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How customer journeys influence business operations
There's been a quiet revolution in the world of marketing, and it's getting louder. The concept is the customer journey, and it's a differentiating force that separates businesses that understand their consumer audiences from those that operate as though everyone wants the same thing. A recent article in Advertising Age explored the complexities in understanding customer journeys and how marketers can use them to develop more targeted, personalized and more powerful strategies to connect with consumers.
In a broader context, marketers can take a closer look at their current channel usage and see what purpose each one serves in influencing the customer journey, whether the outcome is good or bad. For instance, direct mail marketers can evaluate the strategies they use to engage consumers for lead generation purposes.
For new customers who may recognize the brand name but aren't very familiar with the products, businesses need to figure out what kind of mailer will work best. Since companies can be limited with the information they provide on a single postcard marketing piece, it may be beneficial to include calls to action that link to digital media.
Transforming how companies understand customers
There's an enormous challenge in getting a clear picture of the customer journey. In most cases, there are more touch points consumers interact with when utilizing a company's products or services than the business is conscious of. Each of these points of contact has the ability to either address the customer's wants and needs or fall short. In other words, a company can meet - and maybe exceed - expectations or leave customers dissatisfied with their experiences.
With respect to traditional print shop owners, there are numerous touch points that exist:
- Sales reps responsible for explaining features and benefits of the print shop
- Administrative staff that routinely handles quotes
- Account managers who work with clients to ensure their needs are met
- Customer service employees who need to effectively respond to questions and concerns
- IT staff that manages technology infrastructure
- Production team that creates deliverables
- Company websites
- Web-to-print storefront
- Print MIS software
- Marketing and advertising content
When even one of these misses the mark in providing customers with solution to their wants or needs, there's a gap in the customer experience and overall journey that can hurt a print shop. At the same time, there may be a missing touch point that can improve consumers' experiences or ones that exist that are unnecessary and detract from what may be a great interaction.
In many ways, print MIS and Web-to-print storefronts have provided an answer for print organizations looking to reduce the number of redundant touch points. How? Print shop owners have realized that several functions, including quotes and fulfillment reports, can be more effectively performed using workflow automation software. In essence, the significant amount of paperwork that flows between a print shop and its clients can be eliminated using digital records and an always-accessible Web portal. This gives a printer more time and flexibility to focus on core operations.
How can companies respond?
Defining the customer journey is the first step in creating both a stronger business model and marketing campaign. For instance, when a print organization recognizes gaps in customer service, accuracy, speed to fulfillment and overall satisfaction, it's time for a self-assessment. Depending on the areas that need strengthening, a print MIS solution can provide the exact answer that eliminates troublesome touch points that cause workflow bottlenecks. On the marketing end, it's critical to constantly monitor how well promotional materials deliver in practice. Through A/B testing, businesses can optimize their direct mail strategy to create items that will address customers' needs during every step of their journeys.
