Every Business Has a Buyer Journey
First of all, what IS a buyers journey I hear you say?
Well, its the "workflow" of how a customer goes from discovering who you are and what you offer, right through to when they pay for your product or service and then carry on with life.
Understanding your buyer's journey will help you to see flaws in your sales process, as well as where you do extremely well. Mapping out a buyers journey can be difficult from a business owners perspective, as you can be a little biased, and think that your system works well, but give it a go, picturing yourself as your ideal customer.
Example of a Buyers Journey
The alternative to doing it yourself and "guessing" how a customer would respond, is something we see almost on a daily basis, and a lot of us ignore...
Ever wondered why after engaging a business in a service, or buying a product online, we typically see a survey waiting in our inbox straight after the invoice is paid or we receive our parcel? Naturally, a lot of us either delete them or mark them as spam. But from a business perspective, what the vendor is really asking is "could you spot any flaws in your journey on purchasing this product or service?"
For those few customers that do take the time to fill out these surveys, they become your golden assets, because they're helping you to structure a better experience. Think of it as having a business development team that pay you, instead of you paying them.
"A buyers journey doesn't start with an enquiry, it starts with curiosity. Your job as a business owner is to spark that curiosity." - Basek Graphic Design
Then you get that ONE review...
As business owners, we get so excited (and sometimes not so excited) when a feedback form comes through to our inbox. Its an honest review of how people found your brand, product, service, knowledge, blood, sweat, tears and hard work. Sometimes though, there is that one bad review, that everyone can see, and its that one negative Nelly that keeps you awake at night. It could make or break you, and your business.
Use this!! No matter how harsh the feedback is. And although its hard to say "don't take it personally" because your business IS YOU, pick your bottom lip off the floor, pour yourself a shot and flip your way of thinking... How can I take this bad review and turn it into a good one?
Review your buyer's journey and ask yourself;
Where did the flaw occur?
What are my competitors doing at this stage of the journey?
Where can I do it even better?
Sometimes, yes, it comes down to grovelling and bribery, you have to cut your losses in some cases. BUT! With a little bit of "out of the box" thinking, and maybe a few more shots of hard liquor, you CAN flip this around.
I recently listened to an episode of the Shopify Masters Podcast called "Surviving in an Industry Where 6 Weeks is the Equivalent of 6 Months" - and a segment of the show spoke about how the founders of SOURCEvapes used constructive criticism/mixed reviews of their product to only make their products almost flawless. Whether you sell physical goods online or not, there are a lot of business tips, tricks and advice you can take away from this podcast and apply it to ANY kind of business. Worth a listen.
The same strategy can be applied to the buyer's journey.
To learn more about inbound marketing, buyers journey's and the importance of a Customer Record Management system, sign up for HubSpot's FREE online course academy.
Time for action...
Take the time to sit down one day and take 3 of your buyer persona's and map the journey they would take purchasing your different products and services. I would even go to the extent of using your personal email address or making a dummy one and see down to the tiniest detail of what my emails look like when they are received, how prompt is the automation process, how easy is it to pay for something online, am I able to see project progress or parcel tracking?
Put yourself in your customer's seat and take it for a spin, you might be surprised at what you discover.
Now go forth, and master your process!
DISCLAIMER: None of the links or external content mentioned in this article is paid or endorsed by these companies. These are personal recommendations and opinions only.