What is the customer journey?

The term customer journey is often used by marketers. Yet, for many people it is not clear what exactly it is. The literal translation already gives us an idea. The journey of the customer. In other words: the journey that the customer takes in order to finally make a purchase. It is very important to map this journey. When you do this, you also know what changes you can make to persuade more customers to buy. You will see the points where things still threaten to go wrong, but also the things that are currently attractive. But what exactly is the customer journey? And which phases do people go through before they decide to buy? 

Definition of customer journey 

The customer journey stands for the entire journey that customers take to ultimately purchase your services or products. This starts with entering a query in a search engine and ultimately ends with a product in his or her digital shopping basket. When you say it like that, you might think that this journey only takes a few minutes to an hour. Nothing could be further from the truth. Research has shown that potential customers need a lot of contact moments before they will actually make a purchase. 

During the customer journey, it is therefore important that all possible questions of the customer are answered and that reliable information is provided. When the trust in your products and/or services grows, the chance that the customer journey will be successfully completed increases. Defining the customer journey not only helps you to optimise this journey, but also to discover how you can maintain valuable customer relationships. 

The different stages of the customer journey 

We can divide the customer journey into different phases. On average, a customer needs 7 to 10 contact moments to proceed to purchase. At any moment, things can still go wrong. That is why it is important to know what happens during each phase and what it looks like for the potential customer. We talk about five different phases: 

Phase 1: In this phase, the customer comes into contact with your products or services for the first time. This can be through an advertisement in social media or through search results in Google. 

Phase 2: Next, the customer enters the consideration phase. They are unsure whether or not to take the plunge with your company. He might compare your products or services with those of the competition. This is a very critical phase. With a clear combination, you will be able to win over the customer. 

Phase 3: This is the purchase phase. Although it now seems as if the customer journey is over, this is still a very critical phase. A lot can still go wrong. Think, for example, of a website that does not function properly and which does not allow the customer to pay quickly enough. This can lead to the customer still going to the competitor. This is why technical SEO is so important. It is also important that different payment methods are offered so that the customer can pay as he or she wishes.