Raising The Low Points On Your  Customer Journey Map
​Every industry puts its customers through a journey from lead to loyal client but for some, that journey is tougher than others. Score the customer journey map of someone looking to buy an insurance policy or a pension plan online, and you’re likely to see a series of lows. People used to surfing the Web to compare products, receive quotes and order services are left clueless in a world that speaks a very different language. From trying to understand the graphs and figures to deciphering the terms and policies, the process for many finance sites is painful, complicated and unfamiliar. The result is that customers faced with those low points often defer sorting out their pensions and their insurance policies for as long as possible —a loss for both the client and the companies.

ASTELO's experience with insurance companies and financial businesses showed us exactly what happens when leads hit those low points on the customer journey, how those low points affect sales — and what businesses can do to improve the experience.

When we worked with a leading insurance company, for example, we found that although clients knew they needed to take control over their pension and life savings, they didn’t have the tools that allowed them to do so. They had to make educated decisions even though they preferred not to deal with the possibility of dying, becoming disabled, or thinking 30 years ahead about their retirement. And they had to make an effort to complete the purchase process even though they didn’t speak the language of finance and insurance.

When customers were presented with textual information backed up by pages of legal disclaimers and were  told to find their way and choose the right policy, it was a real low point. They found it overwhelming and uninteresting, and they raised objections.

We found that engaging  videos and interactive content, written in the right language and presented in the right way, was able to lift that low point and pull customers through to the sales funnel.

Raise The Low Points… And The High Points

But accepting the quote at the end of the sales was also a low point, with the score dependent on the distribution channel. Differences in the conversion rates between online purchases and those made with traditional insurance agents showed the very real effect that a low point in the customer journey was having on sales. Creating an effective content strategy changed this phase too by building a meaningful experience that gave the client the tools they needed for the decisions they had to make. Creating the right tools allowed us to build a multi-channel content infrastructure that enhanced the agents and gave them new sales tools while using the same content on the online platform.

And we were able to go further. High points on the customer journey also provided opportunities to improve the customer journey as a whole. Because we saw that the high points in the customer journey of insurance businesses happened when customers felt they were most in control, we put  special emphasis on the company’s  personal zone. Supported by relevant and engaging content it helped customers feel less overwhelmed and more relaxed about managing their financial matters online and trusting the process. Analyzing the high points helped us to raise all the points across the journey.

The idea that the stages on a customer journey are opportunities is critical. A customer journey map reveals those opportunities and shows brands the quickest route to a better customer experience — a route that lets them smile even when they’re in the bank.

In the next post, we’ll take a close look at the journey itself and how the way customers take that journey affects their experience.

To learn more about raising the low points on your customer journey map and what it can do for your business, contact us at contact@astelo.com.

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