Customer success goes beyond providing good customer service; it involves understanding each customer’s unique needs and goals and proactively helping them achieve success with your product or service. Each stage presents unique opportunities to engage and delight customers, from awareness to retention.

Prospective customers are looking to solve problems at every phase of the journey. To capture their business, you need to have the answers to their questions – and their customer pains. Do you have what I need? And why should I choose you?

It’s also important to be as introspective as possible. As much as your customers are asking questions of you, you should also be asking questions of how accommodating your approaches, processes and ongoing support are to your customers. What are your customer value-drivers? Are you setting them up for a poor customer experience? Or, have you really fine-tuned a customer-centric approach and developed a holistic understanding of your audiences to set yourself apart from an otherwise competitive market? 

By focusing on the complete customer lifecycle, you can ensure that every customer will see value at every stage of the journey – building long-lasting relationships and ensuring they remain loyal throughout their customer lifetime. 

Awareness: Do I Know That You Can Help Me?

The awareness stage marks the initial point of contact between a potential customer and your business. It’s the moment when your business first enters their radar.

Proximity Is Key

Consider this situation: you come home from work and notice ants in your kitchen. What do you do? Chances are, you will go to Google and search for “pest control near me.” Almost 100% of potential customers will do that when looking for home services.

Being “found” locally is crucially important. Proximity is not only a key deciding factor for customers but also a key ranking factor in Google search results. With the rise of mobile search and location-based services, it’s essential to be easily discovered by nearby customers.

Google Business Profile (GBP) has emerged as a powerful tool for improving local visibility. An optimized GBP:

• Is 2.7x more likely to be considered reputable by consumers*
• Gets 7x more clicks*
• Is 50% more likely to lead to a purchase or lead*
• Sends strong signals to Google and shows you are a real business

*https://support.google.com/business/answer/10515606?hl=en 

By creating and optimizing your GBP listing, you can increase your chances of appearing in local search results and Google Maps, making it easier for customers to find you when they’re in your area. Ensure your listing includes accurate information about your business, such as address, phone number, hours of operation and website URL. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your GBP profile, as these can significantly influence prospective customers’ decisions.

Stay Flexible

As technology continues to change, so will the way we attract customers. Staying ahead of technological developments — like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), which uses generative AI to provide tailored search results — is crucial for maintaining visibility. In a few years, SGE might play as significant a role in your business outcomes as SEO does today.

Consideration: Why Would I Want to Buy From You?

During the consideration stage, customers evaluate their options and weigh the benefits of different products or services. It’s a critical phase where businesses have the opportunity to differentiate themselves and build trust with potential customers.

The Importance of Customer Reviews

At this stage of the user journey, customer reviews are critical. Online reviews not only provide “social proof” that your business is trustworthy, but they also influence search rankings; Google’s algorithm uses customer reviews to determine where a website should rank in its search results. 

As businesses that land the top spot in those search results get almost 40% of clicks, this is an important metric to pay attention to. Plus, reviews show that you have the “buy-in” from happy customers. And that is influential in and of itself:

• 95% of customers say they read reviews before making a purchase decision*
• 88% of customers who read online reviews say they influence their decisions**

*https://learn.g2.com/customer-reviews-statistics

**https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/google-click-through-rates-ctrs-ranking-position-2022-evan-bailyn/

Be sure to solicit reviews by sending email and text message requests, and incentivize your technicians to ask for reviews as well. Monitor your reviews and respond quickly and professionally to each one, including negative reviews that dig deeper into customer issues. A proactive, professional response to a negative review can actually help turn it into a positive by showing prospective customers that you care about making things right when a mistake does happen.

Be Transparent 

Transparency in pricing and offerings is also vital for customer journey optimization at this stage; it helps customers make informed decisions and fosters additional trust in your brand. Clearly outlining the costs associated with your products or services eliminates surprises and reduces the likelihood of customers feeling misled or dissatisfied. Providing detailed information about your offerings, such as features, specifications and benefits, allows customers to compare and evaluate their options effectively and create a better buying experience. 

Engagement: How Will I Work With You?

Engagement is where meaningful customer interactions take place, deepening the connection between your brand and your audience. 

Meet Your Customers Where They Are

Customers expect seamless and personalized experiences across multiple channels and customer touchpoints – and not everyone communicates in the same way. Omnichannel communication allows businesses to meet these expectations by integrating various channels, such as social media, email, live chat and in-person interactions, into a cohesive and interconnected experience.

Investing in omnichannel practices enables businesses to engage with customers wherever they are – whether they’re browsing your website, interacting on social media or just surfing the web.

By providing consistent messaging and positive experiences across all channels, you can create a cohesive brand identity and reinforce your value proposition. This will keep you front of mind when the ideal moment of truth comes for your prospective customers and they’re ready to make a decision. Additionally, omnichannel communication lets you capture valuable data and actionable insights from customer interactions, enabling you to tailor your marketing efforts and further personalize the customer experience.

Make It Easy 

To maximize engagement, businesses should prioritize responsiveness and accessibility, ensuring prompt and helpful responses to customer inquiries and feedback. Use immediate feedback channels such as live chat, email or social media, and leverage automated solutions like chatbots or email autoresponders. Your website should have prominent “book now” buttons, available chatbots and self-service portals. Send automated service reminders, renewal messages and other tips and information. In other words, make buying from and communicating with you as easy as possible, and offer multiple options for prospects and customers before, during and after the sale for a great customer experience.

Retention: What Benefits Do I Get for Being a Loyal Customer?

Retention is the culmination of efforts to nurture long-term relationships with customers and foster customer loyalty to your brand. It’s essential for businesses to focus on retaining existing customers: It costs five times as much to get a new customer as it does to retain an existing one. Retention efforts also contribute directly to your bottom line as recurring revenue – increasing customer retention rates by 5% will increase your profits by 25% or more.* Nearly three-quarters of consumers say a good experience is vital in influencing their brand loyalty, so you want to make sure you’re making these customers happy.

*https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-retention

Bundle Your Services

One effective retention strategy is bundling services, where businesses offer additional value by combining multiple products or services into a single package. Bundling services not only provides added convenience and value for customers but also incentivizes them to remain loyal to your brand. By offering bundled packages at a discounted rate compared to purchasing individual services, businesses can encourage customers to consolidate their purchases and reduce churn.

Offer Multiple Payment Options

Finally, optimizing payment processes and treating processing fees as a cost of doing business can streamline transactions and enhance the overall customer experience. By offering flexible payment options, such as mobile payments and installment plans, businesses can cater to their customers’ diverse needs and preferences and remove barriers to purchase. Additionally, providing transparent pricing and billing information instills trust and confidence in your brand, reducing the likelihood of customer dissatisfaction or disputes.

Reward Great Service

Additionally, businesses can enhance the customer experience by implementing innovative initiatives that go above and beyond traditional service offerings. For example, introducing a “Highly Exceptional” rating system based on customer feedback and satisfaction metrics can recognize and reward exceptional service experiences, further incentivizing employees to deliver outstanding service. Another avenue to consider is investing in a structured sales program that cross-trains technicians to handle in-field inquiries and upsell additional services to drive revenue growth and improve customer satisfaction.

When customer satisfaction is present, your technicians should also be cross-trained to ask for customer reviews! Immediacy in the request helps drive follow-through, and by requesting this work in the field, you can also begin to correlate positive reviews with key employees. This closes the loop back to the awareness stage, completing your full customer lifecycle journey. 

Conclusion: The Ideal Customer Journey

Mastering the entire customer journey is essential for any home services business. By prioritizing proximity, transparency, omnichannel communication and enhanced experiences, you can create lasting impressions that drive loyalty and advocacy. Embrace innovation, stay attuned to evolving customer needs and continually refine your approach to deliver exceptional experiences at every stop on the road.