There are so many things to learn about when you first start a business, so in fairness, understanding and mapping a customer journey tends to be fairly low on the priority list. Now that you’re hhere,I plan to make this as easy as possible to create and give you some steps that will help you create your own for your own business.
Now mapping journeys will be different for service and product-based businesses, so I have outlined them separately below.
If you are reading this after a few months or years in business, I won’t lie, it is easier to do then. If before then, there is going to be some speculation involved, it can’t be helped.
This is the point from when the customer first engages with you, right to the purchase of the product or service, and then hopefully through to loyalty at the end as well.
It involves an enormous number of touchpoints and interactions along the way, so it is very much NOT a straight line. By understanding and mapping this journey, it helps you see things from your customers' perspective, and the hope is, it also helps you to improve the experience and maybe find ways to fix any missed opportunities. The whole point is to get them to buy and even to do repeat sales.
Most customer journeys follow a pattern with five main stages:
1. Awareness: The customer discovers your business or product, often through advertising, social media, search engines, or word of mouth.
2. Consideration: They research, compare options, and weigh the benefits of your offering versus competitors.
3. Decision: The customer decides to buy, book, or sign up.
4. Retention: After the purchase, they use your product or service, and you have the chance to build loyalty.
5. Advocacy: Happy customers recommend you to others, leave reviews, or share your content.
By you gaining an understanding of each stage, it will help you to tailor your marketing and create better customer service to meet your customers’ needs at every step.
OK, now we have that down; let’s look at how we can map it.
1. Define Your Customer Personas
Start by identifying your best and most ideal customers. You have to create simple profiles that include demographics (age, gender, location), needs, and buying behaviours. This helps you visualise who you’re guiding through the journey.
2. List All Customer Touchpoints
Touchpoints are the moments when a customer interacts with your business. These include your website, social media pages, ads, customer service, packaging, and even follow-up emails. Make a list of every possible touchpoint; you’ll be surprised how many there are. Consider offline ones as well.
3. Gather Customer Feedback
Talk to your customers, maybe conduct surveys, read reviews, and look for patterns in their questions or concerns. This feedback is hugely helpful for understanding how they feel about and experience your business.
4. Map Out the Journey
Now draw a simple flowchart or timeline that shows each stage of the customer journey and where your touchpoints fit in. This is your visual map, which will help you to spot gaps or pain points.
5. Analyse and Optimise
Look for areas where customers might get confused, frustrated, or drop off (check GA4 for this). Then spend some time just trying to brainstorm ways to improve those steps, such as clearer instructions, better support, or more engaging content.
If you sell physical products, your customer journey may focus heavily on the online or in-store shopping experience. Key touchpoints include your website of course or store layout, product descriptions, checkout processes, and after-sales support.
For example, a clothing retailer should pay close attention to:
• Website navigation and search functionality
• High-quality product photos and descriptions
• Simple and secure checkout
• Timely shipping and packaging
• Clear return and exchange policies
• Follow-up emails to encourage reviews or repeat purchases
By mapping each step, you can reduce friction, build trust, and create a pleasant experience that encourages customers to return and recommend your brand.
If you offer services, your customer journey will often involve more of a personal interaction, though not always. Your key touchpoints may likely include initial inquiries, consultations, service delivery, follow-ups, and ongoing support.
For a consulting business, this could be a useful example. Important touchpoints might be:
• The booking or inquiry process on your website
• Discovery calls or meetings
• Proposal and contract stages
• Service delivery milestones
• Check-ins during and after the project
• Requests for testimonials or referrals
As you can see, mapping these types of interactions can help you deliver a consistent and progressive experience, and it could also help you identify ways to stand out from competitors.
You don’t need a big budget to start mapping your customer journey.
Free Tools
• Google Analytics: Tracks website traffic, user behaviour, and conversion paths.
• Google Forms or Typeform: Collects customer feedback and surveys.
• Trello or Miro: Creates simple journey maps or flowcharts with drag-and-drop functionality.
• Social Media Insights: Platforms like Facebook and Instagram provide free analytics on engagement and reach.
Paid Tools
• Hotjar or Crazy Egg: Provides heatmaps and session recordings to visualise how visitors interact with your site.
• HubSpot or Salesforce: Comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) tools to map and automate entire customer journeys.
• SurveyMonkey: Advanced survey features for deeper customer insights.
Start with free tools to get a sense of your customers’ experience, then consider investing in paid platforms as your business grows and your needs become more complex.
Along with everything else you’re doing, I’m now going to suggest you start tracking the right KPI’s. These help you measure the effectiveness of your customer journey and also hopefully help you spot areas for improvement. Check these out:
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (such as making a purchase or booking a service).
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much you spend on marketing and sales to gain a new customer.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue you expect from a customer over the duration of their relationship with your business.
• Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who stop buying or using your service.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend you.
• Average Order Value (AOV): For product-based businesses, this reveals the typical amount spent per order.
• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Collected through surveys, this KPI tells you how happy customers are with their experience.
It’s a lot, I realise that, and you don’t have to pick all of these, of course, but having an understanding of them and how they fit into your business (if they actually do, of course) would be beneficial. Please choose KPIs that align with your business goals and review them regularly (monthly) to see how changes to your customer journey are possibly impacting your results.
Mapping and understanding your customer journey may seem overwhelming at first, but it is one of the most valuable investments you can make as a business owner. By seeing your business through your customers’ eyes, you can design experiences that build trust, encourage loyalty, and drive growth. Start with simple maps, gather feedback, use free tools, and track key metrics. As you learn and grow, refine your journey and try new strategies to delight your customers at every stage.
Try to remember, the customer journey isn’t static. Keep listening, analysing, and improving. Your business will thank you for it over the years.
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
