Customer touch points are where the fields of marketing, user experience, and behavioural economics intersect. Marketers call them brand experiences. UX’ers call them micro-interactions. Behavioural scientists call them opportunities to nudge.

No matter what angle you take, they are decision points for your potential customer. A prospect interacts with an element of your service and makes a judgement about that interaction. Every judgement made about your service contributes to the over-arching decision. Will I buy, and keep buying from you?

Let’s look at a generic customer journey, their touch point, and how our judgements of each determines our subsequent behaviours;

PROMOTION USER PERCEPTION + CONSEQUENCE OF JUDGEMENT
Promotion Bad = attention wasn’t grabbed, product ignored

Good = decision to get more information

PRODUCT INFO
User perception + Consequence of judgement
Product Info Bad = Interest lost, product forgotten

Good = interest was stimulated and more information was sought

CUSTOMER REVIEWS
User perception + Consequence of judgement
Customer Reviews Bad = negative sentiment resulted in dismissing the product

Good = Trust was built and ownership was envisioned

SHOWROOM User perception + Consequence of judgement
Showroom Bad = prospects who’ve come this far and are dissappointed become hardened critics

Good = great experience results in a purchase decision

CHECKOUT User perception + Consequence of judgement
Check Out Bad = abandoned purchase and frustrated customers

Good = frictionless transaction and quick ownership

DELIVERY User perception + Consequence of judgement
Delivery Bad = product returns or negative product onboarding

Good = quick ownership and enjoyment

INVOICE User perception + Consequence of judgement
Invoice Bad = chargebacks, returns, anger

Good = reinforcement of purchase decision

UNWRAPPING User perception + Consequence of judgement
Unwrapping Bad = anti-climax, buyer’s remorse

Good = surprise and delight, raving customer

TECH SUPPORT
User perception + Consequence of judgement
Tech Support Bad = returns, or discarded / un-used products

Good = increased product usage and advocacy

FAULTS & REPAIRS
User perception + Consequence of judgement
Faults and Repairs Bad = can lead to returns, vocal criticism

Good = deepened customer loyalty

FEEDBACK User perception + Consequence of judgement
Customer Feedback Bad = customer becomes a vocal critic

Good = increased loyalty, and opportunities to buy more

UPGRADES & RENEWALS
User perception + Consequence of judgement
Renewals Bad = customer migrates to a competitor

Good = repeat business and development of usage habits

 

As you can see, every interaction with your customer is an opportunity to affect behaviour. Are they going to remember you, or forget you? Are they clicking through, or clicking back? Are they being delighted, or disappointed? And you want to move your customer forward, not only at the sales front-end, but also at the back-end service and support to generate repeat business.

The critical questions you have to ask of your marketing

  • At which decision point do I lose most of my prospects?
  • How do I turn a NO into a YES At any given touch-point?
  • How will I know if work?

The answer to these questions lies in your ability to identify and track the buyer journey. Knowing your buyer behaviour will help understand where they go and what to measure. Only when you measure and analyse it will you understand what to improve and whether changes you make are having an impact.

To help setup touch point measurement and optimisation.

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