Why you need to know your customers journey

Few people talk about it and it’s probably due to not many people knowing what it is…the customer journey.

And despite many businesses having the best intentions when it comes to their buying process,  generally, the customer journey is not customer-friendly.

As a Business, ask yourself the following questions;

• Do you know where your customer is coming from?
• What leads them to purchase?
• What stops them from purchasing?
• Is your conversion rate low?
• Where is the bulk of your traffic coming from?

This will help you to understand the ins and outs of the customer’s journey.

If you don’t, you’re doing a disservice to your business and most importantly, your customers.

In this article, we’re going to talk about why you need to know your customer’s journey, how you can improve your customer’s journey and what it entails exactly.

What Does The Customer Journey Entail?

First of all, let’s start with the definition from surveymonkey.com:

“The customer journey is the complete sum of experiences that customers go through when interacting with your company and brand. Instead of looking at just a part of a transaction or experience, the customer journey documents the full experience of being a customer.”

From the moment your potential customer becomes aware of your brand, they’ve started a journey with your brand.

Whether that journey lasts long is down to the customer experience you have in place.

The journey of each customer will vary but if you have automation and funnels in place, you can control the journey from start to finish.

An example of a typical customer journey:

1. Customer learns about your brand through a friend
2. Customer types in your brand on Google
3. Looks through your website and leaves without purchasing
4. You run a Facebook campaign targeting website visitors in the last 30 days
5. The customer sees your ad promoting your brand again
6. They return to the website and views a pair of shoes they like
7. They put the shoes in their basket and proceed to purchase
8. They are now a customer and they are added to your marketing list
9. Over time, they continue to make purchases from you 1-2 times a month

This journey may seem extremely complex, but with today’s digital marketing playground, this is a simple daily activity for most businesses and their customers.

If anything, the above is over-simplified.

Your customer goes through a range of emotions when they interact with your brand and ultimately, buy from you.

Common emotions in the customer journey include curiosity, trust, disappointment and maybe (hopefully), pure joy!

Of course, you would want to avoid all the negative emotions as much as you can and keep the journey as smooth and silky as possible without interrupting the journey of your customer.

One bad slip and you’ll pay the price with either a lost customer, an unsatisfied customer and something that can be detrimental for any business nowadays – a bad review.

Why You Need To Know Your Customer’s Journey

There are a number of reasons why you want to know your customer’s journey.

Here are a few to mention:

• Getting a bird’s eye view of your sales process
• Gaining knowledge about how your customers interact with your business
• Determining whether you have designed the customer journey in a logical order
• Differences between the desired customer experience and the actual customer journey
• Ability to put your focus on a customer’s particular needs at different stages of the funnel

Too many businesses get into the mindset and perspective of viewing the business from their own perspective rather than putting themselves in the shoes of what the customer is actually experiencing.

The move from businesses focusing on purely on profits without any regard for the customer has been flipped on its head with the introduction of the internet and social media.

Look at some of the most successful businesses today and you’ll see a pattern of businesses that are now customer-centric.

Just look at Amazon for example, they’ve paved the way for how business should be done and how they’ve raised the bar for what is expected by customers in today’s market.

How Can You Improve The Customer Journey

When thinking about the customer journey, businesses will tend to focus on the typical funnel of:

1. Awareness
2. Consideration
3. Conversion

This is not even half of what the funnel you should be focusing on because there are many more stages a customer goes through in their journey with you.

If we were to go more in depth, we’d find the funnel may look more like this:

1. Awareness
2. Interest
3. Consideration/Evaluation
4. Conversion/Purchase
5. Repeat
6. Loyalty
7. Advocacy

Despite the customer journey involving all departments of the business, we are going to focus predominantly on the marketing aspect of the customer’s journey.

Stage 1 – Awareness

Example 1: a potential customer finds out about your business through a family member who had a great experience buying from your business.

Improvement: this actually starts with the family member becoming aware of your brand, but ultimately, it comes down to you creating a great customer journey.

Example 2: Customer sees your Business from Google advertising.

Improvement: Create some intrigue and make your offering clear in your copy, headline and image.

Stage 2 & 3 – Interest + Consideration/Evaluation

At stages 2 & 3 you need to keep nurturing your customer by adding more value and keeping them engaged.

• Educate your customer about the product/service + overall business
• Showing how your solution can relieve their problem
• Show the customer how the value you provide justifies the price of your product/service

An informative blog that provides actionable advice is perfect for this stage and can help get customers to trust you and see you as a brand that knows more than anyone about the industry.

Stage 4 – Conversion/Purchase

Stage 4 is where all the work you’ve done pays off and the customer pays you for your product/service.

You can improve this part of the process by:

• Making it easy for the customer to buy from you. This is especially relevant for ecommerce stores – reduce the friction in the buying process
• A clear buy button – make it obvious for the customer where they have to click to buy. Such a simple improvement that not many businesses do.

Stage 5 – Repeat

At stage 5 you are looking to repeat stage 4 and get your customers to buy from you again.

• Upsell and cross-sell at the checkout stage or via email
• Run seasonal promotions that are directly related to the product the customer has purchased from you in the past

Make sure that if you do implement a up-sell or cross-sell that it is relevant so that you don’t annoy your customer and make them regret buying from you in the first place.

Stage 6 & 7 – Loyalty + Advocacy

At stage 6 & 7, you are now in a position where (hopefully) you have created an incredible customer experience that your customer is now telling everyone about you.

• Invite your customer to a loyalty program that offer discounts
• Sending a personalised email to thank the customer for their business

Website Improvements To Improve Your Customer Journey

Most of the customer journey is online and happens on your website.

Ask yourself the following questions to make sure your doing everything you can to improve the customer journey on your website:

• Is your main page attractive?
• Is it easy to navigate?
• Does it have a strong CTA?
• Do you have a blog that provides informative information?
• What is the bounce rate on your website?
• Do you have a fast website loading speed?

Conclusion

Take the time today to go through your customer journey by yourself or with your team and work through the various stages, from the awareness stage to the advocacy stage.

It’s important you include all departments with this stage because they all play a part in the overall customer experience.

At the end of the day, it’s all about putting yourself in your customers’ shoes and looking at your business from their viewpoint. Do this and you will gain a greater understanding of how to improve your customer journey.

Buying quality used woodworking machines and how to get them

The quality of your business and woodwork largely depends on the type of machinery used.

That is one of the reasons why many woodworkers find themselves in front of a dilemma whether to buy new or used industrial machinery.

Used machinery has many benefits associated with them, but the new machinery also has some advantages too. If you are looking to buy or sell used machines then you should consider a few things first.

What to Pay Attention To

Every buyer should consider the repair costs and the possible resale value of the machine he intends to buy. Different machines have different repair costs, so consider those. This is something many buyers often neglect when looking for machinery, but you would avoid many costly problems if you consider this in advance.

When it comes to resale value, think about how much you can earn from it if you decide to sell it later after you have finished working with it. Perhaps you will not need the machinery for a long time, so why not make some extra profit when selling it later? In order for this to happen, you need to get a machine that operates at good levels and that is well-maintained.

Before buying used machinery for woodworking, it is advisable you spend some time learning how the machine you intend to buy operates. If you are a newbie, then you should know that online you have all kinds of training videos, step-by-step guides, training sessions and other valuable things.

Spend some time getting familiar with how the machine works as that will save you valuable time later when you buy it.

Finally, make sure you check out about the availability of spare parts for the machine. Some woodworking machinery requires many spare parts in comparison to others, so this is something you definitely need to pay attention to.

For some machines you can quickly find spare parts, but for others you may have to wait for longer period of time before finding adequate replacements. However, if the used industrial machinery you intend to buy is well-maintained then costs for repairs and spare parts will be significantly less and the machine will serve you well for longer period of time.

Tips for Buying Used Equipment

Today you can find numerous industrial providers that offer all kinds of used industrial machinery for any industry. All of them use different strategies in order to sell their products to the customers. Sometimes buying machinery can be daunting, but you can make your choice much easier if you follow the next few steps. They should help you find the best machinery possible for your industry that will be reliable and that will serve you well in your work.

First thing to do before looking at machines is to determine what type of industrial machinery you need. Do you need a machine to only cut woods or you will cut other materials with it as well? Figure out what exactly you need the machinery for and then you will have an easier job searching for the right equipment.

Second thing to consider is your budget and the price of machines. If there is no exact cost on the machine you want to buy, then contact the seller and ask for a price. Get as much as information you can about the used machinery and see whether you will have some extra costs for repair parts and maintenance. Do not settle always for the initial price, but try to negotiate and see whether you can get some discount for the machinery you really want to buy.

Last, but not least is to always buy used machinery from a reliable and reputable provider such as Exapro. They have a large network with over ten thousand of sellers, so there are all kinds of machinery available. They are always helping their buyers find the specific machinery they are looking for in all sectors ranging from wood, plastic and metal to food, textile and packaging.

A good idea would be for you to visit the company that sells machinery and meet in person with their representatives. They can guide you and inform you about everything you are interested in regarding used industrial machines.

By following these few simple tips you ensure finding quality used woodworking machines for your needs. Never rely on simple ads, flyers or posters before buying, and always make a thorough research about everything. You as a buyer deserve to get the best, even if it has been previously used.

Some selling companies are also able to offer warranties and insurances regarding used machines, so check out that too. These are some things for you to think about before giving your cash to the supplier. If you follow the steps closely you will certainly find good used machinery for your business.