Insights On Customer Decision Journey Optimization

Most deals aren't lost to competitors. They're not lost to price. They're not even lost to product gaps. Both deals and customer success are blocked by something far more powerful: → Hidden buyer biases that prevent even the most needed changes. When prospects ghost you or say 'maybe later,' you're not battling logic—you're battling human nature. And in that battle lies your greatest opportunity: ✨ → To understand these patterns and lead your customers forward. The reality is clear: ↳Customers need to make changes. ↳Great gains await them. ↳But psychological barriers hold them back from their own success. The best sellers understand this deeply. ↳They don't just spot these biases... ↳They create intentional paths to help customers move past them. 🎯 Here are the 5 deadliest biases and your roadmap to overcome them: 1️⃣ Status Quo Bias: The Comfort Zone Trap → Even broken systems feel 'safe' → Logic says yes, but emotions scream 'stay put' Your Move: ↳Share success stories of similar companies ↳Offer low-risk trials ↳ Build a phased approach 2️⃣ Loss Aversion: When Fear Wins → Potential losses feel 2x stronger than gains → 'Cost of inaction' beats 'future benefits' Your Move: ↳Highlight current money left on the table ↳ Show competitors pulling ahead ↳ Frame change as avoiding loss  3️⃣ Choice Overload: Less is More → A confused mind says no → Too many options = decision paralysis Your Move: ↳Present max 3 options ↳ Make clear recommendations ↳ Simplify the decision path 4️⃣ Trust Gap: The Credibility Crisis → Buyers enter skeptical → No trust = no sale Your Move: ↳ Lead with insights, not pitches ↳ Share relevant case studies ↳ Be radically transparent 5️⃣ Effort Aversion: Make it Easy → Complex = No Decision → The brain avoids heavy lifting Your Move: ↳ Show clear implementation path ↳ Offer done-for-you solutions ↳ Map out customer success journey ✅The Path Forward: ↳Master These Biases = Lead With Understanding ↳Now, Let's Turn That Understanding Into Action These aren't just biases to recognize... ↳They're opportunities to differentiate yourself through deeper customer understanding. When you master these patterns, you: → Serve your customers at a deeper level → Guide them past psychological blockers → Help them achieve the changes they need to make Because in the end, sales isn't about battling these biases... It's about understanding them so well that you can create clear paths to customer success. 👇 Which bias do you see holding your customers back the most? Share below and let's discuss strategies that serve. ↗️ Save this post - it's your roadmap to better customer conversations ➕ Follow Holly Moe for strategies on leading your customers to success

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

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).

Here's a lil secret about “check in" or cadence calls with your customers. Many of us were taught that these touchpoints are to understand how the customer is using our product, address any issues, and identify expansion opportunities. Here's the fatal flaw in that theory. Your customer hasn't woken up thinking about your product today. They're not sitting around wondering how to use more of your features. And they certainly haven't assembled a list of needs for you to solve. They have a job, with a job description and priorities they need to execute. So, at best they think of your product maybe 40% of their. At worst its 0%. So, how could we approach customer discovery in a constant fashion? 1 - Build a hypothesis on what business objectives this account is trying to achieve this quarter/year, and seek to understand what you're missing as an outsider. Find this in their latest earnings call, leadership announcements, press releases about new initiatives. Bring it to the call, and frame it as, "This is what I can observe from my research - what did I miss?" 2 - Be curious about HOW your champion currently believes they will accomplish those goals, and seek to understand HOW they formed that opinion. Example: Company's goal is to reduce customer acquisition costs by 30%. Your champion believes they need better lead scoring. They believe this because Marketing keeps sending "bad leads" to Sales. 3 - Introduce evidence that contradicts those beliefs/assumptions. Our goal isn't to tell them they're wrong. It's to introduce an insight that reveals a crack in their thinking. "We analyzed 200 companies in your industry and found the ones with the lowest CAC actually focus first on conversion rate optimization, not lead scoring." 4 - Give them a formula to calculate the implications of continuing with their current approach. This is NOT about your ROI. This is about the cost of continuing down their current path. Always tie this back to a P&L impact: increased costs, decreased revenue, or missed growth opportunities that affect the bottom line. Make it concrete, not conceptual. 5 - If you've piqued their curiosity, suggest that they collect the inputs needed to calculate the size of the problem, and bring those to the next call. Don't jump to how your solution helps yet. Just agree that you'll explore the size of the opportunity together. Customer success calls shouldn't feel like a product usage review or a veiled sales pitch. They should feel like two colleagues looking at the business landscape together, with you bringing outside perspective they can't see from within. The most valuable CS teams don't just ensure adoption—they impact their customer's P&L. When your discovery connects directly to revenue growth, cost reduction, or margin improvement, you transform from a vendor contact to a strategic advisor. What would happen if your CS team approached discovery this way?

What does neuroscience teach us about the customer journey? It's a predictable, human process: ➡️ Value is learned. The brain uses reinforcement learning to make action-outcome associations and inform future decisions. This means the customer’s journey is not only about learning to use new technology, but evaluating the offering and deciding whether you can be trusted. ➡️ Expectations matter. During reinforcement learning, the brain reflexively compares outcomes to expectations and determines if the decision produced a reward or a punishment. This means expectations are as important as outcomes, and ensuring you meet or exceed them is essential. ➡️ Expectations change over time. Once an outcome occurs, the brain adjusts expectations in the direction of the reward or punishment to minimize prediction errors. Past is prologue; a series of good or bad experiences affects what your customer expects will happen next. ➡️ What starts right, stays right. Initial expectations are very fluid, based on perceptions, similar experiences, and what other people say. Once it coalesces, this anchor point has outsized influence on the trajectory. So your crucial first step is ensuring expectations are properly set with all decision-makers. ➡️ Not every touchpoint is important. Memory is extremely limited, so the brain only bothers to store events that are novel, relevant, salient, surprising, or filled with emotional content. This means you must manage a critical few moments well, rather than a trivial many. ➡️ Emotions rule. Besides the preferential recall, emotions dominate decision-making. Logic mostly sits on the sidelines unless greater discrimination is needed for a decision. This means you must pay closer attention to how your customers feel than what they think. ➡️ Bad events are more impactful than good ones. Due to natural selection, the brain weighs negative episodes about twice as much as positive ones, especially when it comes to subconscious threats. So minimizing negative experiences trumps maximizing positive ones. ➡️ Once established, beliefs linger. During reinforcement learning, the brain gains confidence when expectations, good or bad, become accurate predictors. This creates a belief, which is then used to filter new information. So time is limited to shape your customer’s perceptions for the long term. The takeaways? Science underscores the critical need to do things right the first time, from clearly setting value expectations before the sale to ensuring value is realized afterwards. And the process can’t be left to chance. Executing a few things well makes all the difference between a customer that leaves and one that stays and buys more.

𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲. 👇 Most brands obsess over traffic, but ignore 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 happens at each interaction. ↳ That’s why your “customer journey” stalls (and conversion rates flatline). 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: → Mapped every touchpoint: From first ad view to post-purchase follow-up. → Zeroed in on the friction: Missed emails, weak cart recovery, unclear product info. → Revamped with CRO tactics: Personalized emails, frictionless checkout, clarity at every step. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁: Revenue +34%. NPS up. Returns down. Customers 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. A few slides from HappyFresh’s playbook say it all—small changes, compounding impact. Want customers who stick (and spend)? Start with the details no one else sweats. How are you optimizing YOUR touchpoints this quarter? https://lnkd.in/gyEU9-vc #eCommerce #CustomerExperience #CRO #Retention

I wrote the book on consumer psychology... literally. Here are 10 principles you need to know to build a winning digital product. After helping companies like Adobe, Nike, Xerox, and Intel unlock over $100 million in additional revenue at The Good, I've seen firsthand that optimization is about understanding the psychological "why" behind consumer decisions... not just implementing random tactics. In my book "Behind The Click," I explore how these psychological principles influence the entire digital journey. Here are 10 key principles that can transform your digital product: ↳ Anchoring Bias In just half a second, users determine whether your website is right for them, and this impression becomes the reference for every decision that follows. ↳ Serial Positioning Effect Users best remember the first and last items in a series and struggle with middle items. Place your most important navigation items at the beginning and end of your menu to maximize visibility and recall. ↳ Choice Overload When customers face too many options, they become overwhelmed and often leave without making any choice at all. The more choices customers have, the harder it is to decide and the less confident they feel in their decision. ↳ Availability Heuristic Customers rely on information that comes to mind quickly when making decisions. They often don't read every word on your page — they scan for what seems relevant. Make critical information impossible to miss. ↳ Framing Effect It's not what information you present, it's how you present it. You can either say your product has a "10% failure rate" or a "90% success rate." Same information, drastically different perception. ↳ Action Bias People would rather take action than do nothing. Your customers already know they want to act, that's why they're here. Your job is to remove any roadblocks standing in their way. ↳ Ikea Effect People feel more attached to items they've created themselves. The more opportunity customers have to customize their experience, the stronger sense of ownership they'll have, even before purchasing. ↳ Loss Aversion The discomfort we feel from a loss is more intense than the joy of an equivalent gain. Offer guarantees that directly address customer fears, like lifetime warranties or hassle-free returns, to counteract this anxiety. ↳ Decoy Effect Strategic pricing creates a "Goldilocks effect" where your target product isn't too big, isn't too small, but feels "just right." The middle option often converts best, regardless of the actual prices, because it feels like the sensible choice. ↳ Google Effect People tend to forget information they know they can easily find again. Rather than hiding critical details in an FAQ page, repeat key information throughout the customer journey where it's relevant. Understanding these principles doesn't mean manipulating customers. It means creating digital experiences that work *with* how humans naturally think, not against it.