Customer journey: examples and phases

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The concept of customer journey has become an essential element for companies that want to focus on improving their sales processes . This concept describes the experiences that a customer goes through when interacting with a brand , from the first contact to after-sales.

Understanding and optimizing the customer journey is therefore essential for any business that seeks not only to attract customers , but also to retain them and ensure their long-term satisfaction . In a market where competition is increasingly fierce, understanding every detail of this path and how it affects each customer is key to achieving your goals.

What is the customer journey?
The customer journey is a representation of the complete line database process that a customer follows when interacting with a company or brand . This term, which in Spanish means 'customer journey', covers all the stages and points of contact between the consumer and the company , from the moment the customer becomes aware of a need or desire, to the purchase and even the post-sale experience.

The importance of the customer journey lies in its ability to map and understand the various stages a customer goes through . This understanding allows companies to design more effective strategies to attract, engage and retain customers . By analyzing the customer journey, companies can identify critical points where customers may have certain doubts, or where they have to face obstacles, and thus work to improve those aspects.

Thus, it must be said that the customer journey is essential to determine the path that a buyer must follow in their acquisition process . It is not just about guiding the customer towards the purchase, but about creating a coherent and satisfactory experience at each point of the process. This includes understanding the emotions, motivations and behaviors of the customer at each stage of the journey.

In addition, the customer journey helps companies predict customer behavior and adapt their actions and communications according to each customer's needs and expectations. By better understanding what leads a customer to buy a certain product, or to abandon the purchase process at a particular point, companies can create a stronger and longer-lasting bond , which is essential in a market environment increasingly focused on customer experience.

Phases of the customer journey
The customer journey is made up of several distinct stages, each representing an important step in the customer’s interaction process with a brand. From initial discovery to active promotion, understanding these phases allows you to act throughout the entire customer journey.

Discovery : In the discovery phase, the customer first becomes aware of a need or want and begins to search for how to solve it. Here, brand awareness is vital, as customers are in the early stages of recognizing a problem or opportunity and are actively seeking out information that may be of interest to them.
Consideration : During the consideration stage, the customer is already aware of several options and is beginning to evaluate them. This stage involves more in-depth research, during which the customer compares different features, benefits, and prices. In addition, the Internet has made it easier for interested parties to search for other users' opinions and reviews to form an opinion based on real experiences about possible solutions.
Decision : We call the phase in which the customer chooses a solution from among the options considered the decision phase of the customer journey. This stage is extremely important, as the person weighs the pros and cons before committing to a final purchase. Clarity of information and ease of purchase are essential here when it comes to achieving conversion.
Purchase : Purchase marks the moment when the customer acquires the product or service. The shopping experience should be seamless and satisfying, ensuring that the payment process, delivery, and any interactions with customer service contribute positively to the customer's overall perception of the brand.
User Experience : After the purchase, the user's experience with the product or service becomes the focus. Here, product quality, customer service effectiveness and ease of use are of vital importance. A positive experience at this stage can have a decisive influence on customer loyalty.
Customer loyalty : It is becoming increasingly easy to find examples of customer journeys in this phase, which refers to the need to keep the customer engaged and satisfied after the purchase. This includes offering excellent after-sales service, customer care, and incentives for future purchases, such as discounts and promotions. Customer loyalty is key to building a long-term relationship with the customer that allows for sustainable growth.
Advocacy : In this final phase of the customer journey, satisfied customers become brand advocates and evangelists. That is, they proactively share their positive experiences with others, whether through personal recommendations, online reviews, or social media posts, which directly influences other customers’ consideration phase. This organic advocacy is invaluable for acquiring new customers.
Automate and define your objectives with Customer Insights Journey
Customer Insights Journey, formerly known as Dynamics Marketing, can be applied with Microsoft 365 technology to help you with customer journeys by achieving:

Attract the right prospects – Create campaigns targeting specific customer segments across multiple channels. These channels include email marketing, landing pages, events, telemarketing, SMS integration, LinkedIn integration, and others.

Quickly create reusable campaign assets for the client : Automation features like configurable templates, reusable content blocks, and design tools make it easy to create a vast library of marketing content that can be easily applied across different customer journeys. Tools like Power Automate can help you streamline content approvals and easily integrate with third-party content management systems.

Personalize customer journeys – By applying buyer preferences and past interactions, you can create personalized customer journeys, as well as automatically sync and nurture leads on LinkedIn with the Dynamics 365 Connector for LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms app.

Execute marketing at the business unit level – Reusable content from shared campaigns allows you to define which audiences you are targeting.

Better allocation of technicians