Customer Decision Journey: Defining Your CPIs (Customer Performance Indices)
The Consumer Decision Making Journey and the ways companies can influence it has exploded with the influx of new channels such as e-commerce, digital media, online video, email, organic search, paid search, experiential marketing, and social media. The complexity of a customer’s Decision Journey cannot be comprehended or summarized by a single engagement or touchpoint. It is based on every previous shopping experience and includes pre-, mid-, and some post-purchase behaviors.
The vast array of new and competing products have put the customer in control. Businesses must adjust by putting the customer first at every step of the purchase journey, or else meet their fate. In a customer-centric world, the role of business has evolved from offering a static experience to custom-designed experiences for each buyer, all while eliminating any barriers that might exist. So it is ironic, then, that so many businesses are still driven by KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) rather than CPIs (Customer Performance Indicators).
KPIs vs. CPIs: What’s The Difference?
Let’s make sure we are working from the same foundation:
KPIs: Key Performance Indicators measure how businesses achieve their desired results. Some common KPIs for businesses include revenue, profit margin, and growth.
CPIs: Customer Performance Indicators measure how a company is performing for its customers. Some typical CPI metrics include Time, Convenience, Dollars saved.
CPIs are deemed relevant by customers. However, companies achieve KPIs through customer behavior. Therefore, if employees focus on meeting CPIs that satisfy and delight the customer, they are also contributing to meeting their company’s KPIs.
Understanding your customers’ decision journey, along with their attitudes and behaviors throughout, is the gateway to defining your company’s CPIs. Important triggers and need-points that move a customer through the purchase process can be transformed into the important metrics that will drive your business. Identifying and measuring those CPIs will focus your organization’s efforts on meeting and exceeding customer expectations, which will also lead to achieving common KPIs like increased revenue, loyalty, and growth.
Our Decision Journey Model
In the Zeitgeist Decision Journey model, there are four phases:
1. The buyer considers an initial set of brands. Consumers can start with a limited set of brands in their consideration set.
2. Buyers add or subtract brands during the sales process. Consumers to “pull-in” many types of information (including internet reviews and word-of-mouth/social media recommendations) from different sources beyond traditional advertising. The brand set can be expanded with new brands entering and the existing brands discarded throughout the process.
3. The consumer selects a brand at the moment of purchase. The moment of truth. Will the customer select or brand or not? A positive experience increases the likelihood of future purchases or contract renewal, while an unsatisfactory experience might lead the consumer to restart the journey.
4. Experience informs the next decision journey. Marketing’s job does not end with a purchase, as the post-purchase experience is becoming ever more important in driving brand loyalty.
Summary
Complexities in the Decision Journey make it more difficult to achieve conversion and loyalty goals. Marketers, advertisers, and brands must focus on the psychology and behavior behind each step of the decision-making journey to engage with, influence, motivate, and empower consumers to purchase. Understanding the Decision Journey for your consumers and measuring and monitoring CPIs will ensure your business’s success.
Contact Zeitgeist Research today to learn more about researching your customer Decision Journey!
