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 |
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Bad = attention wasn’t grabbed, product ignored
Good = decision to get more information |
PRODUCT INFO |
User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = Interest lost, product forgotten
Good = interest was stimulated and more information was sought |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS |
User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = negative sentiment resulted in dismissing the product
Good = Trust was built and ownership was envisioned |
SHOWROOM | User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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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 |
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Bad = abandoned purchase and frustrated customers
Good = frictionless transaction and quick ownership |
DELIVERY | User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = product returns or negative product onboarding
Good = quick ownership and enjoyment |
INVOICE | User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = chargebacks, returns, anger
Good = reinforcement of purchase decision |
UNWRAPPING | User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = anti-climax, buyer’s remorse
Good = surprise and delight, raving customer |
TECH SUPPORT |
User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = returns, or discarded / un-used products
Good = increased product usage and advocacy |
FAULTS & REPAIRS |
User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = can lead to returns, vocal criticism
Good = deepened customer loyalty |
FEEDBACK | User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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Bad = customer becomes a vocal critic
Good = increased loyalty, and opportunities to buy more |
UPGRADES & RENEWALS |
User perception + Consequence of judgement |
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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.