5 Ways to Reduce Friction in the Customer Journey

Although this should never happen, there is a point in many customer journeys where the customer starts doing the business’s job for them.

They chase updates, repeat information, guess which department to contact, or work out which step comes next.

That is precisely where friction starts and spreads.

It’s never one major failure. It’s always in the small moments where the customer has to carry themselves.

Below are five ways to reduce friction in your customer journey:

• Enthusiasm Doesn’t Last Forever

Most customer journeys start with a certain amount of enthusiasm.

Somebody is interested. They’re curious. They want to take the next step.

But – enthusiasm tends to fade when things get more and more complicated, especially if those complications are wholly unnecessary. A process takes longer than expected. A form asks for too much information. 

A simple task should never become a difficult one. Momentum is surprisingly easy to lose and insanely difficult to get back.

• Pay Attention To The Things Customers Joke About

Every business has them.

The process customers joke about, the lead times they make sarcastic comments about, or the form everyone rolls their eyes at because it is not wireless tech.

Customers can often laugh or joke about frustrating pain points long before they formally complain about them. If your customers keep making the same comments and jokes, it is time your business paid attention.

• Don’t Make Customers Repeat Themselves

Most people do not mind answering a question once.

The problems start when they have to answer it again. And then again.

The same information gets provided to different people and chatbots across different channels. The same conversation starts from the beginning every time.

That is why omnichannel CRM adds such value.

It helps create the feeling that the customer is dealing with one business rather than several different departments, systems, and channels that happen to share the same logo.

• Your Customers Shouldn’t Need To Be Brave

Customers often start out assuming things will work.

The website will load. The payment will go through. The enquiry will be answered quickly.

That’s just how things should work. People should not feel relieved when a process works properly. They should expect it.

One of the simplest ways to reduce friction is to make reliability feel completely unremarkable.

• Understand That Every Extra Decision Has A Cost

All customer journeys contain decisions.

Some of them are necessary, others not so much.

Which department should they contact? Which form needs to be completed? Which option applies to their situation?

None of them feels like too much to ask, but every extra decision does require effort, and that can sometimes cost you a customer.

Final Thoughts

A customer journey does not have to be terrible to lose people.

Sometimes, it only has to be slightly more annoying than the customer expected. Friction is often found in the moments a company and its employees have stopped noticing.

Follow this article above to reduce friction in your business’s customer journey.