Marketing 0

Keeping Track of Touchpoints: The 5A's
Since the concept of CX is about augmenting the product
innovation's narrow focus, it is vital to view it at a broader scope. CX
is not only about the buying experience or customer service. In fact,
CX starts long before customers buy the product and continues long
after. It encompasses all the touchpoints customers might have with
the product: brand communications, retail experience, salesforce
interaction, product usage, customer service, and conversations with
other customers. Companies must orchestrate all these touchpoints
to deliver a seamless CX that is meaningful and memorable for the
customers.
In Marketing 4.0, we introduced a framework to map these
touchpoints and create a superior CX. The 5A's customer path
describes the journey customers take when they buy and consume
products and services in the digital world (see 
Figure 7.1
). It is a
flexible tool that applies to all industries. And when used to describe
customer behavior, it draws a picture that is closer to the actual
customer journey. Not only does it remain relevant today, but it also
provides a strong foundation to see how to integrate humans and
machines in the overall customer experience.

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FIGURE 7.1
 The 5A's Customer Path
The 5A's reflect that many seemingly personal customer purchase
decisions are inherently social decisions. Customers experience
difficulty in making their own decisions as the pace of life
accelerates, content proliferates, and the attention span drops. So,
they turn to their most trustworthy source of advice: friends and
family. Customers now actively connect, ask questions about brands,
and recommend them to others. As a result, the measure of customer
loyalty also transforms from mere retention and repurchase to
advocacy.
In the aware phase, customers are exposed to a long list of brands
from experience, marketing communications, or advocacy of others.
Aware of several brands, customers then process all the messages
they are exposed to—creating short-term memory or amplifying
long-term memory—and become attracted only to a shortlist of
brands. This is the appeal phase. Prompted by their curiosity,
customers usually follow up by actively researching the brands they
are attracted to for more information from friends and family, from
the media, or directly from the brands. This is the ask stage.
If convinced by further information in the ask stage, customers will
decide to act. It is important to remember that the desired customer
actions are not limited to purchase activities. After buying a brand,
customers interact more deeply through consumption and usage as
well as post-purchase services. Over time, customers may develop a
sense of loyalty to the brand, which is reflected in retention,

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repurchase, and ultimately advocacy to others. This is the advocate
stage.
The ultimate goal of every company is to drive customers from
awareness to advocacy by providing excellent interactions
throughout the journey. To accomplish this, companies must design
each touchpoint carefully and determine when to use automation
and when to use a personal human touch. Automation is usually
useful when customers simply demand speed and efficiency, such as
during reservation and payment. On the other hand, humans are still
better at performing tasks requiring flexibility and contextual
understanding, such as consultative and hospitality interactions.