Why Should You Map Your Customer Journey?

From the point a person first searches on a keyword and finds your business to the decision to buy something and become a customer, they’re on a journey. The customer journey is also sometimes referred to as the sales funnel.

Not all customers will take the same journey, but as you review your customer sales cycle, you’ll find that common journeys emerge. Some may find you via a keyword search on Google and click on a particular service page. From there, they may connect with you to ask a question, and then after some back and forth, decide to buy.

Others may visit your website, reach out once, and then you never hear from them again. These are the leads that exit their customer journey before they convert to a sale.

It’s important to understand the path people take from their search to fulfill an IT need through to your onboarding process as a new customer. If you don’t, then you could end up losing a majority of your leads without converting them. Often, simple and continuous optimization of the lead experience with your company can improve your marketing ROI and ensure more people don’t jump ship in the middle of the sales funnel.

Steps to Mapping Customer Journey from Lead to Sale

Did you know that about 96% of the visitors to your website aren’t yet ready to buy? That means that each interaction you have with them can make or break a potential sale. 

If you understand their journey, you can get them the right information at the right time to improve your chances of conversion. But, if you don’t bother and are in the dark about it, then you could lose that lead to another MSP that is paying attention.

Here are some steps to help you get started with customer journey mapping to enlighten your lead engagement strategy. 

Describe Your Key Target Audience Groups

Most MSPs will have a few different key target audience groups and their customer journeys may differ from each other. For example, someone calling for computer repair services will most likely be deciding to bring their device in to be fixed in less than a week. While a company looking to improve cybersecurity may go through a few months of back and forth before making a decision to become a client.

Choose 2-3 of your key target audiences and create unique customer journey maps for each one.

Identify Common Customer Interactions/Touchpoints

Most customers have common interactions in their journey. Some of these include:

• Visiting your website
• Getting referred to you from a friend/colleague
• Filling out your contact form
• Calling your business
• Requesting a quote
• Asking questions
• Making a purchase

Start with those common touchpoints to begin mapping your customer journey for those 2-3 target groups. If you find one group tends to reach out over social media, be sure to add that. While several steps in the journey will be similar for each group, some will be unique to each target audience.

Map the Journey Between Those Touchpoints

Now, it’s time to connect the dots. While not every journey is going to be a sequential path there will be patterns. Such as, you already know that the lead becoming a customer is the last step in that journey. The first step in many cases is a keyword search. 

Review past customer interactions and use those as a guide to help you map out those journeys. The goal is to follow the customer path that leads them to first learn about your company and the interactions that take place between that point and the point where they convert to a sale.

Using tools like Syncro RMM/PSA, which integrates different areas of the customer journey (marketing, estimates, invoices, etc.) can help you easily visualize a lead’s path to a sale.

Mark Key Milestones in the Customer Journey

There are two main milestones you want to identify so you can optimize these. One is where leads are dropping off and leaving their customer journey. The second is the point where leads convert to customers.

Both are vital for you to understand. If you find people tend to drop off after they ask you a question and get an answer, take a deeper dive into that interaction. How fast are you responding? Are the answers detailed enough? Too detailed? Is your marketing attracting the wrong type of lead?

You want to try to understand why after certain interactions you’re losing people.

Likewise, you want to look at your converting factors. After someone has a call with a certain company representative are they more likely to buy? Maybe that rep has some tips for the team?

Drill down into both of these areas so you can optimize the journey for higher lead conversions.

Evaluate Experiences & Optimize Your Map

Continue to evaluate your customer journey experience by reviewing lead and sales reports regularly. Once you have done the other steps above, the upkeep does not take much time at all. You simply tweak your strategies based upon lead behaviors.

Leverage the Reporting Tools in Syncro RMM/PSA to Boost Your Business

The Syncro RMM/PSA platform offers robust reporting in several areas of your operations, including marketing and sales.  

Contact us today to schedule a free demo and a 30-day free trial. Call 856-579-6276 or start your trial online.

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://syncromsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Caitlin_Headshot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Caitlin Good is the Content Marketing Manager at Syncro with more than 10 years of experience in the technology and eCommerce industries.[/author_info] [/author]

 

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This document is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Syncro makes no warranty, expressed nor implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information contained herein.

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