Understanding the Customer Decision Journey

A prospect tells you: "We’re also looking at [Competitor]." Most reps make one of two mistakes: - They panic and start discounting before the customer even asks. - They attack the competitor, thinking that will win trust. The best reps? They guide the conversation...without badmouthing or getting defensive. Here’s how we teach folks to do it at Sales Assembly: 1) Find the gap. Instead of “We’re better because…” ask: “What made you start looking in the first place? What’s missing today?” This gets them to focus on their pain, not a feature battle. 2) Understand their criteria. Instead of “Why are you considering them?” ask: “What’s most important to you in a solution?” You want them defining success in your playing field. 3) Focus on fit, not features. Instead of “We’re better at X,” ask: “What’s been standing out to you in each option so far?” If they highlight something critical you do better, that’s your opening. 4) Help them think ahead. Instead of “They don’t do [X] like we do,” say: “A lot of teams in your space have prioritized [X] because it impacts [Y]. How are you thinking about that?” This frames the conversation around outcomes - not a feature war. 5) Guide the decision process. Instead of “Who’s your front-runner?” ask: “What’s your process for narrowing down options?” If they don’t have a clear decision path, they’re likely to stall. 6) Make the decision feel easy. Instead of “How can we win this deal?” ask: “If you had to make a decision today, what would give you confidence?” This surfaces final concerns...so you can remove them. The goal isn’t to beat competitors. It’s to help buyers feel confident that choosing you is the right move.

If your CX Program simply consists of surveys, it's like trying to understand the whole movie by watching a single frame. You have to integrate data, insights, and actions if you want to understand how the movie ends, and ultimately be able to write the sequel. But integrating multiple customer signals isn't easy. In fact, it can be overwhelming. I know because I successfully did this in the past, and counsel clients on it today. So, here's a 5-step plan on how to ensure that the integration of diverse customer signals remains insightful and not overwhelming: 1. Set Clear Objectives: Define specific goals for what you want to achieve. Having clear objectives helps in filtering relevant data from the noise. While your goals may be as simple as understanding behavior, think about these objectives in an outcome-based way. For example, 'Reduce Call Volume' or some other business metric is important to consider here. 2. Segment Data Thoughtfully: Break down data into manageable categories based on customer demographics, behavior, or interaction type. This helps in analyzing specific aspects of the customer journey without getting lost in the vastness of data. 3. Prioritize Data Based on Relevance: Not all data is equally important. Based on Step 1, prioritize based on what’s most relevant to your business goals. For example, this might involve focusing more on behavioral data vs demographic data, depending on objectives. 4. Use Smart Data Aggregation Tools: Invest in advanced data aggregation platforms that can collect, sort, and analyze data from various sources. These tools use AI and machine learning to identify patterns and key insights, reducing the noise and complexity. 5. Regular Reviews and Adjustments: Continuously monitor and review the data integration process. Be ready to adjust strategies, tools, or objectives as needed to keep the data manageable and insightful. This isn't a "set-it-and-forget-it" strategy! How are you thinking about integrating data and insights in order to drive meaningful change in your business? Hit me up if you want to chat about it. #customerexperience #data #insights #surveys #ceo #coo #ai

Are you generating enough value for users net of the value to your company? Business value can only be created when you create so much value for users, that you can “tax” that value and take some for yourself as a business. If you don’t create any value for your users, then you can’t create value for your business. Ed Biden explains how to solve this in this week's guest post: Whilst there are many ways to understand what your users will value, two techniques in particular are incredibly valuable, especially if you’re working on a tight timeframe: 1. Jobs To Be Done 2. Customer Journey Mapping 𝟭. 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗲 (𝗝𝗧𝗕𝗗) “People don’t simply buy products or services, they ‘hire’ them to make progress in specific circumstances.”  – Clayton Christensen The core JTBD concept is that rather than buying a product for its features, customers “hire” a product to get a job done for them … and will ”fire” it for a better solution just as quickly. In practice, JTBD provides a series of lenses for understanding what your customers want, what progress looks like, and what they’ll pay for. This is a powerful way of understanding your users, because their needs are stable and it forces you to think from a user-centric point of view. This allows you to think about more radical solutions, and really focus on where you’re creating value. To use Jobs To Be Done to understand your customers, think through five key steps: 1. Use case – what is the outcome that people want? 2. Alternatives – what solutions are people using now? 3. Progress – where are people blocked? What does a better solution look like? 4. Value Proposition – why would they use your product over the alternatives? 5. Price – what would a customer pay for progress against this problem? 𝟮. 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 Customer journey mapping is an effective way to visualize your customer’s experience as they try to reach one of their goals. In basic terms, a customer journey map breaks the user journey down into steps, and then for each step describes what touchpoints the customer has with your product, and how this makes them feel. The touch points are any interaction that the customer has with your company as they go through this flow: • Website and app screens • Notifications and emails • Customer service calls • Account management / sales touch points • Physically interacting with goods (e.g. Amazon), services (e.g. Airbnb) or hardware (e.g. Lime) Users’ feelings can be visualized by noting down: • What they like or feel good about at this step • What they dislike, find frustrating or confusing at this step • How they feel overall By mapping the customer’s subjective experience to the nuts and bolts of what’s going on, and then laying this out in a visual way, you can easily see where you can have the most impact, and align stakeholders on the critical problems to solve.

Your research findings are useless if they don't drive decisions. After watching countless brilliant insights disappear into the void, I developed 5 practical templates I use to transform research into action: 1. Decision-Driven Journey Map Standard journey maps look nice but often collect dust. My Decision-Driven Journey Map directly connects user pain points to specific product decisions with clear ownership. Key components: - User journey stages with actions - Pain points with severity ratings (1-5) - Required product decisions for each pain - Decision owner assignment - Implementation timeline This structure creates immediate accountability and turns abstract user problems into concrete action items. 2. Stakeholder Belief Audit Workshop Many product decisions happen based on untested assumptions. This workshop template helps you document and systematically test stakeholder beliefs about users. The four-step process: - Document stakeholder beliefs + confidence level - Prioritize which beliefs to test (impact vs. confidence) - Select appropriate testing methods - Create an action plan with owners and timelines When stakeholders participate in this process, they're far more likely to act on the results. 3. Insight-Action Workshop Guide Research without decisions is just expensive trivia. This workshop template provides a structured 90-minute framework to turn insights into product decisions. Workshop flow: - Research recap (15min) - Insight mapping (15min) - Decision matrix (15min) - Action planning (30min) - Wrap-up and commitments (15min) The decision matrix helps prioritize actions based on user value and implementation effort, ensuring resources are allocated effectively. 4. Five-Minute Video Insights Stakeholders rarely read full research reports. These bite-sized video templates drive decisions better than documents by making insights impossible to ignore. Video structure: - 30 sec: Key finding - 3 min: Supporting user clips - 1 min: Implications - 30 sec: Recommended next steps Pro tip: Create a library of these videos organized by product area for easy reference during planning sessions. 5. Progressive Disclosure Testing Protocol Standard usability testing tries to cover too much. This protocol focuses on how users process information over time to reveal deeper UX issues. Testing phases: - First 5-second impression - Initial scanning behavior - First meaningful action - Information discovery pattern - Task completion approach This approach reveals how users actually build mental models of your product, leading to more impactful interface decisions. Stop letting your hard-earned research insights collect dust. I’m dropping the first 3 templates below, & I’d love to hear which decision-making hurdle is currently blocking your research from making an impact! (The data in the templates is just an example, let me know in the comments or message me if you’d like the blank versions).

As an analyst, I was intrigued to read an article about Instacart's innovative "Ask Instacart" feature integrating chatbots and chatgpt, allowing customers to create and refine shopping lists by asking questions like, 'What is a healthy lunch option for my kids?' Ask Instacart then provides potential options based on user's past buying habits and provides recipes and a shopping list once users have selected the option they want to try! This tool not only provides a personalized shopping experience but also offers a gold mine of customer insights that can inform various aspects of a business strategy. Here's what I inferred as an analyst : 1️⃣ Customer Preferences Uncovered: By analyzing the questions and options selected, we can understand what products, recipes, and meal ideas resonate with different customer segments, enabling better product assortment and personalized marketing. 2️⃣ Personalization Opportunities: The tool leverages past buying habits to make recommendations, presenting opportunities to tailor the shopping experience based on individual preferences. 3️⃣ Trend Identification: Tracking the types of questions and preferences expressed through the tool can help identify emerging trends in areas like healthy eating, dietary restrictions, or cuisine preferences, allowing businesses to stay ahead of the curve. 4️⃣ Shopping List Insights: Analyzing the generated shopping lists can reveal common item combinations, complementary products, and opportunities for bundle deals or cross-selling recommendations. 5️⃣ Recipe and Meal Planning: The tool's integration with recipes and meal planning provides valuable insights into customers' cooking habits, preferred ingredients, and meal types, informing content creation and potential partnerships. The "Ask Instacart" tool is a prime example of how innovative technologies can not only enhance the customer experience but also generate valuable data-driven insights that can drive strategic business decisions. A great way to extract meaningful insights from such data sources and translate them into actionable strategies that create value for customers and businesses alike. Article to refer : https://lnkd.in/gAW4A2db #DataAnalytics #CustomerInsights #Innovation #ECommerce #GroceryRetail

With 61% of consumers saying that businesses actually make their lives harder, consumer skepticism directly hits your bottom line. To weather the storm, companies like Patagonia and Southwest use authenticity checkpoints to screen growth initiatives against core values. Rather than check-the-box exercises, these filters preserve the reasons that your customers choose you. The payoff? Organizations maintaining trust during growth can turn a 5% increase in retention into a 25-95% revenue boost. I recently worked with a client facing the classic warning signs: rising CAC, slipping conversion rates, and increasing pricing pressure. Despite this, they were hitting growth targets. So what was wrong? Their customers were losing faith in them. My client was not alone. Qualtrics research shows only 50% of consumers have confidence in the brands they do business with—a metric that hasn't improved since 2020 despite massive CX investments. My client realized it was a P&L emergency. Trust erosion is a vicious cycle that directly impacts unit economics through higher acquisition costs, shorter customer lifecycles, and vanishing price premiums. A small number of aggressive tactics had tarnished the credibility that made my client's growth trajectory possible. So they decided to create authenticity checkpoints—systematic filters that evaluate growth initiatives against core values. With hard work, their ACVs are rising, their clients advocate for them, and their CAC has stabilized. What makes effective authenticity checkpoints? Five critical elements: - Decision filters to evaluate initiatives against founding principles - Product validation processes that preserve core differentiation - Regular operational reviews to ensure a consistent customer experience - Values reinforcement for team members, beyond onboard - Structured forums to identify and address emerging vulnerabilities Implementing these checkpoints starts with three simple steps: audit your recent growth initiatives for authenticity impact, map your specific vulnerability points, and create accountability with dedicated resources and metrics. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eJbTcVMa __________ For more on growth and building trust, check out my previous posts. Join me on my journey, and let's build a more trustworthy world together. Christine Alemany #Fintech #Strategy #Growth

Yesterday, I led a roundtable at SaaStr on churn in AI adoption. We’re at a critical moment: early enterprise AI contracts are up for renewal, and the novelty is wearing off. AI spend is moving from innovation budgets to operational budgets, where enterprises are asking what business outcomes this technology is actually driving. 5 strategies I’ve seen work: ⚙ Embed to eliminate friction. Don't make customers do the heavy lifting. Too many AI products operate in a silo, forcing users to copy-paste data between systems. That’s friction. And friction is your enemy. Embed into existing workflows and add value right where your customers already are. Once you’ve integrated, you can slowly shift the workflow over time, but only after you’ve won their trust. No one wants to reinvent the wheel on day one. 🏰 Create a data moat. Automation alone isn’t a differentiator anymore. Model capabilities are advancing fast, and if all you’re selling is marginally better automation, you’re in a race to the bottom on price. Automation is best used as a trojan horse that gets you through the door and allows you to develop a differentiated data moat. Customers may come for automation, but they will stay for data. 💲Track your ROI. Internal champions are under pressure. They need hard numbers around business outcomes to justify the spend—hours saved, revenue generated, customer satisfaction boosted. Don’t make them scramble for those numbers. The best teams track customer value relentlessly, embed ROI metrics directly into the product, and serve up those metrics regularly. You need to make it painfully obvious why you’re worth the spend—give them the numbers before they ask. ♻ Kickstart network effects. Network effects are the holy grail, but they don’t happen by accident. Multi-sided AI products (think meeting transcription, presentations) have a golden opportunity to trigger virality—but only if you make the conversion process effortless. Once a viewer sees your product in action, give them a way to jump in right then and there. You want zero friction between seeing the product and becoming a user. Build for the customer's network, as much as for the customer. 💭 Be a thought partner, not just a vendor. Enterprise AI isn’t plug-and-play. It’s more like plug-and-maybe-play, but only after your customers overcome security, privacy, and change management concerns. The best AI companies don’t just sell tech—they sell vision In an era of constant change, being a thought partner is as important as being a technology provider.

You probably have more customer info than ever.⁣ So why can’t your team answer basic questions or make confident decisions?⁣ It’s because data lives in separate systems. Align your tools, insights & the people serving customers.⁣ ⁣ Here’s what that disconnect looks like every day:⁣ ✓ The agent answering the call can’t see the customer’s last chat.⁣ ✓ The supervisor reviewing performance can’t trace a customer issue from beginning to end.⁣ ✓ And service teams are expected to deliver great experiences without knowing what’s already been said or promised.⁣ ⁣ The path forward isn’t more tools.⁣ It’s fewer, smarter ones that are connected and accessible.⁣ ⁣ ❶ Start by mapping one customer journey with your cross-functional teams at the same table (in person if possible).⁣ ⁣ ❷ Identify where handoffs happen, where data gets lost, and where communication breaks — both internally and with the customer.⁣ ⁣ ❸ Then rebuild your systems so the right people have the right context at the right moment — without logging into five platforms or asking the customer to explain again.⁣ ⁣ That’s how you create Emotional Highs™:⁣ Not surface-level satisfaction, but a meaningful emotional lift that makes people stay, return, promote, and forgive when mistakes happen.⁣ ⁣ Loyalty isn’t driven by your tech stack.⁣ It comes from how people FEEL when every interaction is easy, efficient, and clearly built around their needs.⁣ Yes — feel. As in emotions. The thing that’s always driven buying decisions, even if companies pretend otherwise.⁣ ⁣ This isn’t a tech upgrade.⁣ It’s experience transformation.⁣ And it’s how you compete and win in today’s market.⁣ ⁣ Are YOU #DoingCXRight®?⁣ Need help with ❶ ❷❸ above? Message me. ⁣ 👉 Share + comment if you found this helpful so others can benefit.⁣ ⁣ #CX #TheFormula #Nextiva #CustomerExperience #CustomerService⁣

Many brands think they have an omnichannel strategy… But what they really have is multichannel. Here’s the difference (and why it matters): 👉 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 = Separate touchpoints that run in parallel. Each channel works on its own website, store, email, social — but they’re disconnected. 👉 𝗢𝗺𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 = A unified ecosystem where data, experiences, and interactions flow seamlessly between channels. It’s one continuous journey, not fragmented steps. Why should you care? 🔹 𝗢𝗺𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 4% more in-store, 10% more online, and their lifetime value is 30% higher than single-channel customers. 🔹 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 89% customer retention rates, vs. 33% for companies with inconsistent touchpoints. 🔹 𝗠𝗶𝗱-𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲. They can build cohesive systems faster than enterprise giants bogged down by complex infrastructure. It’s not just about being present on multiple platforms anymore. It’s about orchestrating every interaction, so the customer feels recognized — wherever they engage. 💡 Imagine this: - A customer researches online → visits the store → gets a personalized follow-up email reflecting both interactions. - They’re recognized by the system across all channels, from web to mobile to in-person. That’s not the future. It’s what winning brands are doing today. So the question is — are you still running multichannel… or are you ready to embrace 𝗼𝗺𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹? P.S. If you found this helpful, consider resharing ♻️ — someone in your network might need to hear this too. --------------------- I'm Raoul Didisheim Pain Points I solve: ⦿ You need your new brand to get noticed. ⦿ You need to update your online presence to regain lost market share. ⦿ Your exit strategy is solid, but your online presence requires polishing to maximize the sale price. 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

CSAT measurement must be more than just a score. Many companies prioritize their Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a measure of Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). But do these methods truly give us a complete understanding? In reality, surveys are not always accurate. Bias can influence the results, ratings may be misinterpreted, and there's a chance that we didn't even ask the right questions. While a basic survey can indicate problems, the true value lies in comprehending the reasons behind those scores and identifying effective solutions to improve them. Here’s a better way to look at CSAT: 1. Start with Actions, Not Just Scores: Observable behaviors like repeat purchases, referrals, and product usage often tell a more accurate story than a survey score alone. 2. Analyze Digital Signals & Employee Feedback: Look for objective measures that consumers are happy with what you offer (website micro-conversions like page depth, time on site, product views and cart adds). And don’t forget your team! Happy employees = Happy customers. 3. Understand the Voice of the Customer (VoC): Utilize AI tools to examine customer feedback, interactions with customer support, and comments on social media platforms in order to stay updated on the current attitudes towards your brand. 4. Make It a Closed Loop: Gathering feedback is only the beginning. Use it to drive change. Your customers need to know you’re listening — and *acting*. Think of your CSAT score as a signal that something happened in your customer relationships. But to truly improve your business, you must pinpoint the reasons behind those scores and use that information to guide improvements. Don’t settle for simply knowing that something happened, find an answer for why it happened. Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling