Relationship hotspots for customer journeys

Insight - helen blake

In business, if we step back from the day-to-day matters and take a broader perspective, we know customers behave differently today.  It’s human nature that when we are uncertain, we take more time, we reflect and if things feel risky and stressful and we are overwhelmed by conflicting information, we either do nothing and avoid making a decision or we rush into something and regret it later!

When customers are uncertain, they don’t buy. At Futurecurve we are lucky to speak to many customers from across a variety of sectors and we are seeing hesitancy, delay, and lack of commitment everywhere.

We need to help our customers see the value we offer – the difference we can make to them.  We need to support them, make it easy to do business with us and reassure them through the buying process through connection and engagement.

Much of this can be done using AI / GenAI.

Frictionless customer buying journeys and great customer engagement and experience go beyond the individual sale, delivering and regaining customer loyalty and trust if we get it right.

This cannot be achieved by marketing and business development alone. Everyone in the business needs to play their part. Collaboration and alignment around the customer is a strategic imperative.

All companies believe they are customer centric; it is the ultimate goal to grow our businesses by winning and pleasing our customers. The orchestration can be challenging, though, and internal processes and motivations can misdirect our efforts, especially when it comes to considering the application of new technologies, like AI/GenAI.

AI is arguably the most exciting development in years. With customers in mind it enables a level of service and speed of transaction that traditional approaches can’t match.  But AI needs to be balanced with a real understanding of the customer’s buying journey with the business, identifying the sticking points where human relationship building skills come to the fore, where people need to step in and work with the customer to discuss and resolve a problem in person.

Forrester, in their recent report ‘Planning Guide for 2024: Customer Experience’, recommends CX leaders should adjust their investment across CX categories to focus on those technologies that directly create and improve customer experience – Action rather than Insights.

At Futurecurve we suggest taking that a step further.

The key is recognising and understanding the hotspots of customer need across the buying journey when customers become frustrated and/or dissatisfied. Then we begin to understand when interpersonal relationships with the customer are and are not needed and can focus our efforts and investment accordingly.

At Futurecurve, we regularly help clients map their customer journeys and uncover the hotspots of customer need using our Value Pyramid™ methodology, pinpointing those parts of the journey where relationship is key. Our clients tell us this is the point when they have their lightbulb moment! We all need those in this time of uncertainty.

Interested in exploring how Futurecurve can help your business? Get in touch and let’s have a conversation.