for improvement.
Acknowledge customer feedback - If a survey reveals a consistent complaint or issue with your product or service, address it with your customers by highlighting fixes in newsletters or social media posts.

Advocacy stage content examples

Highly personalized offers and incentives sent via SMS text or email
Social media giveaways
Customer profiles or features on social media or email newsletters

Do customer journey stages differ from B2B vs. B2C?

The five high-level journey stages are the same for B2B and B2C businesses. However, the specific actions and best practices may vary from stage to stage. For example, in a B2C industry, there is typically only a single decision-maker, and the dollar amount strongly influences the length of the consideration phase. With B2B, there are often multiple decision-makers or account contacts. Depending on the client and business, these may include legal, security, and other teams.

B2B vs. B2C customer journey stages

While the high-level stages are the same, there are nuances among the B2C and B2B customer journey stages. Some differences may include:

Email marketing is targeted to different decision-maker types for B2B - Email marketing for B2B vs. B2C audiences will speak to the differing values and goals of the different decision-makers at each business type. For example, B2B decision-makers may value security, cost savings, marketing segmentation, and solving concrete business problems. Consider creating specific email marketing campaigns to speak to these considerations.
Social media marketing is more relevant for B2C - In general, social media marketing is more relevant to B2C industries than to B2B, though it can play a role in both. Specifically, marketing for a B2C audience during the awareness and consideration phases should focus more on social media.
Referrals are very important for all industry types - Referrals are necessary across virtually all B2B and B2C industries. However, loyalty and referral programs will look different across B2B vs. B2C and between different industry verticals.
Adjust marketing materials for industry type - Be nimble and poised to adjust your marketing content for B2B vs. B2C. For instance, more formal marketing materials such as eBooks and white papers are more impactful for B2B industries. On the other hand, free courses or coupons may be more critical for B2C.
Initial touchpoints will differ - Conferences or industry conventions are important customer touchpoints for B2B, especially for the awareness and consideration phases. In the B2C world, the early touchpoints may be social media ads or paid search campaigns or out-of-home ads like billboards.

What You’re Getting Wrong About Customer Journeys

Ahir Gopaldas
Anton Siebert

Companies often believe they should make their customers’ experiences as effortless and predictable as possible. But the authors’ research shows that this approach is overly simplistic—and can even backfire. While in some instances (say, watching movies on Netflix) customers want their journeys to be easy and familiar, in others (working out on a Peloton bike or playing World of Warcraft) they want to be challenged or surprised.

This article outlines four kinds of journeys: Routines are effortless and predictable and are suited to utilitarian products. Joyrides are effortless and unpredictable and work with products that deliver an on-demand thrill. Treks are effortful and predictable and are associated with products that help people achieve challenging long-term goals. Odysseys are effortful and unpredictable and are perfect for products that facilitate customers’ passion projects.

Each type of journey has its own design principles. Routines should offer consistent touchpoints in familiar sequences; joyrides, endlessly varied moments of delight. Treks require goal-posting (breaking big objectives down into small ones), and odysseys, substantive variation and journey tracking.

They shouldn’t always be effortless or predictable.

Idea in Brief

The context.

Marketing experts agree that the best way to keep your customers coming back for more is by facilitating a compelling series of experiences called a customer journey.

The Problem

Most experts promote an effortless and predictable journey—or a routine—as the gold standard. In many instances, that’s a mistake.

The Solution

Companies can keep customers engaged with not just routines but also joyrides, treks, and odysseys. All four types of journeys can help companies achieve long-term success in the marketplace.

Most marketing experts agree that it’s not enough to give customers a satisfying initial experience with a product. Instead, product managers must offer them a compelling series of experiences—a customer journey —to keep them coming back for more. The design of customer journeys is the new marketing battleground.

AG Ahir Gopaldas is an associate professor of marketing and currently holds the Robert B. McKeon Endowed Chair in Business at Fordham University.
AS Anton Siebert is a lecturer in marketing at Lancaster University in Leipzig.

Partner Center

Four steps of the data journey – from data to insights

Never before has so much data been available for businesses to use. data volumes and complexities are increasing exponentially each year. this drives companies to seek new, innovative ways to get the most out of it. so how can companies gather the highest-value information that removes guesswork and takes them from data-initiated companies to data-driven companies that innovatively use data , introduction .

Statista estimates that we can expect to see  120 zettabytes  of data generated by the end of 2023. That’s one billion terabytes of digital information created in a single year. For comparison, 2010 only saw around two zettabytes of data created. And  2025  is projected to produce over 180 zettabytes of data. It’s clear that extracting usable insights from this wealth of information is becoming paramount to make decisions that positively impact the business. 

In this article, we look at the process behind taking raw data and changing it into information we can use. This approach involves bringing our data through well-defined steps that allow us to do just that. Starting from data ingestion, moving through the stages of integration and data analysis followed by visualization, allows us to transform this digital gold into insights. However, the data journey doesn’t solely revolve around data transformation; it also outlines the optimal approach to accomplishing this task in order to facilitate a company’s evolution into a Data-Centric, data-driven entity through innovative data architecture.

What are the 4 steps of the data journey?

Transforming data into something we can understand and put to work can be a complicated task. But converting raw data into actionable insights requires some vital steps in a journey that ensures the data we’re using is high quality, reliable, and accessible.

Data governance and DataOps are essential elements of the data journey. They enhance each step. They ensure that the transformation of data points into something we can interpret, see, and understand is elevated. Let’s take a look at how it all works.

Step 1: Defining, finding, and collecting data

The first stage of the data journey involves recognizing which data we’re looking for. We begin by considering the factors that essentially define what it is. We then identify and engage in data collection itself, bearing in mind the business needs, and make sure we’re accessing the suitable sources in the right way. This lays the foundation for Data Source Management.

Data about data

In order to understand what data a company is ingesting, it helps to define the factors that describe data, like type, source, format, security constraints, size, etc.

This can be done before data is collected or, if you already acquired the raw data but don’t know what it contains, you’ll need to think about the processes, tools and technologies available to derive information from it.

Finding the correct data

Data governance  plays a crucial role in finding the correct data. It determines the rules and standards for acquiring data. These principles help us to ensure that the data collected is accurate, relevant, and in line with legislation. Data governance outlines the guidelines for data ownership, management, and classification. This, in turn, forms the basis for the ensuing steps. 

Collecting data with purpose

Collected data should also be cataloged into a central repository. This enhances the collection phase and helps eliminate data silos. It provides a capacity to accurately document, classify, and describe these critical data assets into a Data Catalog. This also allows for efficient data discovery and selection by analysts and data scientists. Authorized and trusted data sources reinforce access to the correct data in line with data governance principles and enable the right data management practices.

Appropriate data identification and collection and retention policies must align with business goals. The step should reflect desired business outcomes and consider budget expectations. Decision-makers can then ensure that only the most relevant customer data is collected from various sources. These can include lead time data, customer metrics, online traffic performances, and macroeconomic indicators for each analysis. 

Concerns about cloud migration, data use, infrastructure, and security needs should also be answered. This serves to enhance the process of collecting data.

Step 2: Processing and cleaning data

Since we’ve mastered the art of  storing and collecting data , the challenge of how to refine and use it effectively represents the next data journey stage.

Once data has been collected, in most cases, it is gathered into a repository and stored in unrefined, often unstructured formats. This data must be processed, beginning with exploring the data and identifying the elements that need attention before cleaning.

The DataOps approach provides a level of agility to the processing phase of the data journey that ensures data is managed more efficiently and consistently. DataOps techniques employ automation and continuous integration. This speeds up data preparation and increases reliability. All this leads to an even more refined dataset being cleaned.

How you clean your data depends on what the data is to be used for. So, data must be standardized to align with its ultimate objective. This involves transforming data structures into a common format. The data is then considered ‘clean’ and thus ready for modeling and analysis.

Processing and extracting data should be complemented with standardization for the sake of better efficiency in the data journey. DataOps ensures we have the capacity to transform this data into a common format, in an automated and repeated way so we can meet the data quality objectives .

Step 3: Modeling and analyzing data

The third step in the data journey allows us to extract insights into the processed data using advanced analytics. While Data Governance ensures data validity, DataOps provides agility. This ensures that analysts and data scientists enjoy the flexibility required to analyze experiments and perform iterative data modeling.

Data Modeling  revolves around understanding the relationships – identified through analysis – between the various data types a business manages. This enables tracking data types better. Modeling also helps with unpacking how data can be used. It enhances the management and governance requirements needed to protect data.

The modeling process should be rooted in analyzing how data is being used by each business unit. Quality data models are beneficial in pursuing organizational goals through data analytics. Optimizing analytics performance, regardless of the business’s scope, drives effective business intelligence. Producing a correct, high-quality data model, designed for a purpose, significantly improves data analysis capacities and analytics. This ultimately boosts accurate decision-making, by assuring better performance and ease of measure creations.

Data Governance practices establish data relationships beforehand. DataOps support streamlining data model rollout, fostering better collaboration, and empowering teams to respond quicker to emerging insights. Data analysis, in turn, is made easy, with clear insights delivered from the higher agility provided. And robust analysis translates to a better capacity for visualizing data.  

Step 4: Interpreting and visualizing data

The fourth and final step is interpreting and visualizing data. Here, data is compiled into a captivating story that provides answers to questions. This is where data use is most effective. Data Governance and DataOps principles come together during this fourth and final step. 

The guidelines outlined by DataOps and Data Governance ensure that high-quality data provided in time is sufficiently enhanced at this stage.

The data visualization process transforms data into something that business users can comprehend visually. The trends and patterns extracted from data analysis can be seen and understood by converting data into a visual medium.  However, before the proper visualization can be deployed to users, it is best to follow the correct approach to Analytics Experience .

The charts, graphs, graphics, and other visual elements produced through visualizing data are often contained in dashboards and reports. These allow users to observe multiple data elements and images together for a more comprehensive story. The average dashboard displays between  three and five charts or graphs  at once. Variations in format can also assist in making things more compelling. 

However one should also consider the dashboard’s role in providing quality insights or relevant data analysis. Generic dashboards, for example, could have a negative effect on insights and their interpretations.  These data insights  show how effective a good data experience can be.

According to Maciej Kłodaś, Head of UX at C&F , telling a data story well means the context and purpose of the data’s visualization must be clear. This means presenting data in a way that allows for more open interpretations. Understandings along multiple paths provide for different analysis goals, too. Dashboards are merely a type of data visualization tools. They assist the end user in navigating the data better. Every team is then empowered to draw their own conclusions along the way, developing unique interpretations.

Going from ‘data’ to ‘insight’ – reaching data maturity

These four steps in the data journey allow us to uncover and see data, turning into a company’s biggest asset. Hidden data is useless and doesn’t help organizations make decisions. By collecting data, processing, refining, and transforming it into visually comprehendible content that provides valuable insight, we can put it to work.

Finding, defining, and gathering the correct raw data means we can collect the right basic information. Once processed and cleaned, this data represents tangible information we can use. However, extracting data value from this resource requires models to ensure the information conforms with the standards and formats as they are necessary for us to begin analyzing data. 

DataOps and Data Governance principles are crucial to the data journey. They inform and guide each step, enhancing our ability to visualize and interpret our data results more effectively. Relevant, accurate data is critical to effective analysis. The processes we use to ensure its veracity are vital to maintaining data authenticity in line with organizational goals and objectives. 

In order for a company to become Data-Centric it is crucial to progress on the maturity scale for architecture, so that it becomes Innovative and Agile. This will allow for utilization of AI and ML, and foster innovation and experimentation. It also means that data architecture is highly adaptable/scalable to changing business needs allowing for quickly enhancing the existing data structure.

Visualizing data and the resulting insights created help people and companies make better decisions. It contributes to a better understanding of the business. We use them to improve things, change policies, and measure performance. This is why our data insights must be easily understood and interpreted. 

Because without the data journey, we can’t see past the raw numbers at all. The journey that takes basic digital information from data to insight that informs important decisions is a part of every organization’s quest for better data. Begin your data journey toward data maturity today.

"The data journey isn't just about transforming data, it's about transforming organizations into data-centric businesses where every zettabyte has the potential to break new ground and drive intelligent business decisions. "

This Story Tags

Popular tags, recent articles.

Data Literacy: How to boost your ROI from (existing) data solutions/products?

Data-Driven Field Force: 4 Keys to Empower People in the Digital Era

How to Upskill and Reskill Your Data Analytics and AI Employees

What is a data journey?

Data Security and Data Privacy – How to Keep Your Information Safe Throughout the Data Journey

Our clients success stories.

Improving Data Management Usability and Productivity

How during the pandemic we optimized vaccine production and delivery process?

How we boosted a COVID-19 vaccine production by digitally enhancing manufacturing operations

How to manage national resources to fight COVID-19 in the cloud?

Can proper data management help restart a shutdown pharma production plant?

Follow the customer decision journey if you want B2B sales to grow

While B2B organizations have embraced the idea of customer-centricity, many have yet to adapt to the reality of customer behavior. That's resulted in millions of marketing dollars being misspent and potential sales lost at a time when companies can ill afford it. In fact, our work with more than 30 marquee B2B organizations around the world shows that half or more of all marketing spend is misaligned, going to areas that do little to influence the purchasing decisions of top customers and providing little help to the sales people calling on them.

To right that train, B2B organizations need to develop a much deeper understanding of the modern Customer Decision Journey (CDJ). Where the old sales funnel assumed a linear purchasing path — customers take in information; narrow down their choices; kick the tires, and submit the purchase order — the CDJ moves away from the "funnel" way of doing things. It recognizes that the decision process, in fact, is anything but linear, and the post-purchase period is often as, or more, important than other steps along the way.

For B2B CMOs and heads of sales, adopting the CDJ has helped shift as much as 40 percent of marketing spend to activities that generate higher ROI. We've seen companies boost sales by an average of 5-10 percent and customer retention by an average of 30 percent. One company that piloted the approach found that CDJ-influenced efforts yielded 8-10 percent higher revenue per bid than traditional efforts.

B2B organizations need to use the CDJ in three ways to increase sales:

Find out what matters to your decision makers

It's not enough to identify the decision makers in an organization. For marketing and sales activities to be effective, companies need to focus on those points in the decision journey where they can be most successful in influencing those decision makers. For some that might be procurement or finance. For others, it might be the CMO or even the end user. And for others still they might be a specific set of segments.

Understanding who those influencers are and what matters most to them in making their purchasing decisions gives marketing and sales leaders the insight needed to gauge where their efforts are likely to have the greatest impact. When organizations we've studied take the time to learn from their customers what parts of the buying process are most important to them, they are often surprised by the results. One chief marketing officer, for instance, learned from customer interviews that 70% of the marketing budget and 40% of the sales efforts were not spent in places that actually influenced the customer's purchase decision. They were either over-investing in some areas or under-investing in others with the result that they were leaving money on the table and missing out on deals they might otherwise have won.

Mapping the decision journeys of your target segments requires actively soliciting input from multiple sources but the approach depends on the landscape. If the B2B company is in a sector that may have a handful of big customers, like mining, shipping or the public sector, there's no substitute for actually getting out there and meeting with the end customers to understand how they really make decisions (as opposed to how the say they make decision).Large companies with thousands of customers might launch quantitative market research surveys to understand their customer segments. These findings are then paired with knowledge gleaned from sales, logistics, product marketing and other parts of the organization to develop a hypothesis on how different variables — such as price, delivery times, or feature sets — affect purchase decisions. Those models can help identify valuable customer segments and develop actions that target them specifically.

One high-tech OEM, for instance, counted both large corporate buyers and small operators among its customer base. Both looked for different things. Corporate buyers, usually led by finance chiefs, viewed the products as a way to improve cost and operational efficiency so paid special attention to the RFP process. Small operators, by contrast, were often owned and managed by individuals with technology backgrounds who followed the latest developments with interest and were active researchers. Knowing who was holding the strings within those segments clarified what stages of the CDJ to zero in on. To cater to its small operators, for example, sales teams spent a great deal of time up front in the research stage, inviting business owners to beta test new versions and hosting events that previewed the latest products. To appeal to corporate finance leaders, by contrast, the manufacturer revamped its RFP process, expanded the number of financing options, highlighted cost efficiency, and created pricing calculators and other aids that made it easier for buyers to determine which product was right for them.

Channel resources and spend where and when it matters

Understanding what drives customer decisions means that marketers can make smarter, more informed decisions about where to allocate resources. For instance, prior to using CDJ methods, the sales and marketing team at a large materials company did what it did best, nurtured long-standing key accounts and kept tabs on new opportunities within two of its biggest verticals, the government sector and commercial real estate developers. It was a sales forward approach focused on generating and qualifying the lead, making the pitch and closing the deal. Still revenue growth remained lackluster.

So their commercial leaders analyzed their customer base, interviewed key players, and came away with a better idea of where to focus its resources along the CDJ. If it was going to win the public sector, for instance, the company realized it had to broaden its appeal and court relationships not just with public works officials, but to local distributors as well since interviews had shown most facilities managers turned to them for recommendations and advice during the research stage of the CDJ. This insight told sellers not only where and when to redouble their relationship-building efforts, it also told marketing where to pull back, such as in trade show spend, which research showed had little influence on the buying outcome. They used those funds instead to develop on-site distributor demos that proved very effective for increasing conversion from the research to the consideration stage. Likewise, to help property developers court premium tenants willing to pay higher rents, the company saw it had an opportunity to improve performance at the beginning of the CDJ by pitching upmarket offerings, such as green, energy saving materials that might appeal in terms of both style as well as cost efficiency.

In another example, an energy company identified three different groups of buyers they wanted to go after: 1) those that wanted ease and convenience and a high-touch customer experience, 2) those that were highly energy-conscious and wanted an active role in managing their resource use, and 3) those who just wanted the lowest-cost they could find.

For the high-touch crowd, for instance, marketers saw that a simple, streamlined purchasing experience coupled with hands-on advice from sales and strong customer service would have much greater influence than other stages in the decision journey. So, they created an automated account set-up tool that made it easy for reps to get customers up and running and armed sales with a range of information that helped them act as expert advisors.

For the energy conscious set, marketing pulled together a bundle of specialized services that included such things as real-time monitoring, peer benchmarking, and customized reporting, extras that helped sales differentiate their offering in the field.

As for the no-frills group, the organization knew the challenge would be to get their company through the consideration stage and make the purchase as "no strings" as possible. To do that, marketing created online rate comparison tools and equipped sales with custom pricing guidelines. They also shortened average contract lengths to win over buyers wary of long-term commitments. That gave sales greater flexibility in the field and made it easier for the company to stand out as a low-cost partner. Although it's early days yet in terms of tallying the sales lift, these moves have already begun to differentiate the energy company among its peers, especially in a sector not known for bold marketing innovation.

Foster partnership between marketing and sales

We've seen adoption of the CDJ also address a nagging issue in many B2B organizations: poor communication and coordination between marketing and sales. By developing a common understanding of the CDJ and those battlegrounds where they needed to compete for customers, marketing and sales can communicate more clearly and focus more effectively on activities that win customers.

Some B2B marketing organizations, for instance, are using technical solutions that link customer insights directly into sales activities. At one company marketers developed an iPad application that allows sales people to enter their book of business and receive detailed profiles that flag key customer bottlenecks in the CDJ, such as overly technical product descriptions that make it hard to compare features, and provide tips on what sales can do to break through them. At another company, CDJ analysis revealed that digital communications, such as emails, were far more effective when preceded by a personal telephone call or direct mail. This insight that marketing provided helped sellers make a small change in approach that delivered better conversion rates.

Such partnership can also allow organizations to take preemptive action to lock the sale in earlier in the process and forestall customers from shopping around. For example, one global industrial company saw that aggressive competitor discounting was beginning to cut into sales. Marketing examined its customer metrics and learned that their high value segments put a premium on ease-of-ordering and fulfillment speed. That insight made them wonder if there was a clever way to beat back their competitor without engaging in a price war. They shared that information with sales and together brainstormed a way to simplify the ordering process to a click of a button. In addition, sales began sending reminder notices two weeks before a part was due to expire and marketing helped install self-service counters at their best customers with purchasing cards that allowed employees to help themselves to parts as needed, charging them as they went.

Without understanding your customer's decision journey, it doesn't matter how "customer-centric" you are. Building your organization and programs around the CDJ model means more effective marketing and more successful sales.

IMAGES

Customer journey models [McKinsey model & RACE Framework]
Mapa de viaje del cliente, proceso de decisión de compra del cliente
Customer Journey Map: Understanding the Path with the Client
Customer journey map: What it is and why you need one
15+ Decision Tree Infographics for Decision Making
six steps to decision making example

VIDEO

Consumer Decision Journey (CDJ)
#vlog9 Digital Marketing Strategy the Consumer Decision Journey
The Customer Decision Journey
Pick Your Path: The Decision Journey#choise #chosen #matrix #games #quiz #world

COMMENTS

The consumer decision journey
A comprehensive view of all customer-facing activities is as important for business unit heads as for CEOs and chief marketing officers. But the full scope of the consumer decision journey goes beyond the traditional role of CMOs, who in many companies focus on brand building, advertisements, and perhaps market research.
PDF The consumer decision journey
Exhibit title: The consumer decision journey After purchasing a product or service, the consumer builds expectations based on experience to inform the next decision journey. Consumers add or subtract brands as they evaluate what they want. 1 3 4 2 The consumer considers an initial set of brands, based on brand perceptions and exposure to recent
The Consumer Decision Journey
With Qualtrics® Customer Journey Optimizer, you can take your customers where they want to go—in the fastest and most profitable way. Elevate your customer journey management today. Free course. Gain valuable insights into the consumer decision journey and unleash the full potential of your marketing, customer support, and product initiatives.
The Consumer Decision Journey
When making purchasing decisions, consumers go on a "consumer decision journey" comprised of four stages: consider a selection of brands; evaluate by seeking input from peers, reviewers, and ...
Customer journey models [McKinsey model & RACE Framework]
McKinsey's consumer decision journey model helps you identify the moment of purchase, while the RACE Framework helps you build a strategy to get there. Use these customer journey models to win more customers. Based on empirical research, in 2009, McKinsey & Company suggested dramatic alternative customer journey models to the traditional ...
Consumer Decision Journey: What it is + Free Guide
The consumer decision journey involves various business areas, from digital marketing strategy to generating attraction in the discovery stage to the customer service and experience team to complete post-sale and loyalty successfully. For a successful customer satisfaction journey, you'll need tools that help you measure every moment in real ...
Competing on Customer Journeys
Artwork: Hong Hao, My Things No. 5, 2002, scanned objects, digital c-print 120 x 210 cm
Designing Customer Journeys for the Post-Pandemic World
The author offers three simple but critical factors that will determine whether your post-pandemic customer journeys will help amplify or impede business growth. First, be customer-centric, not ...
The consumer decision journey: A literature review of the foundational
The consumer decision journey model has become increasingly important to understand consumer decision-making processes. Although the term originally emerged with Court et al. in 2009, the various current perspectives of the consumer journey suggest the existence of distinct literature and theoretical roots that have yet to be fully explored in detail.
Consumer Decision Journey: What It Is and How To Use It
The steps of a consumer decision journey include: 1. Trigger: A stimulus or trigger begins the consumer decision journey when an individual notices they have a problem and need a company's product or service to resolve it. 2. Initial consideration set: When considering a purchase, an individual reflects on their initial consideration set, or ...
Consumer Decision Journey: Everything You Need to Know
The customer journey maps how a lead decides to buy a product or service. The decision-making process consists of multiple steps, from building awareness to conversion and loyalty. These stages aren't something every lead must go through; they just visualize the most common phases.
Understanding The Changing B2B Buyer Journey
Many people are talking about the drastic changes to the consumer purchase journey due to Covid-19, but consumers aren't the only ones changing the way they approach buying decisions.
The Consumer Decision Journey Explained
The consumer decision journey is a behavior-driven framework that allows marketing professionals to assess how consumers decide to buy certain goods and services. It also helps marketing professionals strategize about how to influence these decisions. It is a template for building targeted marketing strategies. ... Business Insider, "Ethical ...
Customer Journey Stages: The Complete Guide
While many companies will put their own spin on the exact naming of the customer journey stages, the most widely-recognized naming convention is as follows: Awareness. Consideration. Decision. Retention. Advocacy. These steps are often then sub-categorized into three parts: Pre-sale. Sale/Purchase.
How To Optimise The Customer Decision Journey?
Customer decision journey model was developed by McKinsey & Company in 2009.It differs from the old idea that customers start with many brands and choose one to buy. The consumer decision process says customers make decisions in four steps: awareness, consideration, purchase, and post-purchase. Customers often consult online resources such as websites, social media, internet reviews, ads, etc ...
PDF Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum The B2B customer decision journey
The B2B customer decision journey: 3 for the best route to increasing sales spent a great deal of time up front in the research stage, inviting business owners to beta-test new versions, and hosting events that previewed the latest products. To appeal to corporate finance
Mapping the B2B Customer Journey: Key Stages and Touchpoints
Here are the key reasons to design a B2B customer journey map: Enhanced customer understanding — A customer journey map provides valuable insights into the needs, motivations, pain points, and behaviours of your B2B customers. It helps you better understand their challenges, preferences, and decision-making processes.
Customer journey stages
Email marketing is targeted to different decision-maker types for B2B - Email marketing for B2B vs. B2C audiences will speak to the differing values and goals of the different decision-makers at each business type. For example, B2B decision-makers may value security, cost savings, marketing segmentation, and solving concrete business problems.
What You're Getting Wrong About Customer Journeys
This article outlines four kinds of journeys: Routines are effortless and predictable and are suited to utilitarian products. Joyrides are effortless and unpredictable and work with products that ...
Four steps of the data journey
In a data-rich business world, organizations must skillfully navigate from collecting vast amounts of data to extracting valuable insights. This journey can be divided into four key steps: collecting the right data aligned with business objectives, processing and cleansing the data to ensure its quality, analyzing the data to uncover patterns and relationships, and finally visualizing these ...
Follow the customer decision journey if you want B2B sales to grow
Exhibit: The B2B Customer Decision Journey. For B2B CMOs and heads of sales, adopting the CDJ has helped shift as much as 40 percent of marketing spend to activities that generate higher ROI. We've seen companies boost sales by an average of 5-10 percent and customer retention by an average of 30 percent. One company that piloted the approach ...