Defining the Customer Decision Journey

Name: Defining the Customer Decision Journey
Author: Carol Vollmer Pope

Learn about how to view a customer’s decision as a journey.

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 4 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

What stepping stones make up the road on the customer decision journey? Let's discuss its various phases, the factors involved and the customer experience pyramid. When you reach for or click on a product from either a physical or online store, your choice tells a story that defines you and the type of consumer behavior you exhibit. Consumer behavior refers to an individual's buying habits that are based on various influences from their lives. These can include your personal beliefs, personality traits, religion, gender, cultural background, ethnicity and economic status. Marketers have always sought pathways to reach potential customers. And there are multiple models for how marketers believe consumers behave. In an economic-based consumer behavior model, potential customers follow a systematic process to narrow the potential choices by weighing options, then making decisions and finally buying a product or service. One approach you can use to break this process down is the sales funnel metaphor. This model assumes that potential customers start their purchase process by identifying their need. During this awareness phase, buyers consider a broad number of brands that could address their needs. At this point, the funnel is filled to the top. The funnel begins to narrow as consumers develop a familiarity with the different brands of products or services that can best fit their identified need. As the consumer moves into the consideration phase of the funnel, they weigh the economic factors against the value of the product provides. Then the consumer makes their decision and purchases the product or service. This model's goal is to obtain customer loyalty. It's important to remember that businesses strive to understand buyer behavior through an analysis of customer behavior. This involves both qualitative and quantitative analysis of a specific target market or audience. Marketers work to understand why and how customers make their specific purchase decisions. But it's not just a one-way communication relationship. In the past, marketers believed that they could push advertising content and gain customer purchases and loyalty. Today, two-way communication is the key. Consumers drive marketing and pull information that's helpful in their decision-making process. Marketers look to identify what drives customers to purchase their brand. With this overarching voice of the customer focus, marketers determine why consumers come back to purchase their product or service over and over. This loyalty is built through real interaction with customers, responding to their social media posts, their calls and in-store comments and being consistent in all these interactions. By building a reputation for active customer care throughout the consumer decision-making purchase and post-purchase process, a product's service and its brand will build a trustworthy reputation, which helps build customer loyalty.

Intermediate Provider : Carol Vollmer Pope 4 Lessons · 14m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

This course introduces the story of the consumer. You will learn fundamental models of consumer behavior and consumer decision-making, and the role these play in building customer loyalty. Next, you will explore how the customer experience may be viewed as a journey. Finally, you will identify customer touchpoints, explore the customer experience pyramid, and discover the end-to-end customer journey.

What You'll Learn

Explain the various models of consumer behavior
Describe consumer decision-making within the buying process
Build customer loyalty
Examine the customer experience as a journey
Identify the customer touchpoints marketers use across a journey
Map the end-to-end customer journey using the customer experience pyramid

Key Takeaways

The course introduces the story of the consumer through fundamental models of consumer behavior and consumer decision-making.
Consumer behavior and decision-making within the buying process play a role in building customer loyalty.
The customer experience can be viewed as a journey.
Marketers use customer touchpoints across the journey, which can be understood through the customer experience pyramid and the end-to-end customer journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

It introduces the story of the consumer, covering fundamental models of consumer behavior and consumer decision-making, the role these play in building customer loyalty, the customer experience as a journey, customer touchpoints, the customer experience pyramid, and the end-to-end customer journey.

What will I learn about consumer decision-making?

You will learn to understand and explain consumer decision-making within the buying process.

Does this course address customer loyalty?

Yes. The course teaches how to build customer loyalty and explains the role that consumer behavior and decision-making play in it.

What lessons are included in this course?

The lessons are: Consumer Behavior, Decision-Making, and Loyalty; Moving Through the Customer Experience; The Customer Experience Pyramid; and End-to-End Customer Journeys.

How does the course frame the customer experience?

It presents the customer experience as a journey and shows how to identify touchpoints that marketers use across that journey.