Five stages of CX

What does CX mean?

A concept of CX (Customer Experience) refers to the journey that a potential customer takes from the initial awareness of a product or service to becoming a loyal advocate who promote the brand to others. This phenomenon has a relatively long history associated with mapping the buying behaviour of customers since its inception in the late 1980s. Developing significantly over decades, it has become a hot topic in the business world, centered around enhancing engagement and boosting customer satisfaction to ultimately increase sales.

Why is mapping CX important?

Whereas the CX might seem straightforward - the company offers a product or service, and customers buy it - it’s a more complex journey that begins when a customer becomes problem-aware and that finish at point when the customer feels obligated to share his subjective considerations about a purchased product or the quality of service received with others. In the meantime, such an experience is exposed to multiple external factors (competitor ads, reviews, price, etc.) and all touchpoints a customer may have with a brand (conversations with sales consultants, interacting with content, viewing product demos, etc.). Because such an interaction may significantly affect a purchase decision of the customer, a visual storyline of every engagement a customer has with a service, brand, or product is the key to better understand the customer’s needs and expectations. The successfully created map of the CX puts the business organization directly in the consumer’s mind, allowing marketers and sales professionals to navigate customers’ pain points and motivations. Here’s a few of the statistics to prove why it’s important for your business to never miss out on the power of customers and make their journey as helpful and delightful as possible:

• 80% of customers view their company's experience as equally important as its products; 
• 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a superior experience;
• the likelihood of customers sticking with a brand increases by 2.4x when their problems are resolved smoothly;
• 1 in 3 customers give up on a brand they hold dear if disappointed or dissatisfied with their product or service;
• 72% of customers share their positive interactions with six or more people;
• 13% of customers share their negative experience with 15 or more people, which could have a hefty impact on your business reputation;
• 86% of consumers hesitate to do business with a company if it has too many negative customer reviews;
• 96% of customers say customer service is crutial when it comes to stay loyal;
• 84% of companies that work to enhance their CX report a rise in revenue.

What does the CX five-stage model look like?

A five-stages model can be used as an alternative to a plethora of existing unique perspectives on the CX (i.e.: including seven step models, five step models, flow charts, diagrams and graphs). It has been inspired by the well-known AIDA model that was introduced due to psychological findings of the perceptual processes of communication: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. To make the model intelligible, all the journey stages are indicators of how customers should be moved through the sales funnel to transform customer relationships and make the business marketing goals achievable. In fact, the more you adjust your sales funnel to provide a seamless customer experience, the more likely your brand will become a customer magnet.

A five-stages model of the CX.

What are the benefits of this certain model?

Implementing the five-stage CX model enables businesses to streamline the customer journey. While the primary goal of this model is to assist organizations in assessing customer interaxtions with a brand, the data collected during the mapping process may provide valuable insights into areas that may require enhancement or optimisation. Overall, it may be said that by utilising the five-stage CX model, business leaders can expand their perspective and cultivate a sense of mastering challenges in business operations through targeted goal-setting actions.

Optimisation tactics to enhance the CX.

If such values as increased loyalty, positive word-of-mouth referrals, and ultimately, surpassing the competition are among your desired business goals, then feel free to implement the mentioned above digital tactics into your marketing action plan for better performance. Ultimately, finding ways to move customers from one stage to the next is essential to be a successful and profitable business organisation.

Summary

The customer experience journey is a crucial factor in the success of businesses in today's competitive world. Understanding and optimising the five stages of the CX model, from awareness to advocacy, is essential for building strong customer relationships, increasing loyalty, and driving revenue growth. By mapping the customer journey, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer interactions and areas for improvement to sustain its marketplace position. By prioritising the customer happiness and leveraging digital strategies a businesses has a unique and infinite chance to thrive in today's dynamic business environment long-term. The CTO of HubSpot, Dharmesh Shah said: 'Improve the experience and everybody wins'.

More about how to map CX successfully you will learn here.