In general, customers will be influenced by a number of different factors when selecting who to buy a product or service from. Properly researching what these factors are can really help you to define and improve how well you deliver at this stage of the customer journey.

For example:

• Reliability and ease of service – is it straightforward to find information, are any apps simple to use, does your website have the right content?
• Effective communication – can customers contact you through their channel of choice, do you give ‘real time’ responses to any customer questions?
• Pricing Structure – do you give value add for products or services, is your pricing model transparent?

Do you know who your competitors are and do you properly research them? Gathering information and insight on your main competitors is really easy to do and gives you a great understanding of the customer experience they provide.

Think about:

• How does a customer gather information on which company to use? Most people will naturally look online – how does your web presence stack up; are your competitors more prominent than you?
• How do they feel when they are navigating your webpages before they are a customer? Is it easy to find what they need?
• How effectively are customer enquiries followed up and acted upon at this stage?

To gain a view of how it feels for a customer at the pre-sales stage, become your own mystery shopper. Carry out a number of phone, internet and social media interactions to give you first hand experience of what the customer experience is like and where you can improve.