Lesson on Building a Customer Journey From a Fortune 100 CMO
We sat down with Joe Toubes, former CMO of Honeywell, for an informative conversation about his process for mapping the customer journey.
Joe Toubes is the former CMO of Honeywell, a Fortune 100 company with over $36B in annual revenue. He’s currently the CEO of The Toubes Agency, a full-service marketing and communications firm. With over 30 years of experience, Joe is one of the most successful and knowledgeable marketers in the world.
“Content is king. The cycle that our buyers go through varies and therefore takes some thought in terms of what content we're providing them along that customer journey. The first step is mapping out that journey and here’s how I do it…” - Joe
It All Starts With Personas
Starting with persona mapping is crucial. Joe says you need to begin this process by identifying the necessary outcomes that potential customers seek and what it takes to move forward in their decision-making journey. That’s because not every persona has the same needs or requires the same information. Many enterprise sales have several personas involved in the buying process and each needs to be marketed to separately.
Gartner reports that the typical team involved in purchasing enterprise technology has grown to include over 13 people. This group comprises seven to eight members who play a significant role in leading the procurement process, alongside five to six individuals who participate intermittently, especially during stages of validation, reviews, and giving approvals.
“Those people will have a significant influence on this decision, so making sure content and information is pushed to them so that we help them make the selection for us.” - Joe
Persona mapping is the first exercise and it sets up the rest of the customer journey. When selling into enterprise organizations, or even more sophisticated SMBs, Joe says you will likely need more than one customer journey map. Consider the role of each buyer, influencer, and decision maker, then map their journey independently.
The Awareness Stage
The next step is actually creating the customer journey. Joe likes to simplify this process by focusing on three main stages of purchasing: Awareness, Consideration, and Closing.
In the initial Awareness stage, Joe’s focus is on generating broad interest and establishing a company as a leader in its field. This is the stage where thought leadership and brand are incredibly important. The Awareness stage serves as the foundation for planning, pricing, and budgeting marketing campaigns.
The Consideration Stage
Moving into the Consideration stage, Joe shifts his focus to more in-depth interactions. There is when he starts introducing content around technical specifications, pricing, and other critical factors that buyers need to continue their journey. Joe says the goal of Consideration content is to guide customers toward making a well-informed purchase decision.
The Closing Stage and Onboarding
By the time buyers reach the Closing Stage, they should already have the content they need to understand the product, the value it provides, and the benefits they should expect by purchasing. Joe underscores the importance of not stopping at the sale but continuing into the onboarding phase.
“Ensuring a seamless transition through the sales process involves more than just closing the deal; it extends to effectively mapping out each stakeholder's journey to foster a sense of comfort and trust.” - Joe
The Onboarding stage sets the tone for the future. It's about providing new clients with all the necessary content and information they need to kickstart a successful partnership. The objective is to build long-lasting, positive relationships from the outset.
Feedback and Iteration
Joe says that there should always be an emphasis on iteration and improvement.
“You rarely get everything right on the very first attempt. That’s why it’s so important to collect feedback and iterate. Continuous improvement is the fastest path to success outcomes.” - Joe
Joe recommends that his clients use Winware to collect feedback, as it helps him to collect and track feedback by persona and content piece.
Final Words
Incorporating a comprehensive customer journey is essential for any marketing campaign and it becomes increasingly evident the more senior you are within a company.
“If you're not preparing a comprehensive buying journey, you have no chance of providing your customers what they need. The exercise can be done in a matter of an hour or it can be done in a matter of a few weeks depending on how detailed you need to do that. Investment is worthwhile. Please, it's absolutely worthwhile.”