You can present a great product on time, with a big smile. But erratic touchpoints like a misspelled ad, billing errors, or a useless website can keep you from missing your customers. Fortunately, it is possible to control these touchpoints.

What are customer touchpoints?

Customer touchpoints are where your brand is in contact with the customer from the very beginning to the end of the process. For example, customers can find your company online or through advertisements, see reviews and reviews, visit your website, shop in your store.

So what are the touchpoints, and how do they enable you to make better business decisions?

Definition of touchpoint: Touchpoint encompasses any time a potential or current customer comes into contact with.

Identifying touchpoints is the first step towards mapping the customer journey and ensuring your customers are satisfied at every step.

Finding Customer Touchpoints

Identify your customer touchpoints by listing all the places and times your customers can connect with your brand. We’ve listed some touchpoints here. However, these may vary according to the field of activity of your company.

Worried you’ll miss some touchpoints? Put yourself in the customer’s shoes.

Finding all these touchpoints can be a little daunting at first, as your customers may have many different experiences with your brand.

You are now the customer. So get a pen and paper. Because when you put yourself in the customer’s shoes, you will need to take notes.

Ask yourself these questions:

Where to go (and how to get there) when you?

As you move step–by–step through the customer journey, all the pieces become clear before your eyes.

You also do this when you ask customers to detail their experience.

What is touchpoint mapping?

Touchpoint mapping is the act of outlining every interaction a customer may have with your brand. This process looks at every step of the buyer’s journey and identifies where customers come into contact with or experience your brand.

Touchpoint mapping is essential because it allows your brand to visualize and improve every experience a customer has with your business.

How can you use your map of touchpoints to bring customers together to drive growth?

You need to ensure that every touchpoint results in a good customer experience and that the entire journey meets the customer’s expectations.

You can run customer feedback surveys or install customer experience management software to see what’s working at every key touchpoint. But always be careful to observe the entire customer journey to avoid overlooking the overall profile.

How to Start Touchpoint Mapping

Define Each Customer Touchpoint

To begin touchpoint mapping, start by describing every interaction your business has with your customers. Then, it helps you look at experiences in these categories: Before, During, and After Purchase.

While some touchpoints overlap, this classification helps you visualize and describe every possible interaction.

Map the Touchpoints

Once you’ve identified where your customers interact with your brand, these experiences are in chronological order. As you go through the touchpoint mapping process, consider the steps that guide your customers through the purchasing process. Then, use these stages of a retail buyer’s journey to show your outline.

Step 1: Inform Customers of Your Brand: The customer becomes familiar with your brand and products.

Step 2: Bring Customers Through the Door: The customer is familiar with your brand and plans to visit your in–house location.

Step 3: Start the Sale: The customer is working on the purchasing process in your store.

Step 4: Keep Customers Returning: The customer has made a purchase and is thinking of returning and buying from you again.

Don’t create a single buyer journey through this process. Instead, make at least 4–to five different customer maps to consider all the different experiences your customers may have.

Improve Every Customer Touchpoint

After identifying each potential customer touchpoint, the next step is to improve engagement. It would help if you looked at how you can provide the customer with the best possible experience at that moment.

As you work to improve your customer touchpoints, focus on building your brand experiences:

Relevant: The experience should fit the context of its channel and the interests of your target audience. The customer expects and needs to find at this stage of the buyer’s journey.

Meaningful: The experience must provide significant and valuable value to the customer.

Attractive: The experience should touch the customer’s wishes and give them what they desire.

Personal: The experience should be customizable to meet each client’s specific needs. This can be accomplished through online interactions before their visit or through WiFi Marketing while in your store.

Set a Schedule to Review

Touchpoints for marketing and advertising don’t end when you create and implement your new strategy. Your marketing channels and operational processes will continue to evolve and change. Your customer mapping should do the same.

It would help keep reviewing and updating the touchpoint map as new avenues are created, and unique marketing platforms are introduced. Make it an ongoing priority to use touchpoint mapping to create better customer experiences effectively.

Do not view this process as a one–time strategy. Instead, do some preliminary work, and then plan to continue refining your touchpoint mapping and executing it to get the best benefits and results.

Check Your Customer Touchpoints Now

If you want to start improving your touchpoint mapping, start by auditing your existing customer touchpoints. Then, review your business and identify every item customers come across during their visit.

Use our free Retail Customer Experience Audit to guide you through the process and ensure you don’t miss any critical elements. It helps you identify everything that customers experience from the moment they walk or drive to your business through the final exit process.